Baltimore residents who have been squeezed by massive utility bills from Baltimore Gas and Electric company have new options to lower or pay them through financial grants.
BGE and Maryland residents have been trapped in a power struggle over sharply rising rates for most of the last 10 months, after BGE hiked rates by around 7% for electric bills and 9% for residential gas since January 1.
That included whopping bills this winter that saw many jump $200 or more per month — and now are facing a new June 1 increase during the hottest months of the year.
Here are some ways to lower your BGE price tag:
–Apply for a grant from a new $19 million initiative from BGE’s parent company for low- and middle-income customers. Applications open July 1 and you can find that link here.
–Find out if you qualify for an OHEP grant, which offers four different programs for helping Maryland consumers pay their energy costs. It also can stop the disconnection process, a huge relief for many Baltimoreans still stuck with thousands of dollars in utility bills. Find that information right here.
Why are prices so high?
The utility company has said it has been forced to push up prices because multiple older plants have been retired just as grid operators have raised fees like the Talen Energy reliability-must-run (RMR) pricing and capacity auction prices.
Lawmakers have said one of the main market price influencers has been regional grid operator PJM Interconnection, which has ballooned the cost of electricity regionally from $2.2 billion to $14.7 billion.
“The Commission must act expeditiously to acknowledge and remedy the problems with last summer’s auction that render the results unjust and unreasonable,” the legislators wrote.
Translation: Customers pay more because raising those fees is completely legal and utility companies are passing on those costs.
“There’s an acute misalignment between supply and demand for electricity in Maryland,” BGE spokesperson Nick Alexopulos told CBS News. “In short, we don’t have enough power plants to meet the energy demand.”
Exeleon, the parent company of BGE, has a market cap of $43 billion.
