Human Services - Energy Assistance Programs - Administration and Funding

EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MATTER ADDED TO EXISTING LAW.
[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
*hb1516*

HOUSE BILL 1516
O1, M5 6lr2724
CF SB 771
By: Delegate Fraser–Hidalgo
Introduced and read first time: February 13, 2026
Assigned to: Environment and Transportation and Appropriations

A BILL ENTITLED

AN ACT concerning 1

Human Services – Energy Assistance Programs – Administration and Funding 2

FOR the purpose of transferring the administration of the electric universal service 3
program from the Public Service Commission to the Office of Home Energy Programs 4
in the Department of Human Services; altering the authorized uses of the Strategic 5
Energy Investment Fund to include fuel assistance programs; and generally relating 6
to the administration and funding of energy assistance programs. 7

BY renumbering 8
Article – Human Services 9
Section 5–5A–08 through 5–5A–10 10
to be Section 5–5A–09 through 5–5A–11, respectively 11
Annotated Code of Maryland 12
(2019 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 13

BY transferring 14
Article – Public Utilities 15
Section 7–512.1 16
Annotated Code of Maryland 17
(2025 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 18
to be 19
Article – Human Services 20
Section 5–5A–08 21
Annotated Code of Maryland 22
(2019 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 23

BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 24
Article – Housing and Community Development 25
Section 2–102(a)(10) 26
Annotated Code of Maryland 27
(2019 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 28
2 HOUSE BILL 1516

BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 1
Article – Human Services 2
Section 5–101(a), (b), and (c), 5–5A–02 and 5–5A–03 3
Annotated Code of Maryland 4
(2019 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 5

BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 6
Article – Human Services 7
Section 5–5A–01 8
Annotated Code of Maryland 9
(2019 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 10

BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 11
Article – Human Services 12
Section 5–5A–08 13
Annotated Code of Maryland 14
(2019 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 15
(As enacted by Section 2 of this Act) 16

BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 17
Article – Public Utilities 18
Section 7–505(b)(1) 19
Annotated Code of Maryland 20
(2025 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 21

BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 22
Article – Public Utilities 23
Section 7–505(b)(2) and 7–510.3(o) 24
Annotated Code of Maryland 25
(2025 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 26

BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 27
Article – State Government 28
Section 9–20B–01(a) and (b) and 9–20B–05(a) 29
Annotated Code of Maryland 30
(2021 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 31

BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 32
Article – State Government 33
Section 9–20B–05(f)(3) and (g)(1) 34
Annotated Code of Maryland 35
(2021 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 36

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 37
That Section(s) 5–5A–08 through 5–5A–10 of Article – Human Services of the Annotated 38
Code of Maryland be renumbered to be Section(s) 5–5A–09 through 5–5A–11, respectively. 39
HOUSE BILL 1516 3

SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That Sect ion(s) 7 –512.1 of 1
Article – Public Utilities of the Annotated Code of Maryland be transferred to be Section(s) 2
5–5A–08 of Article – Human Services of the Annotated Code of Maryland. 3

SECTION 3. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That the Laws of Maryland read 4
as follows: 5

Article – Housing and Community Development 6

2–102. 7

(a) The Department shall: 8

(10) develop and implement a weatherization program in accordance with 9
Title 4 of this article and administer the low –income weatherization component of the 10
electric universal service program in accordance with [§ 7 –512.1 of the Public Utilities 11
Article] § 5–5A–08 OF THE HUMAN SERVICES ARTICLE. 12

Article – Human Services 13

5–101. 14

(a) In this title the following words have the meanings indicated. 15

(b) “Administration” means the Family Investment Administration. 16

(c) “Department” means the Department of Human Services. 17

5–5A–01. 18

(a) In this subtitle the following words have the meanings indicated. 19

(B) “COMMISSION” MEANS THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION. 20

[(b)] (C) “Energy emergency” means a lack of fuel or the imminent 21
discontinuation of energy services supplied by a fuel vendor or utility vendor that will 22
endanger health, safety, or welfare. 23

[(c)] (D) “Fuel vendor” means a person that distributes, transports, produces, or 24
offers for sale coal products, fuel oil, kerosene, bottled gas, propane, or wood for fuel use or 25
consumption in the State. 26

[(d)] (E) “Office” means the Office of Home Energy Programs. 27

[(e)] (F) “Program” means the Energy Assistance Program. 28
4 HOUSE BILL 1516

[(f)] (G) “Utility vendor” means a person that distributes, transports, or 1
produces natural gas or electricity for use or consumption in the State. 2

5–5A–02. 3

There is an Office of Home Energy Programs in the Administration. 4

5–5A–03. 5

The purpose of the Office is to carry out this subtitle. 6

5–5A–08. 7

(a) (1) (I) [The Commission shall establish] THERE IS an electric 8
universal service program [to assist electric customers with annual incomes at or below 9
200% of the federal poverty level] IN THE OFFICE. 10

(II) THE OFFICE SHALL IMPLEMEN T AND ADMINISTER THE 11
ELECTRIC UNIVERSAL SERVICE PROGRAM. 12

(III) THE PURPOSE OF THE EL ECTRIC UNIVERSAL SER VICE 13
PROGRAM IS TO ASSIST ELECTRIC CUSTOMERS W ITH ANNUAL INCOMES A T OR 14
BELOW 200% OF THE FEDERAL POVERTY LEVEL. 15

(2) The components of the electric universal service program shall include: 16

(i) bill assistance; 17

(ii) low–income residential weatherization; and 18

(iii) the retirement of arrearages for electric customers who have not 19
received assistance in retiring arrearages under the ELECTRIC universal service program 20
within the preceding 5 fiscal years. 21

(3) The Department of Housing and Community Development is 22
responsible for administering the low–income residential weatherization component of the 23
electric universal service program. 24

(4) [(i) The Department of Human Services, through the Office of Home 25
Energy Programs, is responsible for administering the bill assistance and the arrearage 26
retirement components of the electric universal service program. 27

(ii)] The [Department of Human Services] OFFICE may: 28

HOUSE BILL 1516 5

[1.] (I) establish mini mum and maximum benefits 1
available to an electric customer under the bill assistance and arrearage retirement 2
components; and 3

[2.] (II) coordinate benefits under the electric universal 4
service program with benefits under the Maryland Energy Assistance Program and other 5
available energy assistance programs. 6

(5) The [Department of Human Services] OFFICE may, with input from a 7
panel or roundtable of interested parties, contract to assist in administering the bill 8
assistance and the arrearage retirement components of the electric universal service 9
program. 10

(6) The Commission has oversight responsibility for the bill assistance and 11
the arrearage retirement components of the electric universal service program and any 12
other funds expended under this section. 13

(7) In a specific case, the electric universal service program may waive the 14
income eligibility limitation under paragraph (1) of this subsection in order to provide 15
assistance to an electric customer who would qualify for a similar waiver under [the 16
Maryland Energy Assistance Program established under Title 5, Subtitle 5A of the Human 17
Services Article] ANOTHER PROGRAM ESTABLISHED UNDER THIS SUBTITLE. 18

(8) (i) If an applicant for bill assistance or arrearage retirement is to be 19
denied due to deficient documentation, the [Department of Human Services] OFFICE shall: 20

1. promptly provide notice of the deficiency to the applicant; 21
and 22

2. afford the applicant ample opportunity of not less than 3 23
months to cure the deficiency. 24

(ii) An electric company may not begin the process to terminate 25
service to an applicant while the applicant is curing a deficiency under this paragraph. 26

(9) Notwithstanding paragraph (2)(iii) of this subsection, any assistance 27
received for arrearage retirement by a customer in calendar years 2020 and 2021 may not 28
be counted toward the limitation on the number of times the customer may receive 29
assistance for arrearage retirement. 30

(b) (1) All customers shall contribute to the funding of the electric universal 31
service program through a charge collected by each electric company. 32

(2) The Commission shall determine a fair and equitable allocation for 33
collecting the charges among all customer classes pursuant to subsection (e) of this section. 34

6 HOUSE BILL 1516

(3) Except as prov ided in paragraph (4) of this subsection, in accordance 1
with subsection (f)(6) of this section, any unexpended bill assistance and arrearage 2
retirement funds returned to customers under subsection (f) of this section shall be 3
returned to each customer class as a credit in the same proportion that the customer class 4
contributed charges to the fund. 5

(4) The Department [of Human Services] shall expend any unexpended bill 6
assistance and arrearage funds that were collected in fiscal years 2010 through 2017, i n 7
excess of the total amount authorized under subsection (e) of this section, for one or more 8
of the following purposes: 9

(i) bill assistance and the retirement of arrearages for customers 10
who are eligible to receive assistance at the time services are provided; 11

(ii) targeted and enhanced low –income residential weatherization 12
designed to remediate households that are considered ineligible to participate in other 13
State energy efficiency programs due to significant health and safety hazards; 14

(iii) an arrearage management program for low–income customers in 15
arrears, including providing credits or matching payments for customers who make timely 16
payments on current bills; or 17

(iv) an arrearage prevention program for low–income customers. 18

(5) An e lectric company shall recover electric universal service program 19
costs in accordance with § 7–512 of [this subtitle] THE PUBLIC UTILITIES ARTICLE. 20

(6) As determined by the Office [of Home Energy Programs], bill assistance 21
payments to an electric company may be on a monthly basis for each customer. 22

(7) The Commission shall determine the allocation of the electric universal 23
service charge among the generation, transmission, and distribution rate components of all 24
classes. 25

(8) The Commission may not a ssess the electric universal service 26
surcharge on a per kilowatt–hour basis. 27

(c) (1) On or before January 1 of each year, the Commission shall report, 28
subject to § 2–1257 of the State Government Article, to the General Assembly on the electric 29
universal service program, including: 30

(i) subject to subsection (e) of this section, a recommendation on the 31
total amount of funds for the ELECTRIC UNIVERSAL SERVICE program for the following 32
fiscal year based on: 33

1. the level of participation in and the amounts expended on 34
bill assistance and arrearage retirement during the preceding fiscal year; 35
HOUSE BILL 1516 7

2. how bill assistance and arrearage retirement payments 1
were calculated during the preceding fiscal year; 2

3. the projected needs for the bill assistan ce and the 3
arrearage retirement components for the next fiscal year; and 4

4. the amount of any bill assistance or arrearage retirement 5
surplus carried over in the electric universal service program fund under subsection (f)(6)(i) 6
of this section; 7

(ii) for bill assistance, the total amount of need, as determined by the 8
Commission, for electric customers with annual incomes at or below 175% of the federal 9
poverty level and the basis for this determination; 10

(iii) the amount of funds needed, as dete rmined by the Commission, 11
to retire arrearages for electric customers who have not received assistance in retiring 12
arrearages under the electric universal service program within the preceding 7 fiscal years, 13
and the basis for this determination; 14

(iv) the amount of funds needed, as determined by the Commission, 15
for bill assistance and arrearage retirement, respectively, for customers for whom income 16
limitations may be waived under subsection (a)(7) of this section, and the basis for each 17
determination; 18

(v) the impact on customers’ rates, including the allocation among 19
customer classes, from collecting the total amount recommended by the Commission under 20
item (i) of this paragraph; and 21

(vi) the impact of using other federal poverty level benchmarks on 22
costs and the effectiveness of the electric universal service program. 23

(2) (i) To assist the Commission in preparing its recommendations 24
under paragraph (1) of this subsection, the Office [of Home Energy Programs] shall report 25
to the Commission each year on: 26

1. the number of customers and the amount of distributions 27
made to fuel customers under the Maryland Energy Assistance Program established under 28
[Title 5, Subtitle 5A of the Human Services Article] THIS SUBTITLE, identified by funding 29
source and fuel source; 30

2. the cost of outreach and education materials provided by 31
the Office [of Home Energy Programs] for the electric universal service program; and 32

3. the amount of money that the Department [of Human 33
Services] receives, and is projected to receive, for low–income energy assistance from: 34

8 HOUSE BILL 1516

A. the Maryland Strategic Energy Investment Fund under § 1
9–20B–05 of the State Government Article; 2

B. with respect to electric customers only, the Maryland 3
Energy Assistance Program; and 4

C. any other federal, State, local, or private source. 5

(ii) The Office [of Home Energy Programs] may satisfy the reporting 6
requirement of subparagraph (i)1 of this paragraph by providing the Commission with a 7
copy of material t hat contains the required information and that the Office [of Home 8
Energy Programs] submits to the federal government. 9

(iii) The Commission shall include the information provided by the 10
Office [of Home Energy Programs] under subparagraph (i) of this pa ragraph in its report 11
to the General Assembly under paragraph (1) of this subsection. 12

(3) Subject to subsection (d)(2) of this section, the Commission shall include 13
the information provided by the Department of Housing and Community Development 14
under su bsection (d)(1) of this section in its report to the General Assembly under 15
paragraph (1) of this subsection. 16

(4) The electric universal service program shall be subject to audit by the 17
Office of Legislative Audits in accordance with §§ 2 –1220 through 2 –1227 of the State 18
Government Article. 19

(d) (1) On or before January 1 of each year, the Department of Housing and 20
Community Development shall report, in accordance with § 2 –1257 of the State 21
Government Article, to the General Assembly on the low –income r esidential 22
weatherization component of the electric universal service program, including: 23

(i) the amount of funds expended during the preceding fiscal year; 24

(ii) the level of participation during the preceding fiscal year, 25
including the number of households served in each area of the State; and 26

(iii) the types of projects, including the average cost per unit, 27
provided to households during the preceding fiscal year. 28

(2) The Department of Housing and Community Development may satisfy 29
the report ing requirement under paragraph (1) of this subsection by requesting the 30
Commission to include the information in the Commission’s report required under 31
subsection (c) of this section and providing the information to the Commission by the date 32
specified by the Commission. 33

(e) The total amount of funds to be collected for the electric universal service 34
program each year shall be $37 million, allocated in the following manner: 35
HOUSE BILL 1516 9

(1) $27.4 million shall be collected from the industrial and commercial 1
classes; and 2

(2) $9.6 million shall be collected from the residential class. 3

(f) (1) In this subsection, “fund” means the electric universal service program 4
fund. 5

(2) There is an electric universal service program fund. 6

(3) (i) 1. The Comptrolle r shall collect the revenue collected by 7
electric companies under subsection (b) of this section and place the revenue into the fund. 8

2. The General Assembly may appropriate funds 9
supplemental to the funds collected under subsubparagraph 1 of this subparagraph. 10

(ii) The fund is a continuing, nonlapsing fund that is not subject to § 11
7–302 of the State Finance and Procurement Article. 12

(iii) The purpose of the fund is to assist electric customers as provided 13
in subsection (a)(1) of this section. 14

(4) The Department [of Human Services ], with oversight by the 15
Commission, shall disburse the bill assistance and arrearage retirement funds in 16
accordance with the provisions of this section. 17

(5) The Comptroller annually shall disburse up to $1,000,000 of 18
low–income residential weatherization funds to the Department of Housing and 19
Community Development, as provided in the State budget. 20

(6) (i) At the end of a given fiscal year, any unexpended bill assistance 21
and arrearage retirement funds that were collected for that fiscal year shall be retained in 22
the fund and shall be made available for disbursement through the first 6 months of the 23
next fiscal year to customers who: 24

1. qualify for assistance from the fund during the given fiscal 25
year; 26

2. apply for assistance from the fund before the end of the 27
given fiscal year; and 28

3. remain eligible for assistance at the time services are 29
provided. 30

(ii) If the Commission determines that an extension is needed, the 31
Commission may extend up to an additional 6 months the period in which unexpended bill 32
10 HOUSE BILL 1516

assistance and arrearage retirement funds may be made available for disbursement under 1
subparagraph (i) of this paragraph. 2

(iii) 1. Any bill assistance and arrearage retirement funds 3
collected for a given fiscal year that are retained under subparagraph (i) of this paragraph 4
and that remain unexpended at the end of the period allowed under subparagraphs (i) and 5
(ii) of this paragraph shall be returned to each customer class in the proportion that the 6
customer class contributed charges to the fund for the given fiscal year in the form of a 7
credit toward the charge assessed in the following fiscal year. 8

2. If the Commission determines that it is impractical to 9
establish a rate credit for the amount to be returned for a given fiscal year to customers 10
under subsubparagraph 1 of this subparagraph, the Commission: 11

A. may defer the return for not more than 2 additional fiscal 12
years; and 13

B. shall combine the returned amount for that fiscal year 14
with amounts to be returned for the following fiscal years when calculating the rate credit 15
for the final fiscal year of the period. 16

(g) (1) If a party to a merger or acquisition of an electric company or an affiliate 17
of an electric company is required to distribute a credit to the customers in the electric 18
company’s service territory under an agreement with the Commission in connection with 19
the merger or acquis ition, the Commission shall consider the adequacy of the current 20
funding of the electric universal service program in providing assistance to customers who 21
qualify under this section. 22

(2) Any funds deposited into the electric universal service program fund as 23
a result of an agreement with the Commission in connection with a merger or acquisition 24
of an electric company or an affiliate of an electric company are in addition to, and may not 25
substitute for, funds collected under subsection (e) of this section. 26

(h) (1) An arrearage prevention program under subsection (b)(4)(iv) of this 27
section is intended to prevent or reduce arrearages for low –income customers who have 28
participated in a low–income residential weatherization program. 29

(2) (i) The ARREARAGE PREVENTION program is intended as a 30
one–time grant of money to establish ongoing arrearage prevention activities in the State. 31

(ii) The Department [of Human Services ], in consultation with the 32
Commission, will select for the ARREARAGE PREVENTION program up to two public or 33
private entities as program recipients to administer the program. 34

(iii) At least one ARREARAGE PREVENTION program recipient must 35
primarily serve customers in a major urban area of the State. 36

HOUSE BILL 1516 11

(3) [A] AN ARREARAGE PREVENTI ON program recipient must 1
demonstrate significant efforts to: 2

(i) secure additional private investment in rooftop solar 3
installation, including the use of ARREARAGE PREVENTION program money for credit 4
enhancement, direct project support, or support for program recipients and customers; and 5

(ii) provide employment in solar installation to unemployed and 6
underemployed individuals, with preference for those who reside in the local jurisdiction 7
where the installations will occur. 8

(4) The ARREARAGE PREVENTION program may include the installation 9
of rooftop solar electricity generation equipment after energy efficiency measures at the 10
residential property have been completed. 11

Article – Public Utilities 12

7–505. 13

(b) (1) The Commission shall issue the orders or adopt the regulations 14
required under this subsection before the implementation of customer choice. 15

(2) The Commission shall order a universal service program, to be made 16
available on a statewide basis, to benefit low –income customers, in acco rdance with [§ 17
7–512.1 of this subtitle] § 5–5A–08 OF THE HUMAN SERVICES ARTICLE. 18

7–510.3. 19

(o) The Commission shall establish procedures for an electric customer that is 20
receiving electricity supply through a community choice aggregator to receive any bill 21
assistance credit or arrearage assistance to which the customer may be entitled under [§ 22
7–512.1 of this subtitle ] § 5–5A–08 OF THE HUMAN SERVICES ARTICLE or any other 23
federal or State bill and arrearage assistance administered by the Office of Home E nergy 24
Programs. 25

Article – State Government 26

9–20B–01. 27

(a) In this subtitle the following words have the meanings indicated. 28

(b) “Administration” means the Maryland Energy Administration. 29

9–20B–05. 30

(a) There is a Maryland Strategic Energy Investment Fund. 31
12 HOUSE BILL 1516

(f) The Administration shall use the Fund: 1

(3) to provide supplemental funds for low –income energy assistance 2
through [the Electric Universal Service Program established under § 7–512.1 of the Public 3
Utilities Article and other ] electric AND FUEL assistance programs in the Department of 4
Human Services; 5

(g) Proceeds received by the Fund from the sale of allowances under § 2 –1002(g) 6
of the Environment Article shall be allocated as follows: 7

(1) at least 50% shall be credited to an energy assistance account to be used 8
for [the Electric Universal Service Program and other ] electricity AND FUEL assistance 9
programs in the Department of Human Services; 10

SECTION 4. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That the publisher of the 11
Annotated Code of Maryland, in c onsultation with and subject to the approval of the 12
Department of Legislative Services, shall correct, with no further action required by the 13
General Assembly, cross –references and terminology rendered incorrect by this Act. The 14
publisher shall adequately describe any correction that is made in an editor’s note following 15
the section affected. 16

SECTION 5. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That all employees who are 17
transferred to the Department of Human Services as a result of this Act shall be transferred 18
without diminution of their rights, benefits, employment, or retirement status. 19

SECTION 6. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect 20
October 1, 2026. 21