Westernmost Maryland · Community solar

Coal got too expensive for this ground.Sunlight didn’t.

Three hundred megawatts of solar are going up on the old Georges Creek coalfield, and the state put its own savings at around $300 million.

And a Garrett County home on Potomac Edison can take 10% off its electric bill now, or 25% off if the household qualifies on income.

You subscribe to a share of a Maryland solar farm. The credits land on the Potomac Edison bill you already get, so there is nothing to install at your house, no equipment, and no upfront cost to enroll. Renters count, because the subscription follows the electric account rather than the building.

An aerial view of a community solar farm, long rows of panels with strips of grass growing between them — **This is the thing you take a share of.** A solar farm, somewhere in the service area, feeding the same grid your house is on. Nothing is built at your address; what arrives there is a credit on the bill.

10%

Off every household’s bill

25%

If your income qualifies

None

Documents to prove it

2028

Coalfield makes power again

10%

Every household saves

Any Garrett County home on Potomac Edison lowers its electric bill by 10 percent. No credit check, and no income question to answer for this one.

25%

Income-qualified households save

Households under the Maryland income limit for their size, or on a program like SNAP, LIHEAP or Medicaid, save 25 percent instead.

None

Documents to send in

You answer the income question yourself on the agreement. There is nothing to photocopy, upload or prove, and no paperwork to chase afterwards.

Savings apply to the value of the community solar credits on your bill. A farm produces more in July than in January, so the credit moves through the year rather than sitting flat, and a Garrett County winter is exactly when a household notices its bill.

August 2026 · Board of Public Works

Maryland just bought 300 megawatts off the old coalfield.

The state signed a twenty year agreement with REV Renewables for the Jade Meadow III project, to be built on the reclaimed Lower Georges Creek coalfield here in Garrett County. REV calls it the largest solar project proposed in Maryland. Officials put the state’s savings at around $300 million over the life of the deal.

The state’s agreement, in figures

ProjectJade Meadow III

Size300 MW

Produces250,000 MWh/yr

Term20 years

Power goes toThe State of Maryland

1800s

Coal is first worked out of the Georges Creek field, off and on, for the better part of two centuries.

Early 2000s

The last of the mining stops, mainly on cost. The ground is reclaimed and sits quiet.

Aug 2026

The Board of Public Works approves the agreement. Governor Moore calls it a major win for Maryland.

2028

Jade Meadow III is expected to start producing, roughly 250,000 megawatt hours a year.

Plainly: that farm is the state’s, and this page is not selling you a share of it.

The power from Jade Meadow III was bought by Maryland state government for its own buildings. You cannot subscribe to it, and neither can we. We are telling you about it because it is happening on your county’s ground and it is worth knowing.

What you can do today is separate, and it is ordinary: subscribe to a Maryland community solar farm that has room, and take the discount on your own Potomac Edison bill. Same program the state runs, different farm, and it is open now.

Four steps, about three minutes

Garrett County is one of the areas where we hold the agreement ourselves, so you are not handed off to another website part way through.

STEP 01

Check your address

We confirm Potomac Edison serves you and find a Maryland farm with room for your household.

STEP 02

Answer a few questions

Household size, and whether your income is under the Maryland limit. You answer that one yourself.

STEP 03

Photograph your bill

One picture of your Potomac Edison statement, so the account number goes on correctly the first time.

STEP 04

Sign on your phone

The agreement opens here and you sign it in the browser. A copy comes by email, and the credit starts on a later bill.

Oakland, McHenry, Grantsville, and the rest of the plateau

Community solar reaches households a rooftop system never could. Nothing is attached to the house, so it works the same whether you own it, rent it, or spend half the year somewhere warmer.

Oakland Mountain Lake Park Deep Creek Lake McHenry Grantsville Accident Friendsville Kitzmiller Loch Lynn Heights Deer Park Swanton Bloomington

One requirement. Your electricity has to come from Potomac Edison and the account has to be in your name. Potomac Edison stays your electric company: it still delivers the power, still reads the meter, still turns out at two in the morning when a line comes down on Backbone Mountain. The only thing that changes is a line on the statement.

The Garrett County Courthouse in Oakland, Maryland, in stone with its clock tower

Garrett County Courthouse, Oakland · county seat, population 1,851 at the 2020 census

Questions Garrett County households ask

Does anything get built at my house?

No. Nothing is installed and there is no equipment. Your share of a solar farm somewhere else in Maryland shows up as a credit on your Potomac Edison bill.

Am I subscribing to the farm on the old coalfield?

No. Maryland state government bought that power for its own buildings, and it is not open to households. Your subscription goes to a community solar farm that has room for residential customers, which is a separate thing under the same state program.

I rent, or the place is a second home. Does that matter?

The subscription attaches to your electric account rather than to the building, so renting is fine and there is no landlord to involve. The account does need to be in your name.

What do I have to prove to get the 25 percent?

Nothing. You state your household size and whether your income is under the Maryland limit, or whether you are on a qualifying assistance program. In Potomac Edison territory there are no documents to verify.

Do I get a second bill?

No. You keep one bill from Potomac Edison. The community solar credit appears on it, and you end up paying less than you would have.

What happens in winter, when the farm is under snow?

A farm produces less in winter and more in summer, so your credit moves with the seasons. The discount is applied to the value of the credits you receive, so a lighter winter credit means a lighter winter charge from us rather than a shortfall you have to make up.

What if I move or change my mind?

You can cancel anytime. There is no upfront cost to enroll and no cancellation penalty. The agreement sets out the notice period in plain language before you sign it.

Is this a Potomac Edison program?

Community solar is a Maryland program. Our Power Co. trading as JoinCommunity.Solar is licensed by the Maryland Public Service Commission to enroll households, and Potomac Edison remains your electric company throughout.

This page is published by JoinCommunity.Solar for Garrett County residents. It is not a Garrett County or State of Maryland program page and carries no endorsement by either. Community solar availability varies by utility territory and by how much room a farm has left. Savings are applied to the value of the community solar credits you receive and vary by household, utility and farm.

The Jade Meadow III project is described here as reported. The twenty year power purchase agreement between the Maryland Department of General Services and REV Renewables was approved by the Maryland Board of Public Works in August 2026, and the power is contracted to Maryland state government. It is not open to household subscription and is not connected to the subscriptions offered on this page. Sources: the Office of Governor Wes Moore, the Maryland Board of Public Works, and reporting by the Maryland Daily Record.

Enrollment is handled by Our Power Co., a community solar subscriber organization licensed by the Maryland Public Service Commission, license number 23D3065350006676.

The aerial photograph is a solar farm, shown to illustrate what a community solar subscription is a share of. It is not the Garrett County project and it is not a photograph of any farm named on this page. Photograph by Daniel Miksha under the Unsplash License. Garrett County Courthouse photograph by Generic1139, licensed CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.