Baltimore Gas and Electric proposes infrastructure improvement plan

Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE) filed a multi-year customer relief investment plan with the Maryland Public Service Commission to make improvements to the electric and natural gas systems and aid in the region’s recovery from the pandemic.

The three-year plan, which covers 2021 through 2023, calls for a $5 billion investment in the electric grid and natural gas system. These investments will have an economic impact of $15 billion and support more than 26,000 jobs, according to the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore. BGE’s energy infrastructure investment plan includes more than 300 projects and maintenance programs for the period 2021-2023.

BGE will freeze customers’ base delivery rates at current levels for the next two years. To hold rates flat for the first two years of the plan, BGE is deferring rate adjustments and advancing to customers long-term tax benefits that are normally realized over several decades to offset rates by more than $360 million.

Following the two-year delivery bill freeze, the company is requesting an 8.3 percent upward adjustment of rates in 2023 to reflect the investments being made over the three years. Even still, the average residential customer’s BGE bill is projected to be 22 percent lower than it was in 2008 due to lower electric supply costs and reduced use of energy due to energy-saving programs. On average, BGE customers are among the lowest in the country as a percentage of median household income.

“We appreciate the challenges that our customers and our community are facing. This is an opportunity to help our customers and provide a lift to the Maryland economy when it is needed most,” Carim Khouzami, CEO of BGE, said. “Prior to the pandemic, we had been designing a forward-looking energy infrastructure investment plan as part of the state’s multi-year plan pilot. In light of the economic challenges created by the pandemic, we have been able to structure the plan to provide both near-term relief for customers and longer-term stimulus for the Maryland economy. The energy infrastructure investments we make translate into service benefits for our customers and communities and steady employment and financial assurance for the more than 900 supplier companies who provide equipment and services to BGE. It is at times like this when the value of continued investments in the critical energy systems our customers depend on are most apparent, reliably powering homes, hospitals, first responders, and other essential services when energy is most crucial.”

BGE is also making a $1.5 million contribution to the Fuel Fund of Maryland to assist limited income residential customers with their bills in 2020. This is in addition to the $2.6 million that is currently directed by BGE for customer assistance through the Fuel Fund. Additionally, BGE will is providing $1 million in funding to county-administered business pandemic relief funds in central Maryland to assist small businesses that have been challenged by the economic hardships of the COVID-19 response.

In 2021 BGE will establish a small business relief grant program for businesses with less than 25 employees to receive grants up to $20,000 each to help cover operating expenses.