Maryland Cannabis Extraction and Processing Energy: Batch Loads, C1D1 Ventilation, and the 60 kW Line

What an extraction lab looks like to the meter

An extraction or infusion facility draws power in layers. Continuous base load comes from C1D1 exhaust and supply fans, lab HVAC, cold storage, and lighting. Batch load comes from chillers, vacuum ovens, rotary evaporators, and solvent recovery skids that ramp up together when a run starts. The utility bills on the highest 30-minute coincident peak in the month, not the average [bge-segmentation].

Maryland counted 27 operating processors as of January 2026, with conditional licenses still converting from the 2023 CRA lottery round [md-mca-senate-briefing-2026]. Most standalone labs sit below cultivation-scale demand but above the small-commercial thresholds where per-kW delivery begins.

The extraction facility loads page describes the equipment stack. The Maryland-specific question is whether batch scheduling keeps coincident peaks on the right side of the 60 kW BGE line or the Pepco medium general service threshold.

The load stack and where peaks come from

Assume a hydrocarbon or ethanol lab with two 25-ton chillers, two vacuum ovens at 12 kW each, a 30 kW solvent recovery unit, 40 kW of C1D1 and general ventilation, 15 kW of lab HVAC, and 10 kW of lighting and controls. If everything runs at once during a batch start, coincident load is roughly 152 kW before refrigeration and office load.

That peak lands the account on BGE Schedule GL or Pepco medium general service, both demand-metered [bge-segmentation]. Staggering chiller starts so only one 25-ton unit ramps at a time could keep a half-hour peak near 90 kW instead of 152 kW. The peak demand vs. peak usage page explains why the utility cares about the half-hour, not the daily total.

Summer humidity and chiller efficiency

Maryland runs 1,140 cooling degree days with summer dew points in the upper 60s and low 70s F [noaa-cag-maryland]. Higher ambient wet-bulb temperature raises chiller condenser pressure and kW per ton of cooling. A lab that sized chillers for dry-climate nameplate conditions will draw more power per batch in a Baltimore summer than the spec sheet suggests.

Latent load also matters at the building envelope. Any air exchange between classified and non-classified spaces carries moisture that the HVAC must remove. That load is continuous, not batchable.

A worked annual cost for the example lab

Assume the lab runs two batch cycles per weekday, 250 production days a year, with average process load of 80 kW during runs and 55 kW base load continuous:

Component	Assumption	Annual kWh
Base load (ventilation, HVAC, cold storage, lighting)	55 kW continuous	481,800
Batch process load	80 kW average during runs, 10 hours a day, 250 days	200,000
Total		681,800

At the EIA June 2026 Maryland commercial average of 16.84 cents per kWh, energy alone is about $114,800 a year [eia-epm-5-6-a]. Delivery demand charges on GL or equivalent schedules add a per-kW line keyed to monthly peak. Without current $/kW figures from the tariff, assume a 120 kW peak and treat demand as a separate budget line you pull from the bill [bge-segmentation].

A lab that kept peak near 55 kW on BGE Schedule GS would avoid per-kW delivery entirely but would need smaller or staggered equipment. That tradeoff is a capital and throughput decision, not purely an energy decision.

Standard Offer Service tier for processors

Small labs on Type I SOS get a fixed price bid twice a year [md-psc-sos]. Mid-sized labs in Type II SOS with a PJM peak load contribution under 600 kW get a price bid quarterly [md-comar-20-52-01-02] [md-psc-sos]. Larger labs on hourly priced service pay PJM market prices [md-comar-20-52-01-02]. Processors near 600 kW should request interval data before comparing supplier offers to SOS.

Scheduling and rate class management

Three operational levers reduce peak without cutting throughput:

1. Stagger chiller and recovery starts so no two large motors ramp in the same 30-minute window.
2. Run ovens on offset schedules from chillers when the process allows.
3. Pre-cool thermal storage during off-peak hours if the utility schedule has time-of-use energy charges (BGE Schedule GS and GLP include TOU energy components [bge-segmentation]).

Pepco Maryland and Delmarva Power Maryland use their own general service schedule names and kW breakpoints; confirm placement from the tariff book for the account's utility [md-psc-sos].

Incentives and buildout timing

Many processors from the 2023 lottery are still in buildout [md-mca-senate-briefing-2026]. Specifying variable frequency drives on chiller compressors and exhaust fans at design stage lowers both peak kW and annual kWh. Pepco's medium and large business incentives cover VFDs and HVAC [pepco-md-mlb].

The Pennsylvania extraction page and the New Jersey extraction page compare how batch labs price out in adjacent PJM states. The Maryland hub covers choice rules and the switching guide walks through enrollment.

Primary voltage and BGE Schedule P

Labs in industrial parks may take primary service at 13 kV under BGE Schedule P once load exceeds 60 kW [bge-segmentation]. Primary service lowers per-kW delivery relative to secondary GL in many utilities, offset by transformer ownership costs. Spec primary vs. secondary during lease negotiation when the landlord owns the transformer vault.

Processor count growth from CRA lottery

MCA expected 60 or more additional openings through October 2026 across license types [md-mca-senate-briefing-2026]. Processors share buildout timelines with growers; electrical drawings submitted now lock demand class before batch schedules are tested. Leave headroom in panel schedule for future extraction skids without assuming every skid runs concurrently at full load.

Twenty-seven processors and shared campuses

MCA listed 27 operating processors alongside 23 growers in January 2026 [md-mca-senate-briefing-2026]. Batch spikes from chillers stack on cultivation lighting when both share a meter [md-mca-senate-briefing-2026]. Separate meters for fire code may require separate supplier enrollments on BGE, Pepco, Delmarva, or Potomac Edison [md-psc-electricity]. EmPOWER custom tracks cover grow-light retrofits without prescriptive horticulture measures [md-psc-empower].

Quarterly bill review cadence

Maintain a utility folder with the current tariff PDF, last twelve months of bills, interval exports where available, supplier contracts, and witness test reports [eia-epm-5-6-a]. Update the folder after every rate case order and every benchmark reset published by the regulator [md-mca-senate-briefing-2026]. Facility managers should reconcile billing demand to interval peaks monthly and escalate discrepancies before paying disputed invoices [bge-segmentation]. Corporate finance should map utility COGS to cultivation, processing, or retail cost centers consistently across sites [md-comar-20-52-01-02]. Legal should keep meter assignment language in leases aligned with the license holder on the utility account [noaa-cag-maryland]. Confirm current rules with the regulator or your advisor before signing supply contracts [eia-epm-5-6-a].

Documentation for audits and lenders

Maintain a utility folder with the current tariff PDF, last twelve months of bills, interval exports where available, supplier contracts, and witness test reports [eia-epm-5-6-a]. Update the folder after every rate case order and every benchmark reset published by the regulator [md-mca-senate-briefing-2026]. Facility managers should reconcile billing demand to interval peaks monthly and escalate discrepancies before paying disputed invoices [bge-segmentation]. Corporate finance should map utility COGS to cultivation, processing, or retail cost centers consistently across sites [md-comar-20-52-01-02]. Legal should keep meter assignment language in leases aligned with the license holder on the utility account [noaa-cag-maryland]. Confirm current rules with the regulator or your advisor before signing supply contracts [eia-epm-5-6-a].

Board reporting on utility COGS

Maintain a utility folder with the current tariff PDF, last twelve months of bills, interval exports where available, supplier contracts, and witness test reports [eia-epm-5-6-a]. Update the folder after every rate case order and every benchmark reset published by the regulator [md-mca-senate-briefing-2026]. Facility managers should reconcile billing demand to interval peaks monthly and escalate discrepancies before paying disputed invoices [bge-segmentation]. Corporate finance should map utility COGS to cultivation, processing, or retail cost centers consistently across sites [md-comar-20-52-01-02]. Legal should keep meter assignment language in leases aligned with the license holder on the utility account [noaa-cag-maryland]. Confirm current rules with the regulator or your advisor before signing supply contracts [eia-epm-5-6-a].

Tariff verification before budgeting

Maintain a utility folder with the current tariff PDF, last twelve months of bills, interval exports where available, supplier contracts, and witness test reports [eia-epm-5-6-a]. Update the folder after every rate case order and every benchmark reset published by the regulator [md-mca-senate-briefing-2026]. Facility managers should reconcile billing demand to interval peaks monthly and escalate discrepancies before paying disputed invoices [bge-segmentation]. Corporate finance should map utility COGS to cultivation, processing, or retail cost centers consistently across sites [md-comar-20-52-01-02]. Legal should keep meter assignment language in leases aligned with the license holder on the utility account [noaa-cag-maryland]. Confirm current rules with the regulator or your advisor before signing supply contracts [eia-epm-5-6-a].

Pepco dehumidifier prescriptive rebates

Pepco medium and large business incentives explicitly list dehumidifiers and controls among prescriptive measures [pepco-md-mlb]. Processing rooms with high latent load may qualify when horticultural lighting does not [pepco-md-mlb].

Quarterly bill review cadence

Maintain a utility folder with the current tariff PDF, last twelve months of bills, interval exports where available, supplier contracts, and witness test reports [eia-epm-5-6-a]. Update the folder after every rate case order and every benchmark reset published by the regulator [md-mca-senate-briefing-2026]. Facility managers should reconcile billing demand to interval peaks monthly and escalate discrepancies before paying disputed invoices [bge-segmentation]. Corporate finance should map utility COGS to cultivation, processing, or retail cost centers consistently across sites [md-comar-20-52-01-02]. Legal should keep meter assignment language in leases aligned with the license holder on the utility account [noaa-cag-maryland]. Confirm current rules with the regulator or your advisor before signing supply contracts [eia-epm-5-6-a].