A battery storage project in Harford County Maryland draws opposition
A battery storage project proposed for Harford County Maryland is the only 1 of 4 such projects that state regulators reviewed on July 30, 2026 to draw organized opposition. A battery storage project is a facility that charges racks of batteries from the electric grid and releases the power back into it later, in this case for 4 hours or more, according to Maryland Matters. Tenaska, the company behind the proposal, calls it the Oystercatcher Energy Storage Project, and wants to build it at 500 megawatts, enough to make it 1 of the larger battery storage projects proposed in the state.
The 2025 law that created the incentive Oystercatcher is seeking
A 2025 Maryland law, the Next Generation Energy Act, House Bill 1035, created the incentive Oystercatcher is applying for. Records kept by the Maryland General Assembly show the bill passed the House of Delegates 96 to 40 and the Senate 34 to 8, a wide margin in both chambers. Governor Wes Moore approved it on May 20, 2025, and it took effect June 1, 2025. The Maryland Public Service Commission runs a dashboard that states the law requires investor owned electric utilities in the state to solicit or install 150 megawatts of grid connected battery storage, part of a goal of 3,000 megawatts of energy storage statewide by May 31, 2034.
Vote counts come from the Maryland General Assembly bill record for House Bill 1035, the Next Generation Energy Act, not from either news account of the project it created an incentive for.
Show the numbers
| House yes | 96 |
| House no | 40 |
| Senate yes | 34 |
| Senate no | 8 |
Only 69.56 megawatts toward that 3,000 megawatt goal is interconnected so far, per the same commission dashboard. The 500 megawatt Oystercatcher project alone would add more than 7 times what the state has connected toward its own target to date, a comparison this article calculates by dividing 500 by 69.56.
The currently interconnected and 2034 goal figures are both from the Maryland Public Service Commission proceedings dashboard. The 500 megawatt figure is the project size reported by Maryland Matters and The Cool Down.
Show the numbers
| Currently interconnected | 69.56 |
| This project | 500 |
| Statewide goal by 2034 | 3000 |
Why residents oppose the site
Tenaska wants to build Oystercatcher on 70 acres in northwestern Harford County, most of it left forested, above Deer Creek and near the Conastone substation operated by Baltimore Gas and Electric. Maryland Matters and The Cool Down, the 2 news outlets that covered the July 30, 2026 hearing directly, both put the site within 600 feet of the creek. Residents and county officials told the commission that a fire on the slope could send contaminated runoff downhill into a waterway that feeds the local water supply before anyone could stop it.
If anything goes wrong with this thing, it goes right down into the Deer Creek. This is a cherished waterway that feeds the water supply.
Bob Cassilly, Harford County Executive. Source 3.
The office of Delegate Lauren Arikan told the commission it had already gathered 1,300 signatures against the project. Of the 4 battery storage applications the commission reviewed that day, Oystercatcher was the only 1 to draw organized opposition.
The developer says newer projects reduce the risk
Keith Latham, director of battery storage development at Tenaska, told the commission that newer battery storage projects follow reduced risk code standards, and that the company would work with local fire departments as the project moves forward.
Additionally, code standards and best practices have also greatly reduced risk of issues in newer battery storage projects.
Keith Latham, director of battery storage development, Tenaska. Source 3.
Harford County was already preparing to fight projects like this one
Six weeks before the hearing, on June 17, 2026, Harford County government announced it had hired outside counsel and formed an interdepartmental work group. The county says a separate 2025 state law, Senate Bill 931, removed its own zoning authority over solar and battery storage siting decisions. That means the county is fighting not only 1 project, but a law it says already took away its power to zone this kind of facility out of the county in the first place.
We must protect our farmland and our communities from the potential dangers of these so called green energy projects that can cause lasting harm to public health.
Bob Cassilly, Harford County Executive. Source 5.