In what proved to be his grand finale as Public Service Commission chairman, Steven B. Larsen filed a 212-page salvo last week petitioning federal regulators to cut wholesale electricity prices in in Maryland and a dozen other states.
"The No. 1 priority of the Maryland Public Service Commission since being reconstituted in 2007 by Gov. O'Malley has been to fight on behalf of Maryland ratepayers to make sure rates are fair and reasonable," he said. Rates from now until 2011, he said, "are unjust and unreasonable and must be adjusted."
My work here, he might have added, is done.
Except it's not.
BGE electric bills are still about 80 percent higher than they were two years ago. Maryland faces power shortages within years, but no major generation plants are being built. Electricity prices are hostage to a flawed and dubious interstate wholesale market.
Larsen made unprecedented efforts to address all three problems, and he leaves the Public Service Commission in far better shape than when he arrived.
But he shocked consumer advocates and megawatt mongers alike by announcing his resignation after only a year on the job.
He's telling people he wants to return to business to take a good job and make more money. Of course, he would - eventually. But why now, with so much work still to be done? He knew what the PSC position paid - $187,000. Gov. O'Malley even gave him a $60,000 raise.
I think he came to realize his orders from O'Malley - cut electricity prices, reduce pollution AND ensure future power supplies - were impossible to fulfill. Especially running a commission that, thanks to deregulation, has lost much of its power to the federal government anyway.
Larsen objects to this characterization. O'Malley "understands the issues" involved, he said. "He understands that this commission has been working really hard and pushing the envelopes that we can, legally." As for his commission, he said, "we did a lot of the things we said we were going to do, although not all of them are complete. I acknowledge that."
Larsen held the power of a minor potentate when he was Maryland's insurance commissioner under Gov. Parris N. Glendening.
He single-handedly blocked CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield's attempt to sell itself to WellPoint Health Networks for $1.4 billion. Broad subpoena power let him ferret out the juiciest details of a plan by CareFirst executives to pocket scores of millions in bonuses in connection with the merger. He kept CareFirst a nonprofit and saved it as Maryland's health insurer of last resort.
