BALTIMORE (WBFF) — In light of unaffordable energy bills, Baltimore City Council leaders held a hearing Thursday, questioning Baltimore Gas and Electric‘s capital spending and rising distribution rates. However, one seat was empty, with officials from BGE choosing not to attend.
“Every day, my colleagues and I hear from Baltimoreans, who are at a breaking point,” Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen said.
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Cohen, along with other lawmakers and advocates have been critical of BGE’s infrastructure spending, arguing it has driven up distribution rates and costs for customers. At the same time, BGE’s net income for 2025 topped $578 million dollars, largely due to distribution rates.
The hearing also focused on concerns about multi-year rate plans, a process allowing utilities to obtain approval from the Maryland Public Service Commission for spending before the spending occurs, which can shift risks to ratepayers.
“Of course, we understand that our system is old and safety has to be the priority,” Cohen said. “But, we are paying not only for the actual cost of the work, we’re also paying for what is called a return on equity, or what can simply be called profits.”
Union representatives also spoke out about the latest layoffs at BGE, and the utility’s use of contractors.
“They’ll keep using contractors on those same jobs, citing reduced planned work. However, the filings and the financials paint a clear picture a deliberate strategy to prioritize contractor arrangements and shareholder returns over stable jobs and long term reliability for Maryland customers,” Brian Terwilliger, the Assistant Business Manager for IBEW 410, the union representing BGE employees, said.
However, officials with BGE chose not to attend Thursday’s hearing, instead holding a press conference roughly two hours beforehand.
“So because this hearing is narrow, repetitive and reductive, we chose not to participate,” BGE spokesperson Nick Alexopulos said. “It is political theater on the part of the City Council President. It’s not going to help our customers. And it’s not going to further the conversation that Maryland needs to have about bringing energy costs under control.”
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BGE spokesperson Nick Alexopulos said BGE requested to expand the focus of the hearing to include other factors, such as rising supply prices, to have a comprehensive conversation about energy affordability. Written testimony BGE provided said, “hearings that focus on scapegoating a single participant in a complex system may generate headlines, but they do nothing of substance to address energy affordability. Instead, this political theater misleads our customers about the sources of energy policy, regulatory authority, and cost drivers on their bill, while doing nothing to lower bills or improve affordability. Only a complete, fact-based conversation can do that, and we remain committed to supporting it.”
“We are constantly balancing affordability with our obligation to keep those systems safe and reliable,” Alexopulos said. “Trust me, we do everything we can to keep costs as low as possible, but there is vital work that we need to do to make sure that the gas system and the electric system continues to serve our customers.”
“At the end of the day, their customers are in crisis and they need to take very seriously the pain that people are feeling out in these communities,” Cohen said. “They can call it political theater all they want. But at the end of the day, it is a decision by their corporate leadership not to appear before the elected representatives of the people that pay their bills. And so we are going to continue to hold them accountable.”
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