About 1.1 million Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. customers will receive $170 credits on their September electricity bills during the coming days as part of a state settlement with Maryland's largest utility.
The credits, part of a $2 billion settlement that state lawmakers approved to resolve a dispute with BGE parent Constellation Energy Group Inc., were applied Aug. 29 to utility accounts. The company's September bills reflect the credit, which will be subtracted from a customer's electricity charges.
The settlement money comes as Maryland residents have seen electricity rates climb amid the transition to a deregulated power market. BGE's residential customers paid 85 percent more for electricity this summer than before deregulation was passed in 1999.
Under the settlement reached in May, each of BGE's residential electricity customers is eligible for the credits as long as they have active accounts as of Aug. 29, BGE and state regulators said.
"All customers ... should see the credit in their upcoming bill," said Linda Foy, a BGE spokeswoman.
The givebacks will cost BGE more than $187 million, an amount agreed to in the deal passed by state lawmakers at the close of this year's legislative session. The settlement was part of an effort to resolve a dispute over the 1999 move to deregulate the state's power market. The fight centered on whether deregulation gave consumers a fair deal.
As part of the settlement, Constellation dropped its lawsuit against the state to recover $386 million in credits provided to BGE customers in legislation passed last year. And state lawmakers, who had countersued the company, agreed to end investigations into the almost $1 billion in so-called "stranded costs" customers paid to Constellation for taking over BGE's power plants under deregulation.
Besides offering a break on consumers' bills, the settlement also removed a $1.5 billion liability customers might have faced for shutting down two Calvert Cliffs nuclear reactors in the future.
The relief for consumers comes at a time when energy costs are rising and Maryland is forced to import about 30 percent of its electricity, given rising demand for power. A typical BGE customer using 1000 kilowatt hours per month pays about $157 a month for electricity, not including natural gas.
"Consumers probably will appreciate any help they get," said Theresa V. Czarski, deputy people's counsel, whose office represents the interest of consumers in utility matters but was not involved in arranging the settlement. "For most people, it's a decent size credit."
