BALTIMORE (WBFF) — City leaders and consumer advocates rallied outside Baltimore Gas and Electric’s (BGE) headquarters Tuesday, pushing back against the utility’s latest request to raise customer rates as the company begins making its case before Maryland regulators.
If approved, BGE’s proposal would increase electric bills for the average residential customer by roughly $8 a month, or about $100 a year.
The request comes after six consecutive years of rate increases and amid growing concerns from customers and advocates over the affordability of utility bills.
“Our residents have been forced to choose between paying BGE, buying groceries, or covering rent,” Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen said during Tuesday’s protest, “BGE is a predatory monopoly that only answers to their shareholders.”
BGE is asking the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) to approve a roughly $156 million increase in electric distribution revenue. Tuesday marked the beginning of a months-long regulatory process that will determine how much, if any, of that request BGE will ultimately receive.
“Our goal, of course, as always, are just and reasonable rates for the people and the businesses of the state of Maryland,” PSC Chair Kumar Barve said.
Several major organizations have sought to participate in the rate case, including Walmart, the Department of Defense, Amtrak and environmental advocacy group CCAN. BGE unsuccessfully challenged CCAN’s participation in the case on Tuesday.
“The more information I have, the better I’m able to assess the arguments of the parties,” PSC Commissioner Susan Sussman said.
BGE says it’s prepared to argue why additional revenue is necessary to maintain a safe a reliable system.
“This rate case from BGE is the bare minimum to keep the lights on,” BGE spokesperson Nick Alexopoulos said.
Consumer advocates, however, are questioning the need for customers to pay more as BGE reports growing profits. BGE reported net income of $485 million in 2023, $527 million in 2024 and $578 million in 2025 — and 52% increase over the last three years and more than $1 billion in profits over the last two years alone.
“That is a billion with a ‘B’. Yet their message is always the same: We need more,” Cohen said.
In response, BGE continues to say roughly 95% of its profits are reinvested into its system. “Our capital plan on any given year to maintain and enhance these systems is multiples of what our profits are,” Alexopoulos said, “That’s the reality of running a utility.”
But consumer advocates dispute the idea that those investments justify customers paying more.
“That is just evidence that the profits are so high,” Maryland PIRG Senior Advisor Emily Scarr said, “They’re not taking their profits out, they are buying more stock.”
Beyond the proposed rate increase, BGE is also asking to earn a higher profit on its investments, increasing its rate of return from 9.5% to 10.4%. Alexopoulos described the requested return as an “industry standard.”
However, the Maryland Office of People’s Counsel, which represents residential utility customers before the PSC, argues the opposite. They believe the current rate is already too high.
“We think it should be as much as 2% lower, if not even lower than that,” Maryland People’s Counsel David Lapp said.
The competing arguments will now play out before state regulators over the coming months. Testimony in the case is scheduled to continue into September, with evidentiary hearings expected in November, and a final decision from the PSC due in January.
The commission also plans to hold a hearing for public comment, although an exact date has not yet been announced.
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