Cars swooshed by the intersection of Baltimore and Light streets where four women stood outside of the William Donald Schaefer Tower. The four said they represent thousands of people, who have submitted letters — in the 11th hour — opposing Baltimore Gas and Electric’s proposed rate hikes.
Bridge Dumais with SEIU 1199, a healthcare union, said the utility’s proposal would be expensive for members.
“There are healthcare workers that are severely underpaid especially in the non-unionized homecare sector,” said Dumais. ”When the BGE bill comes, these workers are caring for our loved ones every single day but they are often not able to care for themselves and that's just not right.”
Dumais added that if BGE’s plans are approved, others would suffer alongside low-wage health workers.
“There are elders and folks who have disabilities, who have to have their home temperatures at a specific degree in order to protect their health. So patients are going to be held hostage by BGE. They'll be forced to choose between their health and paying a bill. That's a choice no one should have to make,” Dumais said.
The utility submitted a proposal in February asking for $602 million dollars to upgrade its gas and electric infrastructure. That would mean customer bills would rise to $31 monthly, by the end of a three-year-term, that would begin January 1, 2024.
Besides affordability, some say BGE’s rate hikes would be bad for the environment.
“They need to go back to the drawing board,” said Marceline White, the executive director of Economic Action Maryland. “What we hear resoundingly is this isn’t working. They need to really look at the kinds of infrastructure needed to invest in clean green energy.”
In a statement, a spokesperson said that “while BGE supports the state’s climate goals, we cannot simply stop upgrading the gas system. We are replacing leaky pipes instead of repairing them in perpetuity.“
He added that “there is no plan in Maryland to sunset natural gas service and BGE doesn’t have the authority to pull customers off the gas system. Should Maryland’s policy change, we would pivot.”
Emily Scarr, director of Maryland PIRG, a public interest research group, said there is also opposition to the rate hike because it would mean excessive profits for the utility. In its application, BGE requested a 10.4% return on equity in the 2024-2026 multi-year plan.
Nick Alexopulos, the spokesman, said that request is in-line with previous rate cases. “It represents the midpoint of a cost of equity range for other regulated electric and gas utilities,” he said in a statement. “We believe the request is appropriate in light of recent market conditions--especially as interest rates continue to rise.”
Laurel Peltier, an energy advocate, said there is still time to take action.
“We're at the tipping point,” said Peltier. “The low-income families, middle income families can't afford their rates right now. This is just going to exacerbate that. AARP [says] raise your voice before they raise your rates. You have a voice. The public can say that they don't want this.”
The Public Service Commission can accept, reject, or scale back the proposal. Click here to submit comments which are due this evening.