‘It’s personal’: Maryland climate groups defend energy dollars amid budget pinch

By: Christine Condon

Outlets: Maryland Matters

Published: February 27, 2026

Words: 1,054

Last Updated: 1 week, 6 days ago

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For years, John Magoon, a lay leader at the Emmanuel United Methodist Church in Laurel, has dreamed of getting solar panels on top of his church, but the cost never penciled out.

He thought a grant from the Maryland Energy Administration’s Strategic Energy Investment Fund — SEIF — might be the solution. But his church was denied amid high demand.

SEIF was created to help cut power bills and lower greenhouse gas emissions, but its …

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