A private firm announced a $70 million plan Friday to build Maryland’s largest solar energy project on the grounds of a state prison near Hagerstown to generate electricity for the wholesale market.
Maryland Solar LLC of Easton said it is seeking speedy approval by state utility regulators and a long-term lease on 250 state-owned acres surrounding the medium-security Maryland Correctional Institution. The company said it hopes to use inmate labor to tend the grounds and keep the thousands of solar panels clean.
If the 20-megawatt project is built, Maryland would join California in using open space around correctional institutions to commercially generate electricity from the sun. California’s prison agency said May 6 that more than 83,000 solar panels will be installed at five prisons there, with the state and contractor SunEdison splitting profits from electricity sales.
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