Accokeek, Mattawoman, Piscataway Creeks Communities Council, Inc. v. Maryland Public Service Commission

The Maryland Court of Special Appeals affirmed the Maryland Public Service Commission’s (PSC’s) approval of an electric generating station intended to power the Dominion Cove Point natural gas liquefaction facility. An environmental organization unsuccessfully argued that the PSC’s requirement that the project’s sponsor contribute $40 million to the Strategic Energy Investment Fund (SEIF)—which finances investments in energy efficiency and conservation programs, renewable energy resources, low-income energy assistance, and other purposes—was an impermissible tax. The court said that the purpose of requiring the contribution to SEIF was to offset “societal harms” identified by the PSC, including increased carbon emissions and use of a limited supply of industrial greenhouse gas emission allowances under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.