Maryland Democrats Want A ‘Clean’ Energy Surcharge On EV’s
A Democrat’s bill in the Maryland State Senate would impose fees on electric vehicles to fund a program that advertises their affordability
Democratic Maryland State Senator Kevin Harris sponsored a bill on February 6 that would establish three separate affordability funds for solar photovoltaic module energy, energy storage, and zero-emission vehicles.
The bill would apply surcharges on the three listed technologies to generate revenue for the proposed affordability funds.
The sales of solar photovoltaic modules would be surcharged at $0.02 per watt of generating capacity. Energy storage systems have a fee of $5 per kilowatt-hour of storage capacity. All zero-emission vehicles have a flat fee of $200 per vehicle.
The bill would create an advisory council for each fund.
The councils’ responsibilities include directing fund revenue for research, communication, marketing, and educational campaigns aligned with the state’s clean energy goals.
The council will also “combat misinformation” related to the three technologies and emphasize their affordability.
The councils can adjust the fee every two years “in accordance with inflation and the needs of the council.” The bill limits fee adjustments to be no more than 0.5% of the technologies’ wholesale value or “an amount sufficient enough to pay for the reasonable costs of the council.”
Council members would receive $100 per day for attending a council meeting for a maximum of 36 days, amounting to $3,600 a year.
The bill would allow members to receive reimbursements for travel expenses through the Standard State Travel regulations provided in the state budget.
The Maryland Energy Administration can use up to five percent of the fees deposited into each fund to reimburse the Administration for providing staff to the councils.
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