Behind the Bill: How Maryland Put Plug-In Solar Inside a Utility Relief and Climate Justice Agenda
By PlugInSolarUS Editorial · Published 2026-07-27 · 22 min read
Del. Lorig Charkoudian explains why Maryland treated plug-in solar as a clean-energy access tool, an affordability measure, and a gateway to a more distributed energy future.
Editor’s Note: This article is part of PluginSolarUS.com’s “Behind the Bill” series, which explores how different states are approaching plug-in solar legislation, consumer access, safety, and implementation. This article is based on an interview with Maryland Del. Lorig Charkoudian, Maryland legislative materials for H.B. 1532 / Chapter 353, and background research. For a full overview of Maryland’s plug-in solar status, see our Maryland state page.
A small solar idea inside a much larger utility bill
Maryland did not approach plug-in solar as a standalone gadget bill. It placed the idea inside a much larger energy affordability package: H.B. 1532, the Utility RELIEF (Reducing Energy Load Inflation for Everyday Families) Act, later approved by the Governor as Chapter 353.
That context matters. For Del. Lorig Charkoudian, plug-in solar was not only about letting people buy a small solar device. It was about connecting consumer energy choice to two priorities she had already been working on for years: expanding clean energy and making sure the clean-energy transition reaches people who have often been left out.
“Plug-in solar actually is sort of this perfect marrying of those two really important priorities of mine,” Charkoudian said.
Those priorities are clean energy and climate justice. Charkoudian has worked on wind, solar, offshore wind, battery storage, and broader energy policy. She has also focused on how the transition should center people most harmed by climate change and most vulnerable to rising energy prices. Plug-in solar appealed to her because it could put a small piece of clean-energy generation directly into the hands of more residents, including people who may not control a roof or be able to afford a traditional solar installation.
Why plug-in solar caught Maryland’s attention
Charkoudian does not point to one single moment when plug-in solar first appeared on her radar. Instead, the idea arrived through several channels at once.
Brightsaver helped her understand the policy opportunity. She connected with the Utah lawmaker who had moved one of the first U.S. plug-in solar bills. Then national media attention helped turn a technical policy idea into something constituents could immediately understand.
“Plug-in solar kind of had its moment,” she said, recalling that after a New York Times article on the category, constituents began sending her the story and asking what Maryland was doing about it. Her answer was simple: “I’m on it.”
That public reaction was important because plug-in solar is easier to visualize than many energy policies. Much of energy law involves regional transmission organizations, utility filings, rate cases, and federal regulatory structures that are difficult for everyday residents to follow. Plug-in solar is different. A resident can picture a small solar panel on a balcony, deck, backyard, or patio.
As Charkoudian put it, the idea captures people’s imagination: why should someone not be able to put a small solar panel on a balcony or in a backyard?
What Maryland’s law does
Maryland’s enacted language defines a “portable solar energy generating system” as a movable photovoltaic solar device designed to connect to a building’s electrical system through a standard electrical outlet, primarily intended to offset part of a building’s electricity consumption, certified by Underwriters Laboratories or an equivalent nationally recognized testing laboratory, and limited to supplying no more than 1,200 watts back to the building’s electric system.
The law allows no more than one portable solar energy generating system per electric meter for residential use. It also says these systems are not subject to certain Maryland net energy metering and related requirements, are not eligible for renewable portfolio standard compliance, and may not generate renewable energy credits. A smaller system with a maximum power output to a standard electrical outlet of no more than 391 watts is exempt from product listing provisions that would require alterations to the building’s premises, wiring, or electrical panels.
Just as important, Maryland restricts utility gatekeeping. An electric company may not require a customer to obtain the company’s approval before installing or using a qualifying portable solar energy generating system. It also may not require a customer to pay a fee related to the system’s ability to feed electricity back into the electric system, or require additional controls or equipment beyond what is integrated into the device, except as provided in the statute.
But Maryland did not eliminate utility awareness altogether. The law requires the customer to notify the electric company once the system is installed, provide certification of the system’s safety features and maximum generating capacity, and pay for installation of an automatic locking disconnect switch if the system requires one.
In plain English: Maryland created a pathway for certified plug-in solar systems up to 1,200 watts, with a simpler 391-watt pathway for systems that do not trigger product-listing requirements requiring building, wiring, or panel alterations, all within a careful consumer-notification and safety framework.
Notification, not permission
One phrase may define Maryland’s approach more than any other: notification, not permission.
Charkoudian said utilities raised concerns early in the process, and Maryland responded by adding a notification concept. But she emphasized that the notification requirement should not be confused with a utility approval process.
“You’ll note it’s notification, not permission,” she said.
That distinction is central. Traditional rooftop solar often requires interconnection applications, utility review, inspections, approvals, and sometimes long waits. Maryland’s plug-in solar framework is trying to avoid turning a small consumer device into a full interconnection project, while still giving utilities basic information about where systems are installed and what their safety features are.
Exactly how the notification process will work remains an implementation question. Charkoudian said she expects utilities will need a way to receive notice, and she suspects the Maryland Public Service Commission may be involved because interactions between utilities and customers generally fall within PSC oversight. But the practical details still need to be clarified.
The access promise — and the master-metered gap
The strongest argument for plug-in solar is access.
Rooftop solar works well for some households, but many residents are excluded. They may rent. They may live in a condo or apartment. They may not have a suitable roof. They may not be able to afford a full solar installation. They may want to participate in clean energy but have no practical place to start.
Plug-in solar offers a smaller entry point. It will not power an entire home. It will not replace rooftop solar. But it could let a household produce a little of its own electricity with a device that is more affordable, more portable, and easier to understand.
Charkoudian hopes that climate justice organizations, counties, municipalities, contractors, and local programs can help make that access real. She described possible models such as bulk purchasing, income-based discounts, partnerships with grassroots groups, or local subsidies funded through county or municipal climate programs.
She also raised an important equity caveat: master-metered buildings.
Many older garden-style apartments and some condominiums are master-metered. In those buildings, individual residents may not have their own electric meters or pay their electric bills directly. Instead, electricity costs may be included in rent, condo fees, or a building-wide allocation. A resident might technically be able to use a plug-in solar device, but the savings may not accrue directly to that resident.
Charkoudian said renters overall could benefit from plug-in solar, but she emphasized the need to keep asking who is still excluded and how policy, local programs, and implementation partners can bring those residents in.
Why the Utility RELIEF Act was the right home
Plug-in solar began as part of a broader solar bill Charkoudian was working on. It was later moved into the Utility RELIEF Act, a larger package focused on electricity costs and consumer relief.
Charkoudian saw that as appropriate. Maryland residents, like people across much of the country, are facing growing concern over electricity prices. A small plug-in solar device is not a full solution to rising energy costs, but it gives consumers another tool.
That made plug-in solar a natural fit inside a bill focused on utility relief. It is not only an emissions-reduction measure. It is also an affordability measure, a consumer-access measure, and a way to give people more agency over their electricity use.
For Charkoudian, the fact that the idea is intuitive made it politically powerful. Energy policy can be abstract. A small panel a resident can see, touch, and understand is not.
Safety: trusting standards, not inventing Maryland-only rules
Safety was not ignored. It was central to how Maryland shaped the law.
Charkoudian said the main challenge was not major political opposition, but technical confusion as national safety requirements and product standards evolved. Maryland had drafted language based on what lawmakers and advocates thought the requirements would look like, then had to adjust as the standards discussion became less simple than expected, including how to distinguish a broader 1,200-watt pathway from the smaller 391-watt exemption.
The final Maryland framework therefore has two important size concepts. Systems up to 1,200 watts are allowed if they meet the required safety and certification framework, while systems up to 391 watts have a narrower exemption from product-listing provisions that would otherwise require alterations to the building’s premises, wiring, or electrical panels.
Her safety philosophy was straightforward: Maryland should not invent its own engineering rules from scratch. Instead, state law should rely on national safety standards and certified products.
“We’ll trust the engineers and the national labs,” she said. “So we just referenced that safety standard.”
That standards-first posture is important for consumers and retailers. Plug-in solar will only become mainstream if people can distinguish properly certified products from unsafe or noncompliant products. Maryland’s law points in that direction by requiring certification by UL or an equivalent nationally recognized testing laboratory.
Electricians, utilities, and stakeholder dynamics
Unlike in some states, Charkoudian did not describe major resistance from electricians. She said she works closely with the electricians union and ran the concept by IBEW. The union did not raise major concerns, in part because its Maryland work tends to focus more on larger projects such as utility-scale and community solar than small residential installations.
Utilities did raise concerns early, especially around visibility into where systems are installed. That led to the notification framework. But Charkoudian noted that utilities were simultaneously focused on larger legislative issues in Maryland’s energy package, including rate-making, multi-year rate plans, transmission oversight, and grid-enhancing technologies.
Compared with those issues, the potential utility impact of small plug-in solar systems was relatively modest. That may have helped the provision move forward without becoming the central utility fight of the session.
A gateway to energy literacy
One of Charkoudian’s most interesting observations was not about watts, meters, or utility rules. It was about how people relate to energy.
Plug-in solar could become a gateway to broader energy participation because it gives people a direct physical connection to electricity generation. People can touch the device. They can see sunlight becoming power. Even if the system only offsets a small load, the experience may make the energy system feel less distant.
“There is something about feeling directly connected,” she said, “like touching the thing that is creating your energy.”
That matters because energy policy is often invisible to consumers. Most people experience the grid only through a monthly bill or a light switch. Plug-in solar can make generation tangible. It may help residents understand why storage, demand response, virtual power plants, electrification, and local clean-energy programs matter.
In that sense, plug-in solar is not only a small device. It is a doorway into energy literacy.
Data centers, virtual power plants, and the distributed-energy future
Charkoudian also connected plug-in solar to a much larger conversation happening in Maryland and across the country: data centers, AI-driven electricity demand, and who pays for new energy infrastructure.
In parallel with the Utility RELIEF Act, she worked on a separate effort to create a pathway for data centers that bring their own 100% clean capacity, potentially through solar, storage, flexible load, or virtual power plants. The idea is that if a large new load wants faster treatment in the system, it should help bring clean capacity with it.
Plug-in solar by itself is too small to solve the data-center load problem. Charkoudian was clear that it is not yet configured as a grid-responsive virtual power plant resource in the way storage or flexible load might be.
But she sees a possible future where community-benefit agreements, distributed solar, storage, and local clean-energy investments are connected. A data center, for example, might support distributed solar and storage in the neighborhood where it is located. Plug-in solar could be one small part of that broader distributed-energy package.
For Maryland, this is a forward-looking point. The immediate law creates a small-device pathway. The larger question is whether small customer-owned energy resources can eventually connect into a broader system of distributed energy, storage, flexible load, and local resilience.
What still needs to happen
Maryland has created a legal pathway, but several things still need to happen before plug-in solar becomes a practical mainstream option.
First, compliant products need to be available in the state. Consumers need devices that clearly meet the applicable safety and certification requirements, including clarity around the 1,200-watt system pathway and the smaller 391-watt exemption.
Second, the notification process needs to be clarified. Customers, retailers, utilities, and possibly the Public Service Commission need simple guidance on who must notify whom, when, and with what information.
Third, consumers need plain-English education. They need to understand what a plug-in solar system can and cannot do, how much power it can produce, what meter and billing issues may exist, what safety standards apply, and when an electrician may be needed.
Fourth, local implementation partners need to step in. Charkoudian mentioned Montgomery County and Takoma Park as examples of local governments with climate goals that could potentially use climate investment funds to subsidize access for lower-income residents.
Finally, Maryland needs to keep an eye on equity gaps, especially master-metered housing. If the people most in need of energy affordability are still unable to capture the savings, future programs may need to address that.
A message to Maryland residents
Asked what she would tell a Maryland resident interested in plug-in solar, Charkoudian gave an enthusiastic answer.
“Check it out,” she said. “It’s pretty cool.”
She said she already has solar on her roof, but may still get a plug-in solar device because she wants to understand the experience firsthand.
That curiosity is part of the story. Maryland’s plug-in solar provision is not only about kilowatt-hours. It is about making energy participation feel more accessible. A small solar device on a deck, balcony, or backyard will not solve every energy challenge. But it may help people see themselves as active participants in the clean-energy transition rather than passive recipients of a utility bill.
Maryland’s role in the national plug-in solar movement
Each state that has moved on plug-in solar has taken a slightly different approach.
Utah created one of the first narrow legal pathways. Connecticut placed plug-in solar inside a broad renewable-energy package. Colorado pushed into higher system limits and meter-collar provisions. Vermont emphasized consumer simplicity. Maryland placed plug-in solar inside a utility relief and climate justice agenda.
That gives Maryland a distinct role in the national movement. Its law says that plug-in solar should be understood not only as a clean-energy product, but also as a consumer-relief tool and an access strategy for people historically excluded from traditional solar markets.
The hard work now shifts from legislation to implementation: certified products, utility notification, consumer education, local subsidies, climate-justice outreach, and practical guidance.
If those pieces come together, Maryland’s approach could show how a small solar device can sit inside a much bigger policy vision: lower bills, cleaner energy, broader access, and a more distributed energy future.
Source Notes: Primary sources for this article include an interview with Del. Lorig Charkoudian regarding Maryland H.B. 1532 / Utility RELIEF Act and plug-in solar, Maryland General Assembly materials for H.B. 1532 / Chapter 353, and public background on plug-in solar legislation, portable photovoltaic devices, electrical safety standards, and emerging U.S. implementation issues. Direct quotes have been lightly edited for clarity.
Disclaimer: PluginSolarUS.com provides general educational information only. This article is not legal, electrical, engineering, product-safety, installation, or financial advice. Before purchasing or installing any plug-in solar, portable solar, solar-plus-storage, battery, inverter, or related electrical product, consumers should confirm current requirements with applicable state law, local building and electrical authorities, fire officials where relevant, their utility, their landlord or HOA where applicable, and a qualified electrician if needed. Consumers should use only properly certified or listed products that comply with applicable safety standards, electrical codes, manufacturer instructions, and local requirements. Laws, standards, utility rules, product certifications, billing practices, metering requirements, and installation requirements may change over time.