Montgomery County’s state lawmakers are considering bills that could give residents more choices in picking an energy provider and would force a utility to be more transparent.
The county’s delegation has begun its annual process of considering what legislation to introduce during the next General Assembly session, which begins in January.
Senators and delegates have many bill proposals lined up. On Tuesday, they invited the public — including county elected officials — to weigh in with their thoughts. Written comments also were welcome.
A Community Choice Energy bill under consideration is for a pilot program — possibly for seven years — in which Montgomery County would purchase or generate energy for its residents and businesses. The goal is to let the government negotiate favorable terms and rates, using a hybrid system in which the utility maintains the grid.
Residents would automatically be enrolled, but could opt out and stick with their current provider.
Many people who testified on Tuesday spoke highly of the idea, saying it could help the county’s push toward greater environmentalism.
County Executive Marc Elrich told the delegation that the energy purchase structure would be an important tool as the county works to reduce greenhouse gases and it could help lower rates. The Montgomery County Council also backs the bill.
A proposed transparency bill is aimed at the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission and how it conducts public meetings. Several speakers took the utility to task for having some portions of its meetings live streamed, but failing to air other portions.
WSSC would be required to stream its meetings live and keep a complete archive on its website.
Karyn Riley, representing WSSC, said the agency believes in having open meetings, but is worried what would happen if live-streaming equipment broke down when it had to hold an emergency meeting, such as to approve a timely contract.
Asked by Del. Kumar Barve (D-Rockville) how often emergency meetings were held, WSSC general counsel Amanda Conn said they occur maybe once a year or once every two years.
Del. Lorig Charkoudian (D-Takoma Park) said the bill can include provisions to address emergency situations and technology problems.
Del. Marc Korman (D-Bethesda) urged WSSC not to resist a transparency requirement that many other agencies have had to adopt.
The same bill also calls for WSSC to not automatically charge a 5% late fee on water and sewer bills. Instead, the fee would be a maximum of 5%, but could be less.
Riley said WSSC did not ask for that flexibility and already can waive a late fee in some circumstances. She said many other water utilities charge 10% as a late fee.
One bill that drew support from many speakers would transfer the administration of speed camera enforcement from the Montgomery County Police Department to the county’s Department of Transportation.
A DOT employee, rather than a police officer, would sign off on violation citations.
Several speakers who supported the idea talked about ideals that extend past the scope of the bill, such as concerns about police officers on patrol stopping minority drivers at higher rates than they do for white drivers.
Elrich and the County Council support the bill and would like to extend the same shift in oversight to cameras issuing tickets for red-light and school bus camera infractions.
Another bill under consideration would give Montgomery County the authority to lower the speed limit on local roads to 15 mph. The current minimum is 25 mph.
That minimum might change, however, to 20 mph — what it was in a similar bill that passed the House of Delegates in the last legislative session but didn’t pass in the Senate.
Barve said lawmakers bringing back bills from the last session should try to stick to the same elements in them, so they will move quickly through the process, gaining the same support they had before.
Supporters of the bill said it could save lives, noting that 14 pedestrians have been killed on county roads this year.
Del. David Moon (D-Takoma Park) plans to bring back another bill that stalled last year, on the connection of homes and school boundaries.
Last year, Moon tried to prohibit real estate agents from advertising a home for sale based on its school assignment. Backlash over that idea led to a less stringent version of the bill. Under the new version, home buyers would be told that there are no guarantees that a home will be attached to a particular school.
The delegation heard hours of testimony on the group of bills, but did not vote on whether to support them.
Lawmakers are scheduled to review another round of bills on Tuesday of next week.
