As the state continues to look for solutions to combat rising energy costs, Maryland lawmakers, labor leaders and environmental advocates held a press conference in Southwest Baltimore urging regulators to approve four major battery storage projects. Two of the four proposed sites include a 500-megawatt battery facility near the Conastone Substation in Harford County and a 135-megawatt facility on Pulaski Highway in Baltimore County. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 24’s Rico Albacarys said battery storage can help balance supply and demand on Maryland’s power grid. “It allows us to store electricity when it is plentiful and the costs are less,” Albacarys said. “When you line up battery storage, solar and wind against gas, coal and the damage, even immediate to the community, battery storage is much safer,” Charkoudian said.