# COMAR Title 20 — Public Service Commission

## Subtitle 62 — Community Solar Energy Generation Systems

### Chapter 03 — Program Administration

**Authority:** Public Utilities Article, §§2-113, 2-121, 7-306, 7-306.1, and 7-306.2, Annotated Code of Maryland

**Administrative History:** Effective date: July 18, 2016 (43:14 Md. R. 781)

**Administrative History:** Regulation .02 amended effective March 21, 2022 (49:6 Md. R. 406)

**Administrative History:** Regulation .02A, D amended effective March 3, 2025 (52:4 Md. R. 221)

**Administrative History:** Regulation .03 amended effective March 3, 2025 (52:4 Md. R. 221)

**Administrative History:** Regulation .03D amended effective March 21, 2022 (49:6 Md. R. 406)

**Administrative History:** Regulation .04 amended effective March 3, 2025 (52:4 Md. R. 221); March 3, 2025 (52:4 Md. R. 221)

**Administrative History:** Regulation .04C amended effective June 15, 2020 (47:12 Md. R. 597)

**Administrative History:** Regulation .04D amended effective March 21, 2022 (49:6 Md. R. 406)

**Administrative History:** Regulation .05 amended effective March 21, 2022 (49:6 Md. R. 406); March 3, 2025 (52:4 Md. R. 221)

**Administrative History:** Regulation .06B amended effective March 3, 2025 (52:4 Md. R. 221)

**Administrative History:** Regulation .07 amended effective March 3, 2025 (52:4 Md. R. 221)

**Administrative History:** Regulation .08 amended effective March 3, 2025 (52:4 Md. R. 221)

**Administrative History:** Regulation .08A amended effective June 15, 2020 (47:12 Md. R. 597)

**Administrative History:** Regulation .08B amended effective March 21, 2022 (49:6 Md. R. 406)

**Administrative History:** Regulation .08D, E adopted effective March 21, 2022 (49:6 Md. R. 406)

**Administrative History:** Regulation .09 adopted effective March 21, 2022 (49:6 Md. R. 406)

**Administrative History:** Regulation .09D amended effective March 3, 2025 (52:4 Md. R. 221)

#### Regulation .01 Customer Eligibility.

*COMAR 20.62.03.01*

A. CSEGS Location.

  (1) A customer may subscribe to a community solar energy generating system that is located in the same electric company service territory as the customer.

  (2) The location of a CSEGS for the purpose of customer eligibility shall be determined by the physical location of the electric meter of the CSEGS.

B. All rate classes are eligible to subscribe to a community solar energy generating system.

C. Subscribers served by retail electricity suppliers and subscribers served by Standard Offer Service may subscribe to the same community solar energy generating system.

#### Regulation .02 Subscriber Organization and Subscription Coordinator Requirements.

*COMAR 20.62.03.02*

A. A subscriber organization and a subscription coordinator shall apply with the Commission for admission to the Program on forms authorized by the Commission.

B. The Commission shall assign each successful applicant a CSEGS identification number.

C. An electric company that participates as a subscriber organization may not recover CSEGS project costs through base distribution rates.

D. A subscriber organization shall provide, on forms authorized by the Commission, the following data upon application to the Program.

  (1) The type and quantity of forest cover on each proposed site for a community solar energy generating system included within the application, including:

    (a) The approximate net tract area measured in acres;

    (b) The approximate acres within the net tract area with forest cover; and

  (2) Any anticipated impacts the construction of any proposed community solar energy generating system will have on trees and forest cover at the site of the proposed community solar energy generating system, including:

    (a) The approximate acres of forest cover that will be removed, if any, for construction of the community solar energy generating system;

    (b) The approximate total acres of any forest cover that will be retained, if any, on the project site;

    (c) The approximate total acres of anticipated reforestation, if any, required to comply with the Forest Conservation Act;

    (d) If reforestation will be required, the anticipated method or methods of reforestation, which may include one or more of the following options:

      (i) Retention and preservation of existing on-site forest;

      (ii) Retention and preservation of existing off-site forest;

      (iii) On-site plantings;

      (iv) Off-site plantings;

      (v) Forest mitigation banking;

      (vi) Payment of a fee-in-lieu; or

      (vii) An alternative method adopted by a local jurisdiction and approved by the Department of Natural Resources under Natural Resources Article, §5-1606.1, Annotated Code of Maryland; and

    (e) The approximate acres for each reforestation method identified in response to paragraph (d) of this subsection.

#### Regulation .03 Project Application Process.

*COMAR 20.62.03.03*

A. An applicant that has been granted admission to the Program by the Commission that wishes to construct and operate a community solar energy generating system under this Program shall apply to the electric company serving the location of the system.

B. Project Application Procedure.

  (1) An electric company shall establish a project application procedure in compliance with these regulations and Commission Orders.

  (2) An electric company shall develop its project application procedure in a manner designed to encourage achievement of program goals and timely project development.

  (3) An electric company shall develop, for filing with the Commission, tariffed terms and conditions to administer the Program.

C. An electric company shall assign each project an identification number unique to the electric company’s service territory for the purpose of identification.

D. Low and Moderate Income Verification.

  (1) A subscriber organization or subscription coordinator shall verify the income of a prospective subscriber for eligibility as an LMI subscriber under the Program by using one of the following methods:

    (a) Self-attestation by the prospective subscriber that does not need to be under oath or penalty of perjury;

    (b) Requiring the prospective subscriber to provide evidence of eligibility for or enrollment in at least one of the following assistance programs:

      (i) The Maryland Energy Assistance Program;

      (ii) The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program;

      (iii) Medicaid;

      (iv) Head Start;

      (v) Free and reduced price school meals;

      (vi) The federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program;

      (vii) EmPOWER Maryland low- or moderate-income incentives;

      (viii) Telephone lifeline service;

      (ix) The Fuel Fund of Maryland; or

      (x) Any additional federal, State, or local assistance program that the Commission determines will further the purposes of the program;

    (c) Pay stubs;

    (d) Income tax documents;

    (e) Proof of residence in an affordable housing facility;

    (f) Proof of residence within a census tract that is:

      (i) An overburdened community; and

      (ii) An underserved community;

    (g) Any verification method that was available under the Pilot Program; or

    (h) Any additional methods approved by the Commission to verify income.

  (2) A multi-family dwelling unit shall qualify as a low-income subscriber for the purposes of the Program if it has an active contract or award with one or more of the following:

    (a) United States Department of Housing and Urban Development;

    (b) United States Department of Agriculture - Rural Development;

    (c) Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development;

    (d) Maryland Affordable Housing Trust; or

    (e) Any other state or federal low- income housing assistance program that requires the operator of the low-income multi-family dwelling unit to ensure all residents of the low-income multi-family dwelling unit have income at or below the maximum income level required for the residents to qualify as LMI subscribers under the Program.

  (3) An operator of a multi-family dwelling unit that does not meet the criteria under §D(2) of this regulation may apply to the Commission to qualify as an LMI subscriber for the purposes of the Program..

  (4) A subscriber organization or subscription coordinator shall:

    (a) Verify the eligibility of an LMI subscriber in accordance with §D(1) of this regulation;

    (b) Retain records of each determination of eligibility for an LMI subscriber; and

    (c) Make records of determination of eligibility available to the Commission on request.

#### Regulation .04 Program Queue.

*COMAR 20.62.03.04*

A. Electric Company Application Process.

  (1) An electric company shall process applications filed under Regulation .03 of this chapter in the order in which the electric company receives the application.

  (2) Within 5 business days of receipt, the electric company shall acknowledge receipt of the application and notify the subscriber organization whether the application is complete.

  (3) If the application is incomplete, the electric company shall provide a written list detailing all information that must be provided to complete the application.

  (4) A subscriber organization receiving notice of an incomplete application as described in §A(3) of this regulation shall revise and submit the required information within 10 business days after receipt of the list of incomplete information.

  (5) The electric company shall notify a subscriber organization within 5 business days of receipt of a revised application whether the application is complete or incomplete.

  (6) An electric company shall grant an extension of time to provide such information upon reasonable request from the subscriber organization.

  (7) The electric company shall reject an application that is not submitted in accordance with this section.

B. Queue Order.

  (1) An electric company shall maintain a program queue consisting of a list of project applications in order of the date of receipt by the electric company of the application unless otherwise modified by §B(2) of this regulation.

  (2) An electric company shall file with the Commission a tariffed procedure to prioritize multiple applications that are received on a single business day.

  (3) An electric company shall deem a CSEGS application complete upon provision by the subscriber organization of the following:

    (a) A partially executed interconnection agreement;

    (b) Proof of site control; and

    (c) One of the following:

      (i) For a community solar energy generating system with a generating capacity of 2MWac or less, proof of application for a required permit or a preliminary step required prior to applying for a required permit; or

      (ii) For a community solar energy generating system with a generating capacity larger than 2MWac, a completeness determination issued by the Commission or a Public Utility Law Judge in response to an application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity requesting authorization to construct the community solar energy generating system.

  (4) An electric company shall accept the following as proof of site control:

    (a) Evidence of property ownership;

    (b) An executed lease agreement; or

    (c) A signed option to purchase or lease.

  (5) The Commission may establish additional conditions limiting the number of projects for which any single subscriber organization or its affiliates may apply in:

    (a) The Statewide program; or

    (b) A single utility service territory.

C. Operational Deadline.

  (1) If a project fails to begin operating within 24 months of the determination by the electric company that the subscriber organization has provided the information required under §B(3) of this regulation, the electric company shall remove the project from the electric company’s program queue unless the subscriber organization of the project provides to the electric company an additional deposit of $50 per kW to maintain its position within the program queue.

  (2) If a project fails to begin operating within 36 months of the electric company’s determination that the application is complete under §B(3) of this regulation, the electric company shall remove the project from the electric company’s program queue.

  (3) The electric company shall extend the operational deadline on a day-for-day basis for the following reasons:

    (a) If the subscriber organization attests and provides evidence to the electric company that a project’s readiness to begin operating depends only upon receipt of permission to operate from the electric company; or

    (b) If the subscriber organization attests and provides evidence to the electric company that a governmental permit or approval for the project was subject to a legal challenge or moratorium during the reservation period, and the legal challenge remains pending, or the moratorium remains in effect.

  (4) An electric company shall return the CSEGS deposit upon commencement of operation unless the electric company has removed the project from the queue.

  (5) If a project has been removed from the queue by the electric company, the queue deposit shall be forfeited.

  (6) An electric company shall forward forfeited queue deposits to the Commission.

D. Project Website Information. An electric company shall provide a list of information on its website about the current status of its  program queue, including the following information:

  (1) Name of the subscriber organization;

  (2) Service address of the project;

  (3) Proposed capacity of the project;

  (4) Application date;

  (5) Status of application (accepted, withdrawn, or removed) and date such action occurred;

  (6) Interconnection application status;

  (7) Expected date of first operation;

  (8) Operation deadline under §C of this regulation;

  (9) Project identification number;

  (10) CSEGS identification number; and

  (11) Project status (reserved, in-service, or withdrawn).

E. Except as provided in §F of this regulation, an electric company shall update the list under §D of this regulation no less than once per week.

F. An electric company is not required to update the list under §D of this regulation if there was no change to the information on the list in the immediately preceding week.

G. An electric company that operates as a subscriber organization shall apply to the Commission for permission to enter each of its own projects into the electric company’s program queue.

#### Regulation .05 Data Communication.

*COMAR 20.62.03.05*

A. All subscriber organizations, subscription coordinators, and utilities shall use the uniform electronic transaction processes approved by the Commission.

B. Community Solar Program Data Collection.

  (1) Subscriber organizations shall provide the Maryland Public Service Commission with the following data by the 10th day of January, April, July, and October, and the data will be provided to the Maryland Energy Administration and may be made publicly available:

    (a) The name and address of the subscriber organization responsible for the community solar project;

    (b) The name(s) and contact information (phone number, email address, and website) of the organization(s) authorized to find and sign-up subscribers;

    (c) The name and description of the community solar array to include its project ID, physical location, and electrical service territory;

    (d) The status of the community solar array development to identify the project phase to include at least one of the following options:

      (i) Design and development phase;

      (ii) Under construction;

      (iii) In-service;

      (iv) Canceled/withdrawn; or

      (v) On-hold/waitlist;

    (e) The status of subscription acquisition to include at least one of the following options:

      (i) Not soliciting subscriptions at this time;

      (ii) Subscriptions are available;

      (iii) Fully subscribed, not accepting new subscriptions; or

      (iv) Fully subscribed, but wait-listing new requests;

    (f) The types of subscriptions being sought to include at least one of the following options:

      (i) Private placement only, not available to the public;

      (ii) Available to residential subscribers only;

      (iii) Available to commercial subscribers only; or

      (iv) Available to both residential and commercial subscribers;

    (g) The status of special discounts available to Low and Moderate income subscribers;

    (h) The project size (kW-ac);

    (i) The expected in-service date; and

    (j) Date of last data update.

  (2) Subscriber organizations shall provide the Maryland Public Service Commission with the following data by the 10th day of January, April, July, and October:

    (a) Information that the subscriber organization deems confidential shall be marked as such;

    (b) Confidentially marked documents or information contained therein shall be shared with the Maryland Energy Administration and the Office of People's Counsel;

    (c) Confidential documents can be shared by the Maryland Public Service Commission with an entity subject to the entity signing a nondisclosure agreement or subject to the requirements of the Public Information Act.

    (d) The name, address, phone number, and email address of the subscriber organization point of contact (POC);

    (e) The date program capacity was granted by the utility;

    (f) The proposed community solar generating system output power (kW-dc);

    (g) Proposed community solar energy generating system acreage (land actually inside the fence line);

    (h) The percentage of energy subscribed to residential subscribers and to commercial subscribers;

    (i) A subscription summary for each class of subscribers showing rates, fees, and any other pertinent information; and

    (j) Date of last data update.

  (3) During community solar project design and construction, all data in §B(1) and (2) of this regulation are considered to be the “best estimate” as of the reporting date. Within 60 days of an array going online, data shall be finalized with values as of the date of “Permission to Operate”. No additional reporting is required after the commercial operational date.

  (4) If no data have changed from the last report, the subscriber organization may simply submit a report stating that there were no changes from the previous report.

#### Regulation .06 Renewable Energy Credit Ownership.

*COMAR 20.62.03.06*

A. Subscribers are not customer-generators under Public Utilities Article, §7-306(g)(5), Annotated Code of Maryland.

B. Subscriber organizations shall own and have title to all renewable energy attributes or renewable credits associated with community energy generating facilities for which they are authorized by the Commission to participate in the Program.

#### Regulation .07 Conversion of Existing Solar Facilities.

*COMAR 20.62.03.07*

A subscriber organization may apply to the Commission to convert all or a portion of an existing solar generating system that participates in net energy metering under Public Utilities Article, §7-306, Annotated Code of Maryland into a community solar energy generation system under the Program.

#### Regulation .08 Project Location.

*COMAR 20.62.03.08*

A. Except as provided in §B of this regulation, a community solar energy generating system may not be located on the same or an adjacent parcel of land as an existing or proposed community solar energy generating system if the total installed capacity of all community solar energy generating systems on the same or adjacent parcel would exceed 5 megawatts.

B. The prohibition under §A of this regulation does not apply to projects constructed:

  (1) On the rooftops of buildings;

  (2) In areas that are zoned for industrial use;

  (3) On brownfields locations and clean fill sites;

  (4) Over parking lots or roadways;

  (5) On multilevel parking structures;

  (6) On or over transportation or public rights-of -way;

  (7) At airports;

  (8) On land that:

    (a) Was previously zoned for industrial use or is ecologically compromised; and

    (b) Is not targeted for mitigation or restoration; or

  (9) In any location if the combined capacity of all community solar energy generating systems on the same or adjacent parcel does not exceed 10 megawatts and:

    (a) At least 75% of the aggregate capacity of the co-located community solar energy generating system serves LMI subscribers;

    (b) For a site without a community solar energy generating system installed before the start of the Program, all of the community solar energy generating systems installed after the start of the Program are used for agrivoltaics; or

    (c) For a site with a community solar energy generating system installed before the start of the Program, each new community solar energy generating system installed after the start of the Program is used for agrivoltaics.

#### Regulation .09 Subscription Coordinator Requirements.

*COMAR 20.62.03.09*

A. A subscription coordinator shall apply with the Commission and obtain a Commission approval number before performing the functions of a subscription coordinator.

B. A subscription coordinator shall notify the Commission of any CSEGS projects for which the coordinator is or plans on performing any functions of a subscription coordinator.

C. The Commission shall make the list of subscription coordinators for which application has been made under §A of this regulation publicly available on the Commission’s website or other website approved by the Commission.

D. A subscription coordinator operating solely as an authorized subscriber organization under the Pilot Program shall apply to the Commission to convert its authorization to a subscription coordinator within 180 days of the start of the Program.