Posted on 02/25/25
| News Source: WMAR2NEWS
Baltimore, MD - Feb. 25, 2025 - The Baltimore City Council approved a resolution on Monday night, calling on the state to drop a planned rate hike in 2026, which is part of a multi-year plan.
The resolution urged the Maryland Public Service Commission, responsible for regulating utilities in the state, to back out of the planned multi-year rate increase for 2026.
The resolution, introduced by council president Zeke Cohen, cites an order that allows the rate plan to be canceled “in the event of extraordinary circumstances that call into question whether the existing rates are just and reasonable.”
It urges the state to take "action to bring an end to the multi-year rate increase impacting Baltimore residents and businesses and put people over profits."
"Look- we know that since 2023, when we went to the public service commission and told them not to give BGE a multi-year rate plan which would be taken out on the backs of our residents, we knew that these dramatic increases in bills were going to go up," Cohen told WMAR-2 News' Jack Watson.
"Basically, what BGE has asked to do is to continue to do - is to continue to do their gas line build-out at the expense of our rate payers and we are saying enough is enough to the public service commission," Cohen added.
BGE, among other factors, has attributed high bills to increased utility usage as outdoor temperatures dropped, and to increased gas and electric distribution rates - 9 and 7 percent respectively in 2025 - and commodity rate increases.
A spokesperson for BGE provided a statement to WMAR-2 News, which reads:
We know some BGE customers are struggling to pay their winter energy bills, and we welcome all constructive dialogue on providing customer relief. BGE has taken a number of proactive actions to support our customers including waiving late payment fees, offering flexible payment terms and suspending disconnections.
BGE and our regulators all share the same goal: ensuring our services are delivered safely. That is why we are constantly focused on reliability and value. Last year, BGE customers experienced the best electric service reliability in the company's history. We invest in our communities because it’s the right thing to do for our customers while ensuring the state of Maryland achieves its ambitious climate goals. We will continue to do so irrespective of the multi-year plan process.
It is important to understand, however, that while some politicians may be trying to attribute higher energy costs to MYPs, eliminating the MYP process does nothing to lower rates or give customers rate relief. Instead, it would turn back the clock on the MYP's enhanced transparency and rate predictability which is something customers, lawmakers, and regulators want and many other states have recognized.
According to BGE, as part of the multi-year rate increase in 2026, average residential BGE customers would see increases of:
The spokesperson for BGE also shared the company is:
On Thursday, the council held hearings on residents' concerns about the bills. Additionally, in Annapolis, the state's General Assembly recently introduced a package of bills to lower energy bills.
Here is the language of the Cohen's resolution:
Request for State Action – End the Multi-Year Rate Plan (MRP) Pilot and Cancel the Planned 2026 Baltimore Gas and Electric Distribution Rate Increase
For the purpose of calling on the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) to end its Muti-Year Rate Plan Pilot, and to invoke the “off-ramp” provision to cancel the planned 2026 Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE) gas and electric distribution rate increases.
Recitals
Whereas, according to research from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and the Maryland Office of People’s Counsel (OPC), low-income Baltimore City residents have among the highest home energy cost burdens in the United States.
Whereas, BGE residential terminations increased by 36.7% from 2019 to 2023.
Whereas, analysis by OPC in its February 2025 “Maryland Gas Utility Spending Report” predicts that if BGE continues its current level of capital investment, residential customers’ average winter bills will increase from an average of $240 per month in 2022-2024 to $402 per month in 2035, a 67 percent increase, and $498 per month by 2050, a 107 percent increase.
Whereas, BGE’s gas distribution rates have increased by 50% since the start of the start of BGE’s first multi-year rate plan.
Whereas, PSC Order No. 90948 discusses the possibility of invoking an “off-ramp” for BGE’s multi-year rate plan, “in the event of extraordinary circumstances that call into question whether the existing rates are just and reasonable.”
Now, therefore, be it resolved by the City Council of Baltimore, That the Baltimore City Council calls on the Maryland Public Service Commission to end its Muti-Year Rate Plan Pilot and invoke the “off-ramp” provision to cancel the planned 2026 Baltiomre Gas and Electric Company (BGE) gas and electric distribution rate increases.
Cohen, meantime, told reporters he is meeting with the PSC chair in two weeks, and wanted to arrive at the meeting with his councilmembers' vote of confidence.