Over 100 Tenants Submit Letter Urging Maryland Public Service Commission To Advance Delayed Networked Geothermal Pilot

In 2024, the Maryland Legislature passed the WARMTH Act, a bill requiring gas utilities in Maryland to pilot thermal energy systems, a highly efficient way to heat and cool homes without releasing health-harming air pollution. Two years later, the pilots remain stalled before the Public Service Commission (PSC). More than 100 tenants at the Northwest Park Apartments in Silver Spring, an apartment building slated to be one of the first locations for the pilot, have submitted a letter calling on the PSC to move the process forward. The project is spearheaded by tenant leaders in Action in Montgomery (AIM), a multi-faith people power organization that is part of the Maryland Just Power Alliance, and supported by faith communities working together through Interfaith Power & Light (DC.MD.NoVA). 

“We’ve had enough delays,” said Lilian, a community leader of the Northwest Park Tenant Association and leader in AIM and the Maryland Just Power Alliance. “I want my community to have equal access to clean air and I know this project will reduce our energy bills. This project matters to real families and we need the Commission to move forward.”

Geothermal projects across the country, including in Framingham, Massachusetts, have shown that networked thermal energy systems use less energy to heat and cool our homes, reducing energy bills for customers.

“This is urgent,”  said Carolina, a leader of the Northwest Park Tenant Association as well as AIM and the Maryland Just Power Alliance. “At a time when our corporate utilities are requesting even more profits from the PSC, this project represents a future where communities can actually afford clean energy. We have waited over 6 months. We need action now.”

Since 2023, residents have measured air quality across apartments in Montgomery County. The results found dangerous levels of harmful pollution, including nitrogen dioxide levels that regularly exceeded 100 parts per billion, the EPA’s health standard for outdoor exposure. Some readings exceeded 250 parts per billion. Dedicated tenant advocacy helped make Northwest Park the county’s first networked geothermal pilot site. 

“We need the Public Service Commission to keep their promise to the residents who have been waiting to experience relief from the dangerous air pollution they live with every day,” said Susan Stevens Miller, senior attorney on Earthjustice’s Right To Zero Campaign. “This program is an investment in our communities and is a model that can be replicated across the state.” 

Unlike gas or propane systems that burn fuel, geothermal energy systems use the steady temperature of the earth to move heat through underground pipes to heat and cool buildings. Because they don’t burn fossil fuels, geothermal systems produce zero harmful air and climate pollution.