By Ryan Coleman
Special to the AFRO
Many Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. (BGE) customers across the Baltimore area are seeing extreme increases in their electric bills this month. Some said they were billed $200 more than the previous billing cycle. How can the working poor, working class and middle class Marylanders get ahead?
Residents want the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) to do away with a method of setting rates used by BGE that covers multiple years, which has led to excessive rate hikes.
Multiyear rate plans have been allowed since 2020 through a pilot program. This pilot program is having disastrous effects on poor, working and middle class Marylanders.
Consumer advocates argue the pilot has led to reduced oversight of utilities and no incentive for them to stay on budget, to the detriment of consumers who then pay for investments– plus interest– for decades.
The pilot program has allowed BGE to request approval for rate increases in advance of spending, counter to the way rates have been set in the past. This reduces the ability for the PSC to ensure checks and balances on rate hikes.
The PSC set up the pilot with BGE believing the process could provide more predictable revenues for utilities and more predictable rates for customers. The method also was designed to spread changes in rates over multiple years and decrease administrative burdens on regulators by staggering what had been annual rate case filings.
The Maryland Office of People’s Counsel found that since the pilot’s adoption, BGE electricity delivery rates have increased by 26 percent and gas delivery rates have increased 43 percent, far outpacing the rates of increase before the pilot. With higher energy commodity prices looming, consumers can expect to be hit with even higher bills.
Multiyear plans have led to consumers being at risk for higher rates, regulators having less ability to protect them and more people facing utility service disconnections. Increasing utility bills affect individuals’ ability to buy food, to save money, to pay for other essential expenses, such as child care.
The Maryland PSC sets utility rates and deals with rate adjustments (Code Public Utilities Article, secs. 4-101 through 4-503). Its mission states, “Ensure that rates, terms and conditions established for public service companies are just, reasonable and transparent.” Are they doing this?
The PSC has the following members: Frederick H. Hoover, Chair, Michael T. Richard, Kumar P. Barve, Bonnie A. Suchman. None of the commissioners live in the Baltimore Metro area nor are minorities. I don’t remember a time when none of the commissioners were from Baltimore City, Baltimore County or Howard County.
I am sure the commissioners are doing their best. However, they must understand that this multi year deal and these rate hikes must be stopped. With seven years of rate increases from BGE almost feels hopeless. That we and our leaders are paralyzed to stop the rate increases. However, we are not! The Randallstown NAACP will be penning a letter to the PSC, state leaders and the governor’s office. If you are tired of these rate hikes, contact the PSC, state leaders and the governor’s office. Please contact them at:
Maryland Public Service Commission
William Donald Schaefer Tower
6 St. Paul St., 16th Floor
Baltimore, MD 21202
(410) 767-8000
Andrew.Johnston@maryland.gov
Find your State Officials
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/members/district
Maryland Office of the Governor, Wes Moore
100 State Circle
Annapolis, Maryland
21401-1925