(a)    (1)    Annually, the Chairman of the Commission shall forward to the Secretary of Natural Resources a 10-year plan listing possible and proposed sites, including the associated transmission routes, for the construction of electric plants within the State.

(2)    (i)    The Chairman shall delete from the 10-year plan any site that the Secretary of Natural Resources identifies as unsuitable in accordance with the requirements of § 3-304 of the Natural Resources Article.

(ii)    The Chairman may include a site deleted from a 10-year plan under subparagraph (i) of this paragraph in a subsequent 10-year plan.

(3)    The Chairman shall include information in the annual 10-year plan on current and projected efforts by electric companies and the Commission to moderate overall electrical generation demand and peak demand through the electric companies’ promotion of energy conservation by customers and through the electric companies’ use of alternative energy sources, including cogeneration.

(4)    To the extent that the Commission requires an electric company to report the information described in paragraph (3) of this subsection, a small rural electric cooperative described in § 7-502(a) of this title may satisfy the requirement by submitting to the Commission a copy of the power requirement study that the small rural electric cooperative submits to the rural utilities service.

(b)    (1)    The Commission shall evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the investments by electric companies in energy conservation to reduce electrical demand and in renewable energy sources to help meet electrical demand.

(2)    The evaluation of investments shall include:

(i)    the electric companies’ promotion and conduct of a building audit and weatherization program, including low-interest or no-interest electric company financing for the installation of energy conservation materials and renewable energy devices;

(ii)    utilization of renewable energy sources;

(iii)    promotion and utilization of electricity from cogeneration and wastes; and

(iv)    widespread public promotion of energy conservation programs.