At the most recent public hearing on BGE’s $156 million rate increase request, Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen urged regulators to say no, calling the proposal a “complete money grab.”
The numbers show why. BGE reported more than $1 billion in profit over the last two years. Now it wants to raise electric distribution rates by about 17% and boost its allowed shareholder return from 9.5% to 10.4%. Maryland’s Office of People’s Counsel is arguing the opposite: lowering that return to 7.3% and cutting rates by $44 million. Cohen stated it plainly to the commission, “When will it be enough?”
If approved, BGE’s distribution rates would be 58% higher than in 2020 and 129% higher than when Exelon bought the company in 2012. Meanwhile, residential customers are expected to owe $204 million in overdue bills by June. Those numbers tell two very different stories about who needs relief. Cohen told CBS Baltimore that residents are fed up with BGE “reaching deeper into their pockets each year.” He cited one resident, Alice Wright, who turned off her heat to keep her oxygen tank running.
BGE says supply costs are outside its control, but they aren’t what this case is about. BGE is asking regulators for more money for the distribution system it operates and a higher guaranteed return on every dollar it spends. At a recent Montgomery County community meeting, residents were told to “brace for higher heating bills.” BGE’s answer to rising winter bills included payment plans and advice to use a smart thermostat. Customers need a break, not an installment plan.
