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BALTIMORE, MD – Attorney General Anthony G. Brown has secured a major victory to protect Maryland energy programs, after the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon found that the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) cap on state energy program funding is illegal. In a ruling from the bench, Judge Mustafa Kasubhai granted the attorneys general’s motion for partial summary judgment, concluding that the DOE policy violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The policy would have slashed reimbursements for staffing and administrative costs and threatened millions of dollars for essential energy programs that operate in Maryland.
“This ruling stops an unlawful policy by President Trump’s Energy Department that would have undermined Maryland's efforts to meet climate goals and deliver a cleaner, healthier environment for our children and grandchildren,” said Attorney General Brown. “Our Office will always fight to protect our climate and defend programs that help Marylanders reduce their utility costs and make critical energy improvements to their homes.”
Last month, Attorney General Brown joined a coalition of 18 other attorneys general and two governors in a lawsuit to block DOE’s attempt to cap reimbursement of indirect (administrative) and fringe (employee benefit) costs at 10 percent of a project’s budget. The attorneys general argued that DOE’s cap violated federal law, disregarded states’ negotiated cost rates and would undermine staffing and operations for state energy agencies. Judge Kasubhai ruled for the states and found the funding cap illegal.
Joining Attorney General Brown in filing this lawsuit were the attorneys general of New York, Minnesota, Colorado, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‛i, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin, as well as the Governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
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