Wheelabrator Baltimore WTE Facility Could Be Stripped of “Green Energy” Label

Last week, the Maryland State Senate approved a bill that would remove a “green energy” label from the Wheelabrator Baltimore waste-to-energy (WTE) plant and similar facilities in the state. This label has qualified these facilities for millions of dollars in subsidies paid for by electricity customers for the past seven years.

This move comes on the heels of a recent The Baltimore Sun investigation that found that an incinerator in Southwest Baltimore collected about $10 million through a state renewable energy incentive program, despite it being the city’s single source of air pollution.

The bill is now being sent to the House of Delegates for review, but the chances of it advancing out of the House’s Rules Committee are slim because the state’s legislative session ends this week and the committee must approve the bill before it can move on to the normal legislative process.

The Baltimore Sun has more details:

The Maryland Senate voted Friday to strip a Baltimore trash incinerator and similar facilities of a state “green energy” label that qualified them for millions of dollars in subsidies paid for by electricity customers over the past seven years.

A day earlier, senators cited a recent Baltimore Sun investigation revealing that a trash-burning facility in Southwest Baltimore has collected roughly $10 million through a state renewable-energy incentive program — despite being the city’s largest single source of air pollution.

“We are keeping these dirty polluters alive, subsidizing them. Trash incineration should not be subsidized,” said Sen. Michael Hough, a Republican from Frederick County who proposed the policy change in an amendment on the Senate floor Thursday.

Read the full story here.