Officials with Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., the largest energy provider in Maryland, told regulators at a hearing yesterday that home-heating bills have skyrocketed this winter mainly because of significantly colder weather, greater household consumption and, to a lesser extent, spikes in commodity costs for electricity and gas.
Company officials also noted other factors - including longer billing cycles in November and December and the proliferation of more energy-sapping devices such as big-screen TVs and game console systems - as potential causes for a sharp increase in customer complaints to BGE and the Public Service Commission, the agency that oversees it and other energy providers in Maryland.
This winter, residential customers across the state have complained to the PSC that their energy bills have, in some cases, doubled in recent months. The increases are stretching the state Office of Home Energy Programs, whose officials testified yesterday at a PSC hearing that they're already close to doubling the number of low-income households receiving aid to pay their bills.
"It is a clear demonstration of the difficulty families are facing in light of the increasing electric bills and a weakened economy," said Ralph Markus, director of OHEP, a program within the Maryland Department of Human Resources.
Other utilities and energy cooperatives also attended the public hearing at the PSC's office in downtown Baltimore, to explain to the agency's commissioners why costs have soared this winter and what they're doing to help customers keep from having their heat turned off.
PSC Chairman Douglas R.M. Nazarian said the session was organized for the commission to question company officials and gather facts because of the outpouring of consumer complaints. Nazarian said the PSC has gotten "hundreds" of complaints, while BGE officials said they've fielded 14,000 "high bill" complaints.
The hearing wasn't scheduled to allow input from the public, but some residents faced with high energy bills showed up and spoke with reporters.
Sylvia Collins, an East Baltimore resident, attended the hearing because she's trying to understand the increase in her bill. She said her December bill was $260 - and last month it jumped to $450. Collins, who has lived in her house for 15 years, took steps to improve her home's energy efficiency after being hit by high bills last year, too.
"I've spent a lot of money installing new windows and doors," Collins said.
