By Steve Crane | Editor-in-chief
“It's really just shifting those costs into the future. Because if you're not going to pay for energy efficiency now, you're going to have to pay for additional generation later.” - Mike Specian, senior research manager at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, on reductions to the energy-efficiency EmPOWER Maryland program currently under review.
An energy-efficiency program under scrutiny, an immigrant legal aid program under stress and a school library access policy under appeal. We have headlines from across the spectrum for your Thursday.
Electricity consumers could save a couple bucks a month on their utility bills under power company proposals to trim the EmPOWER Maryland program, which dedicates funds to energy efficiency projects. But advocates worry the reductions, currently under study by state regulators, will save little in the long run and further set back the state’s ambitious climate goals, as Christine Condon reports.
The Trump administration decision to pull funding from an organization that provided legal help for unaccompanied immigrant children during their immigration court proceedings has left local legal aid groups scrambling to continue to offer services. The replacement care promised by the government is falling far short, advocates say. Rosanne Skirble has that story.
Somerset County school officials expected challenges to their policy that requires young adult materials in school libraries to be placed in an adult section, putting them out of reach of almost all K-12 students. They got that challenge Wednesday, when groups appealed the policy to the State Board of Education, as William J. Ford reports.
Those stories, plus a look at some of our top headlines from the week, are below for your Thursday morning. Enjoy!
Protesters gathered outside the State House on March 30 to defend the EmPOWER Maryland program against temporary cuts proposed in the Maryland General Assembly. (Photo by Christine Condon/Maryland Matters)
By Christine Condon
Maryland's electric utilities submitted proposals Tuesday to reduce the size of EmPOWER Maryland, the state’s signature energy efficiency program, changes that could save residential customers up to $9 a month on their electric bills starting in January.
The proposals follow a temporary reduction of the program by lawmakers earlier this year to offset high electric bills, amid pressure on the grid from data centers, retiring power plants and more. Now, regulators at the Maryland Public Service Commission are deciding how dramatically to cut the EmPOWER program. The commission in July asked each utility that offers EmPOWER to submit two options: a more aggressive cut to the program and a less aggressive one. At Exelon, which owns Baltimore Gas & Electric, Pepco and Delmarva Power, officials said they’re hoping to see the commission approve the deeper set of cuts.
But those cuts would come as Maryland utilities are proposing rate increases that may make any EmPOWER savings less noticeable. And consumer advocates and environmental groups have warned that short-term cuts to the EmPOWER program would increase bills in the long run, as homes and businesses that are less energy efficient place greater strain on the electric grid. That would add costs to consumers and ultimately require new infrastructure such as substations and power plants.
An immigrant child sits in the back of a border patrol vehicle after being apprehended in Arizona in June 2024. The Trump administration's cancellation of a contract for legal representation for unaccompanied immigrant minors has left local legal aid groups scrambling. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
By Rosanne Skirble
A legal motion filed in late August, begins this way:
“On the morning of August 6, 2026, in an immigration court in Los Angeles, an unaccompanied child appeared before an immigration judge – facing a Department of Homeland Security attorney and the possibility of removal. The child had no legal representation and appeared on their own.”
This is no anomaly.
That child is one of thousands of unaccompanied immigrant children across the country fighting for the legal services they are guaranteed by law, along with the right to shelter, healthcare, education and screening for human trafficking. But the Trump administration has pulled funding to a nationwide network of nonprofits that represent children who have crossed the border without parents or legal papers.
That has left groups like the Amica Center, based in Baltimore and Washington, to try to continue representing children without funding. While the Amica Center has been able to continue providing services, currently to more than 700 children, smaller nonprofits have had to cut back assistance or close altogether. Other groups, like the Chacón Center for Immigration Justice at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, are trying to build new networks to reach unaccompanied minors. But advocates say they are up against an immigration system that is not working in the child’s best interest and is badly in need of reform.
A Somerset County schools policy that would place "young adult" literature out of reach of almost all K-12 students faces a new challenge from critics who say it violates state law and the First Amendment. (Photo by Terry Vine/Getty Stock Images)
By William J. Ford
A Somerset County School Board policy that makes young adult books in school libraries unavailable to almost all students in county schools violates state law and the First Amendment, an appeal to the State Board of Education claims.
The appeal, filed by a county parent, the Somerset Education Association and the Maryland Association of School Librarians, targets board Policy 500-19, which requires that all young adult books be put in an adult section of the library and be prohibited for any student under age 18. The updated policy, adopted by the county school board last month, also calls for discipline of school librarians for "insubordination" if they fail to follow the policy.
Besides violating free speech guarantees of the First Amendment, the appeal says the policy violates Maryland's Freedom to Read Act, a 2024 law that prohibits books and other school library materials from being removed until a formal process is conducted. It also restricts disciplinary action against school employees who follow the law. Somerset County Superintendent David Bromwell declined via email to comment on the appeal Wednesday.
IN OTHER NEWS
Unaccompanied immigrant minors may lose legal aid: Thousands of unaccompanied immigrant youth in the U.S. remain at risk of losing legal representation after the White House ended a contract that provided legal services to migrant children.
Birthright citizenship upheld, again: A federal judge in Maryland blocked President Donald Trump’s second attempt to prohibit birthright citizenship, saying it "almost certainly" runs afoul of a Supreme Court ruling rejecting the president's first attempt..
More MARC for Montgomery: The Maryland Transit Administration said Wednesday that it is expanding MARC Train service and will begin providing a weekday connection between Montgomery County and Baltimore starting Sept. 28.
MATTERS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED
Putting the easy in EZ-Pass: The agency that oversees the state's toll roads and bridges has failed to collect more than $818 million in tolls and fees it was owed, a new audit says. State officials say they are aware of, and working on, the problem.
FAMLI arrives, sort of: State officials on Tuesday launched the long-awaited family leave policy that will let Marylanders take up to 12 weeks of paid leave to nurture a newborn baby, take care of loved ones or manage their own medical challenges.
The road(s) ahead: Maryland will spend $200 million less -- about a 1% drop -- on new roads and transit projects in the next six years, with funds directed at existing projects and those in the pipeline prioritized for safety, maintenance and economic development.
Union, university reach a deal: A state employees' union has reached a deal with the governor and the state university system after the university agreed to pay negotiated raises that it had threatened to withhold, the governor's office announced Tuesday.
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