Your Legislators Just Raided Your Piggy Bank Without Your Permission!

By Thornton Crowe

Just when you thought energy was already through the roof, along comes this...

Even though President Trump has only been in office for two weeks, many in our area are still grappling with tough economic times with jobs scarce and wage stagnation. Now, in a stunning move by Annapolis Legislators, Marylanders are about to experience incredible hikes in their electric bills as they overrode Governor Hogan's veto of the Clean Energy Jobs Bill (HB-1106) which favors solar energy over traditional electricity.

While the legislative body has made claims, as Jim Mathias puts it, "has no winners or losers," nothing could be further from the truth as this law now penalizes anyone who won't (or can't) partake in solar energy resources. Meaning, you can expect to pick up the tab for your solar-loving neighbors when the utility reimburses excess payments from solar customers based on actual usage verses estimated usage, which is paid in advance.

What does this mean for you? Well... a lot. Your electricity bills are about to go up an estimated 10% per 6-month period  (or more) because you will be picking up the checks the utilities are supposed to give solar customers as a type of kick back.

As many homeowners in Wicomico County know, all too often, there are simply too many trees surround their homes to install solar panel systems. Therefore, they are prohibited from participating in this 'green program' unless they want to destroy the environment by removing trees.

What kind of green program destroys the environment to produce clean energy - isn't this a bit of an oxymoron? Kill trees, go green?

Did anyone besides Hogan even bother to read this train wreck of a bill? Given all the other nonsense legislation that's come out of Annapolis over the years, what do you think? It's anyone's guess if the legislators even penned this bill. It could very well be like the Obamacare disaster which was penned by Big Pharma and every other special interest medical field group on K Street.

On a national level, this bill's passage may have a boomerang because just this week, the Trump Administration has executed through Executive Order a strict ban on new regulations on Americans and Businesses. With the inevitable confirmation of the new EPA Director Scott Pruitt, whose already stated the agency will go through massive changes, this may put the state at further odds with Federal law; which, as you know always usurps State law. Therefore, this could end up being proverbial egg on Annapolis's face for all the country to witness.

It's interesting to note that Sharee Sample Hughes - one who represents one of the poorest areas of Maryland, would vote to override Hogans veto, given this will literally crush her constituents under the weight of heavy penalties for non-solar consumers. For Mathias's base, this spells the same fate but further goes to squash the middle class that already lives in a paycheck-to-paycheck reality.

From his obligatory answer to Salisbury News inquiries, he claimed he has been 'in talks' with Hogan's "people" over the last few weeks and all was well... well, maybe for his ilk but it doesn't sound like his constituents will bode well with his feel-good balderdash under the guise of global warming nonsense.

While many will continue to chime in on how good it is for the environment - almost in unison - it seems the whole bunch is reading from the same prefab script, designed to keep you in the dark before your first rate hike hits your bill. Don't you think we deserve better than this charade?

The insidiousness of this bill was already enough to gain Hogan's veto and it should've been left at that; however, something seems to be dodgy here as it will be very expensive to everyone but solar consumers. Isn't this a bit like discrimination - expecting the majority to foot the bill for some 'protected' demographic?

So there you have it, once again Annapolis has gone out of its way to screw Marylanders out of millions while fat cat legislators could be pocketing bank from hardball lobbyists backing this disaster.

Could it be our legislators are getting some monetary reward for selling out it's voting base in this horrifically expensive deal? Does Maryland also have drain its swamp in Annapolis?

All in the name of green energy, right, folks?

And now, for my pat line.... How Say You?