BEPS Is Coming to Your State. Clean Data Now or Scramble Later.

Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS) are spreading rapidly across the United States. New York City's Local Law 97 led the way. Maryland enacted statewide BEPS in December 2024. Colorado, Washington, and several other states have adopted or are actively developing similar frameworks.

Every BEPS framework has one thing in common: it requires accurate utility data as its compliance foundation. Whether the standard is measured in energy use intensity (kBtu per square foot), carbon intensity (kg CO2e per square foot), or percentage improvement from a baseline — it all traces back to utility billing records.

Organizations that scramble to comply with BEPS requirements at deadline face a specific problem: the historical utility data they need for baseline calculations and compliance documentation has never been audited. The errors that have been accumulating for years are now embedded in their compliance position.

The organizations best positioned for BEPS compliance are those that have audited their utility data proactively — who can demonstrate verified consumption baselines, accurate emissions calculations, and clean account documentation. Those organizations will comply with less effort and less risk than those starting from unaudited data. Maryland's rules show what that enforcement looks like once a BEPS framework matures: COMAR 26.28 took effect December 23, 2024, applies to buildings of 35,000 square feet or more, required initial benchmarking data by June 1, 2025, and imposes an alternative compliance fee of $230 per metric ton of excess CO2e — in 2020 dollars, rising $4 per ton every year — for buildings that miss their emissions targets. Every input into that fee calculation is utility billing data.