OPC appeals regulator’s decision delaying implementation of the Next Generation Energy Act of 2025
BALTIMORE – The Office of People’s Counsel last week filed an appeal challenging the Maryland Public Service Commission’s (PSC) decision to allow Washington Gas to proceed with costly gas infrastructure replacement projects without first determining whether the company complied with provisions of the 2025 Next Generation Energy Act (NGEA) that became effective June 1, 2025—more than a year ago.
“The NGEA sought to ensure that utilities only get the benefit of expedited cost recovery of ratepayer-backed gas infrastructure spending when they demonstrate it will benefit customers and is cost effective after considering alternatives,” People’s Counsel David S. Lapp said. “But a year later, Washington Gas is proceeding on a business-as-usual basis, and the PSC has yet to require the utility to modify any of its plans or projects.”
The appeal concerns Washington Gas’s current five-year plan under Maryland’s STRIDE statute, the PSC’s decision to approve the company’s 2026 project list, and the possibility that the company will proceed with another year of projects before the PSC reviews them for statutory compliance.
STRIDE, which stands for Strategic Infrastructure Development and Enhancement, incentivizes gas utilities to replace older gas infrastructure by allowing them to recover costs on an expedited basis, before those costs are reviewed for prudency. OPC reports have documented how such accelerated cost recovery drives up utility rates and customer bills.
Washington Gas customers are not the only customers that have been impacted by STRIDE. Columbia Gas’s rates have quadrupled from 30 cents/therm pre-STRIDE to $1.24/therm today, and the STRIDE program has served as the primary vehicle facilitating the tripling of Baltimore Gas and Electric’s gas rates since 2012, the year before STRIDE’s enactment. Although BGE has not had a STRIDE plan since 2024, the company has obtained accelerated cost recovery for STRIDE-eligible work through rates that are based on forecasted test years.
Following years of advocacy from OPC and others, in 2025, the General Assembly passed modest changes to the STRIDE law intended to ensure that, among other requirements, utilities focus their STRIDE spending on the riskiest gas infrastructure and consider less costly alternatives to pipeline replacement.
In multiple filings since the passage of the NGEA, OPC has urged the PSC to require the gas utilities to update existing STRIDE projects to comply with the new requirements. Despite agreeing with OPC that it has that authority, on Feb. 26, 2026, the PSC approved Washington Gas’s 2026 projects and its bill surcharge to collect STRIDE costs without determining whether the projects comply with the NGEA, instead deferring that evaluation until after a rulemaking proceeding. That proceeding is likely to extend through at least the end of 2026, even further delaying implementation of the 2025 legislation.
OPC sought rehearing of the Commission’s Feb. 26th decision, and on June 9, 2026, the Commission denied OPC’s request. OPC appealed the Feb. 26 and June 9 decisions to the Circuit Court of Baltimore City last week.
“In passing STRIDE reform, the General Assembly took an important step to curb gas infrastructure replacement work that is driving up utility rates and contributing to an energy affordability crisis,” Lapp said. “But so far the reforms have had no meaningful impact. The PSC should move expeditiously to enforce compliance with the law.”
Aside from contributing to fast-growing gas distribution rates, expedited gas infrastructure replacement creates risks of long-term costs that far exceed benefits. As residential and commercial gas consumption declines due to competition from highly efficient electric technologies, customer concerns about health and safety, and climate policy, the costs of the gas infrastructure will be spread among fewer customers, further increasing rates.
To read more about STRIDE and OPC’s advocacy to address costly gas infrastructure spending, visit OPC’s website.
The Maryland Office of People’s Counsel is an independent state agency that represents Maryland’s residential consumers in 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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