Prince George's County, Maryland, USA
Interior Nat Harbor

Sustainable Energy Resources

DoE Sustainable Energy does not endorse, sponsor, or otherwise make any representation or warranty concerning any contractor or any contractor's work, materials, or services.

Ask the Energy Coach

Resources for Residents

Energy Resiliency Zone Initiative

The Energy Resiliency Zones (ERCs) Initiative is an effort by the County to focus on uplifting neighborhoods that face significant economic, health, public safety, and educational challenges. The ERCs evolved from a County initiative, formerly known as the Transforming Neighborhoods Initiative (TNI), which utilized several metric indicators such as education, public safety, and employment to identify key neighborhoods across the County needing holistic uplifting.

Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) 21 defines resilience as "the ability to anticipate, prepare for, and adapt to changing conditions and withstand, respond to, and recover rapidly from disruptions." From an energy perspective, resiliency is preparing for and adapting to utility disruptions and recovering quickly. It involves deploying distributed energy resources such as energy efficiency, renewable energy such as solar PV and thermal, battery storage, and microgrids. Through this initiative, the County will improve the quality of life in those communities while identifying ways to improve service delivery for all residents. You can use the locator tool to determine if you live within an ERC area: Energy Resiliency Communities (ERC) Address Locator.

During a QHEC, trained Energy Analysts will: 

  • Assess your home’s energy use; 
  • Recommend energy-saving improvements;
  • Help you start saving right away by installing free energy-saving products (up to 14 LED bulbs, electric hot water heater pipe wrap, ShowerStart™ showerhead adapters, efficient-flow showerheads, sink/faucet aerators, and SmartPower strips). 

This program is provided at no extra cost to your existing Pepco service. This cannot be used as the Clean Energy Grant's qualifying audit (please look at the HPwES below).

Pepco customers can receive a whole-house energy audit for only $100 (typically valued at $400). Professionally certified auditors perform all of the work described in the QHEC above, but they go a step further when residents receive a home energy assessment by participating in the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR (HPwES) Program. This "whole=house" audit looks at how a combination of improvements can result in a more comfortable home and lower energy consumption and costs in a prioritized manner. The necessary step in HPwES participation is selecting from a pre-approved list of contractors to schedule your home energy audit by visiting homeenergysavings.pepco.com/md/residential/home-performance-with-energy-star-program/overview/participating-contractors. 

This audit is required to qualify for the Clean Energy Grant (the QHEC audit above does provide sufficient data).

Solar Resources

Maryland Solar United Neighbors is a non-profit organization dedicated to representing the needs and interests of solar enthusiasts by ensuring that residents understand how solar works, how it can be financed, and how it can be installed in their homes for cheaper via solar co-ops. Co-ops are any group who can take advantage of the group’s bulk-purchasing power to get discounted pricing and a quality installation.
 

Resources for Commercial Properties and Businesses

Resource for Green Leasing Best Practices 

Institute for Market Transformation (IMT) and Better Buildings run a recognition program for those in the real estate community who have successfully used green leasing in their operations. This website contains award requirements and past recipients. www.greenleaselibrary.com.

For more information, please visit the Green Lease Leaders application. The site provides examples of green lease activities and responses are not limited to the examples provided.

Electric Vehicle Charging Incentives

Pepco and BGE customers can now take advantage of new rebates to help offset the cost of the Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Station pilot. Through a new program, both utilities provide two types of vehicle charger rebates for homes and multifamily properties.

Pepco Electric Vehicle Charging Pilot Program

  • Residential – Pepco offers up to $300 rebates for qualifying Maryland residential customers who install an eligible Level 2 smart charger at their single-family home after July 1, 2019.
  • Multifamily – Property managers, owners, and even homeowners associations can take advantage of EV rebates up to $25,000 on qualified charging equipment installation of Level 2 smart chargers and for a 100% discount on installation at your property.

 BGE Electric Vehicle Charging Pilot Program 

  • Residential—Use this resource to receive rebates and incentives (up to $300) for adopting an EV into your lifestyle. It provides general EV information, as well as information on finding and comparing available EVs and charger stations. 
  • Multifamily—Property managers, owners, and even homeowners associations may be eligible to receive incentives up to $25,000 for installing Level 2 smart chargers or DC fast chargers on their properties.  

Read DPIE's Guidelines for Permitting Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (September 2022) for residents.

Please stay tuned for more information on the public electric vehicle charging process.