BGE’s Rate Plan Would Lead to Massive Customer Rate Increases, OPC Consumer Guide Shows
BALTIMORE – Baltimore Gas & Electric’s “multi-year” rate case would cause huge increases in gas and electric rates, a consumer guide OPC released today shows.
According to OPC’s guide, BGE’s recently proposed second multi-year plan, if approved, would increase a typical gas customer’s monthly winter bill from 2020 levels by 70 percent in 2026, from $111 to $189, and a typical electric customer’s monthly bill by 44 percent, from $45 to $65. The year 2020 was the last time rates from a standard rate case—not a multi-year—were in place, and 2026 is the third year of BGE’s currently proposed multi-year rate plan.
“These multi-year rate cases may be good for utility investors, but they are leading to explosive rate increases for customers,” said People’s Counsel David S. Lapp. “They incentivize utilities to shoot for the moon with massive spending proposals, then accelerate customer payments of anticipated costs with little accountability as to how the utility actually spends those customer dollars. These spending increases drive rate increases for customers.”
BGE’s second multi-year rate case proposal is currently being heard before the Public Service Commission. A Commission decision is expected before the end of the year, with new rates to take effect in 2024.
OPC’s guide shows that, if approved, BGE’s gas distribution rates will have more than tripled from 2010 when rates were $0.30/therm. BGE’s proposal would set rates at $1.08/therm in 2026. These rates are only for the cost of delivering the gas, exclusive of the cost of the gas itself.
Under BGE’s proposal, electric distribution rates will have increased in 2026 by more than 50 percent since 2010, from $0.025/kwh in 2010 to $0.055/kwh in 2026. Similar to gas distribution rates, these rates include only delivery costs.
These distribution rate increases since 2010 significantly outpace inflation. The largest jump in BGE’s gas and electric distribution rates will have occurred during the six years that BGE’s multi-year rates have been in effect.
OPC’s consumer guide provides information on how these rate increases would affect customer bills.
The Maryland Office of People’s Counsel is an independent state agency that represents Maryland’s residential consumers of electric, natural gas, telecommunications, private water and certain transportation matters before the Public Service Commission, federal regulatory agencies and the courts.
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