Represented by Brian Chisholm |, District 31
Editor's Note: After submitting this column on behalf of Chisholm, PJM's urgent request will be approved online.
Dear neighbor,
On July 21, federally regulated regional grid operator PJM proposed the Federal Power Act Section 202(c) to the Department of Energy for the Wagner 4 generator station in Anne Arundel County.
The PJM asked the FBI to request the order because they concluded that there could be an imminent emergency of power reliability that could threaten the insufficient supply of available power generation in the region and could threaten the transmission reliability of the BGE area.
Maryland Freedom Caucus is right
The Maryland Freedom Caucus has been unwaveringly warning that extreme environmental policies implemented by organizations such as the Maryland Convention, the Maryland Department of Environment (MDE) and the Sierra Club, radical green activism and bureaucratic traditional tape festivals will push our state toward an energy supply crisis.
Now, the warning has become a reality.
Maryland is on the verge of a rolling blackout
PJM interconnect sends a terrible warning:
The power emergency is coming in Maryland. Its urgent federal order requirements prove what we have been saying:
- Unit 4, a power plant in Anne Arundel County, is the only production facility capable of preventing power outages in BGE areas in certain emergencies.
- The unit is restricted by a 2020 Environmental Consent Agreement promoted by the Sierra Club and MDE, which limits its operations to 438 hours per year.
- As of today, the plant has only 80 hours left in 2025, with emergency power supply less than four days before the lights go out.
- Remember, half of the year is more than half!
There is no doubt that rolling power outages may start in 2025
PJM undoubtedly said that without the ability to operate the Wagner 4, it might have to relieve the solid burden, a way to disinfect Maryland's homes, schools, hospitals and businesses forced outages.
This is not a conspiracy or political gesture. This is a direct result of the Maryland war on energy reliability, in which traditional power generation is polluted, shut down or disabled without any realistic replacement.
The price of the Virtue Signal: Cost soars
Environmental extremists and their legislative allies have created artificial scarcity of power in Maryland. result?
- Maryland now faces some of the highest electricity and utilities costs in the country.
- We are running the extension line across the state, importing electricity from coal and gas plants in other states while shutting down our own electricity.
- We require the federal government to cover Maryland regulations to prevent grid crashes.
This crisis is completely avoidable
The Maryland Freedom Caucus has been working on:
- Keep reliable power plants like Wagner fully operated.
- Cut the traditional tape festival to kill energy infrastructure projects.
- Bring common sense into our energy strategies, not ideology.
- Put taxpayers rather than radical activists at the center of energy policy.
Instead, Annapolis chose environmental authoritarianism, locking our country in a model that values carbon credit rather than public and economic security.
Maryland voters and lawmakers wake up call
The situation in Wagner Unit 4 is more than just technical. This is a symptom of leadership failure. Marylanders now face the real possibility of no power, as Maryland Democrats and governors prioritize headlines and litigation over heat and light.
Maryland's Freedom Caucus is updating the call:
- Immediately suspend artificial operation time restrictions during emergency periods.
- Maryland immediately withdraws from the catastrophic and voluntary Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a program that raises energy costs in the name of ineffective climate symbolism, punishes taxpayers and damages grid reliability.
- The rollback of resistance authorized capacity puts life and livelihoods at risk.
We can no longer let radical environmental groups determine the energy future of Maryland. Now is the time to take action (real, reliable, common sense action).