Baltimore City Councilmember demands transparency about future of conduit system

BALTIMORE (WBFF) — Baltimore City Councilman Mark Conway recently sent a letter to Mayor Brandon Scott, pushing for answers about the future of the conduit system, especially after a series of conduit fires.

“It should not be a closed-door, you know, backward deal like it was last time,” Conway said.

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In 2023, Baltimore City entered into an agreement with Baltimore Gas and Electric, which requires BGE to make capital improvements to the city’s underground network of about 700 miles of utility cables. The city retains ownership of the conduit.

However, the deal was highly controversial when it was first approved. Three years later, the initial agreement is set to expire in December and Baltimore City officials will need to decide if they plan to renew, renegotiate or terminate the contract.

In the letter Conway sent to the Mayor’s office, he said, “considering the millions of dollars at stake in public costs, and the significant implications for public safety, it is imperative that the future of this agreement is negotiated in the public domain, rather than behind closed doors once again.”

A spokesperson from BGE confirmed that it is currently in discussions with Baltimore City related to the conduit agreement, however the details of those discussions are not clear.

“We want to make sure that this conduit remains in a public domain, it’s owned by the city and that that never changes. But that can’t really happen if we’ve got an agreement where BGE makes decisions on upgrades, BGE make decisions on expansions. Because that may not necessarily serve the public,” Conway added.

While officials from the Mayor’s Office have not responded to FOX45 News as of Friday evening, a spokesperson from BGE pushed back on many of Conway’s claims.

“Any improvements to the City’s 100yearold conduit system immediately benefit Baltimore’s residents and businesses and help prevent much bigger problems down the road. We already know the risks, including underground fires. This is infrastructure the City owns, and BGE is partnering with the City to keep it functioning safely. Ignoring these needs simply isn’t an option,” a statement from BGE spokesperson Nick Alexopulos said.

When it comes to the series of underground fires, Alexopulos said those happened in downgraded sections of the conduit system. He pointed to the city’s consultant who highlighted the need for proactive conduit upgrades to prevent more fires in the future. He said in the two and a half years the agreement has been in place, BGE has only been able to do improvement work on a portion of the 700 miles of the conduit system.

BGE also said customers will continue to fund necessary conduit system improvements whether the agreement is renewed or not – it is just a matter of how.

Prior to the 2023 agreement, funds were paid to the city, which in turn then contracted out the work. Under the current agreement, BGE directly manages and pays contractors to perform the same work, which BGE argues is a more efficient way to make necessary repairs and upgrades to the conduit system.

Read Councilman Conway’s letter to Mayor Scott below: