BGE also points out that its per-kilowatt charge for electricity remains lower than nine of the 10 Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states with deregulation. Pennsylvania's rates are lower, but that state has yet to fully make the switch to market-based rates, Case said.
Constellation has proposed several generation projects that would help lower the premium Marylanders pay, including a plan to build a third nuclear reactor at Calvert Cliffs for an estimated $4 billion. But the company has yet to make a final decision on that and a few of the other projects it has in the works. Building a new nuclear plant would take at least until 2015.
The PSC doesn't want to wait for the industry to respond to the region's energy shortfall. It wants to scrap the way BGE and other utilities buy power from the wholesale market and partially re- regulate the industry. The commission is studying a plan to require utilities to enter into long-term contracts with power generators, which would construct new plants to meet the area's growing energy needs. The commission is expected to finalize those plans within the next few months.
