BGE means Behemoth Giving Enema (to all Maryland residents)….

The Maryland General Assembly Passes Electric Rate Legislation

On July 1, BGE's residential electric rates will be updated to reflect the market price for electricity, and as a result, your electric bill will increase significantly. To help customers manage the rising cost of electricity, the Maryland Legislature passed a law. BGE is providing this information to help you understand how this law impacts your electric bill. The current law replaces all previous electric rate stabilization plans.

This law is not optional and all customers, per legislative directive, are participants. Whether you opted-in, opted-out or were still making up your mind, NO ACTION is required.

Watch your mail for more information.

(from BGE’s website, www.bge.com)

I actually had to read this twice to make sure I was seeing straight…and then I had to read it again. There’s no opting out of the legislation recently passed by the Maryland General Assembly. This legislation limits what would have been a 72% increase to our electric bill to a 15% increase. OK, that’s kind of better, but we will be paying a two dollar monthly fee to support this benevolence FOR THE NEXT TEN YEARS! At the end of the first eleven months, the electric rate would then go up to the original 72%, unless the customer decides on another deferral plan….which may result in additional fees. As I understand it, even if you opt for the increase to the full 72% in eleven months, YOU STILL HAVE TO PAY THE FEE OVER THE NEXT NINE YEARS. This monthly fee will also be assessed on new customers to BGE, regardless of how long they have lived at an address. So folks, we’re pretty much screwed and Constellation, BGE’s parent company, is laughing all the way to the bank.

And who do we have to thank for this additional pull on our already strained pockets? Our elected officials of course! Instead of locking BGE customers into a decade-long nickel-and-dime cycle, maybe the General Assembly should have focused on other alternatives. For example, the state of Maryland currently gives grants to families for the installation of whole-house solar energy systems, as well as solar water heaters. You also have the option of remaining connected to the grid and making any excess power available on a buy back basis to utility companies. This is money that goes directly into homeowners’ pockets. Sounds like a real step forward, right? The problem is, these grants only cover 1/10th of the cost of the installation, which can range from $7,000 to over $20,000. Kind of negates all the good of the program, right? I mean, look at the advantages: less dependence on fossil fuels, less pollution to the environment...I could go on for days. Do I have to ask how does this NOT make sense?

Another option they should have examined: a state tax credit for hybrid vehicles. Currently, the IRS gives you a tax credit if you purchase a hybrid vehicle during any given tax year. Say you purchase that trippy little Toyota Prius in June or a Ford Escape Hybrid in November. Come next April 15, you can collect up to $2,800 in tax credits from the IRS. OK, let me rephrase that. THE IRS IS GIVING YOU MONEY FOR BUYING A CAR. The drawback is you only get the tax credit for you year of purchase. Other than being the envy of all who sit in traffic with you for years to come, you get zero, zilch, nada…except that your wallet is a little bit fuller because you have fewer trips to the pump. Maryland could do one better than the IRS and elect to give residents a tax credit for each year they own the vehicle, with a maximum each year of $500. Another radical idea, maybe Maryland should also give breaks to those who indulge in the sins of public transportation. If you ride the bus, you get a credit on your mortgage or renter’s insurance up to $50 per month.

By passing this really bad legislation, the General Assembly was trying to do too much. By tacking on to the bill the double-whammy of firing the PSC and the limitations on the future Constellation/FPL merger, it was trying to repair a hot-topic problem during an election year; always a bad time to institute radical changes. Since this is an election year, I think it’s time for broader minds to prevail. We are smack-dab in the middle of an energy crisis, people, even though you don’t hear it every day on CNN.

Maybe these thoughts will guide your voting on Election Day. Make your candidates square off on the issue that really matters to you: the rising price of fuel in all its forms.