After an hour-long, closed-door meeting on Monday morning at Boordy Vineyards in northeast Baltimore County, Moore took to a barnyard stage before dozens of the state’s agricultural leaders. He began his nearly 20-minute speech with a somber tone, but halfway through, he raised his pitch and, at times, struck his hand on the podium bearing the state seal.

“If we are going to be serious about actually creating a future that makes sure that we can respect all parts of the state, and make sure we are protecting our farmers and protecting rural Maryland,” Moore said, “it means Maryland will continue to do things like standing with other states and pursuing a lawsuit against PJM to lower costs and make this a fairer process.”

This is not right,” Moore added.

PJM Interconnection, the electric grid operator for Washington, D.C., and 13 states, said it believed the governor wasn’t referencing new legal action. The grid operator’s spokesperson said he thought this was a reference to the Pennsylvania lawsuit against the organization.

The lawsuit was settled earlier this year, with Maryland only submitting a letter of support.

PJM has also put some of the blame for higher capacity auction costs on decarbonization policies. The operator on Thursday told Spotlight on Maryland that energy generation deficits create additional demand, driving up capacity auction prices that broke an annual record for a second consecutive year.

Regarding the capacity auction, economic growth is driving a massive uptick in electricity demand,” said Jeffrey Shields, PJM’s senior manager of external communications. “Existing supply has been leaving the system due primarily to state and federal decarbonization policies and some economics.”

Spotlight on Maryland asked Moore about his legal pursuits against PJM and how the grid operator is to blame when it claims decarbonization policies are responsible for the closure of power plants, following his unrelated executive order signing event on Monday.

The governor was also asked why he is not changing course on his green energy agenda, which focuses heavily on bringing an offshore wind project along Ocean City’s coastline.

New Jersey regulators' records show that the state canceled its latest offshore wind development bidding in February. The New York State Public Service Commission was the most recent East Coast state last week to "strategically terminate" power line transmission projects crucial for linking offshore wind projects to its electricity grid, according to New York records.

“It is very clear, and it's well documented that we are working and supporting the lawsuit against PJM, that is happening with these other states, and one thing we know, there is no data that shows that what PJM is saying is true,” Moore said. “What we do know is PJM has a process that continues to thwart any new developments, that PJM has a process that is not transparent, that PJM has a process that is frankly making it more difficult for our farmers.”

Spotlight on Maryland flew a drone in early July near the proposed construction site for wind turbinesat Tradepoint Atlantic in Baltimore, where US Wind, the only company with an approved state offshore wind construction permit, was to open its manufacturing facility. The location, which was set to provide 550 jobs by 2025, remained mostly unchanged since the governor broke ground.

“They [PJM] have a process where they are working with all of these other states that is making it more complicated, where they are drawing up a map, and then basically looking at our states, like people don’t actually even live there,” Moore said. “I am standing right alongside the other governors, of these others states within PJM, saying ‘PJM has got to change their process’ because they are the reason we continue watching so many of these other challenges when it comes to increased energy cost and when it comes to a lack of transparency to a lot of our farmers who are getting hosed right now.”

What PJM has laid out is a slap in the face,” Moore added.

As the region’s grid operator, PJM is not solely responsible for authorizing the building or involved in the permitting or licensing of new power plants in its operating area. The grid operator’s responsibility is to study the impacts of power plant projects, plan power line projects to connect a plant to the electricity grid, and do so to maintain the reliability of power delivery.

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Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro filed a lawsuit against PJM in December over spikes in the operator’s capacity auction, according to federal records. These auctions set the regional standard rate that power plants are paid to supply electricity to areas of the electric grid that lack enough power generation to keep the lights on during peak demand.

The governors of Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, and New Jersey sent a letter in January to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) supporting Shapiro’s lawsuit. FERC approved a settlement between PJM and Pennsylvania in April, setting an auction cap that could have otherwise added hundreds of dollars to ratepayers' annual bills without intervention.

Maryland Del. Ryan Nawrocki, R-Baltimore County, said the governor’s threats against PJM and claims that they are to blame for the decrease in power plants in the state “is absurd.”

PJM wants more supply on the grid. That’s what their job is,” Nawrocki said. “What’s ultimately behind surging prices is closing power plants and trying to bring on unaffordable and unrealistic energy ideas like offshore wind — that’s what’s causing the surge in pricing in Maryland.”

“When you don’t have a plan, you have to make it someone else’s fault,” Nawrocki added.

Public records show that six coal-fired power plants have closed since 2018, leading to a reduction of over 3,200 megawatts in the state's energy capacity. The Brandon Shores power plant, owned by Talen Energy, was scheduled to shut down in June. The plant agreed to operate under a "reliability-must-run" contract with PJM until May 31, 2029, to ensure transmission and grid reliability, according to the plant's website.