Baltimore Gas

A 45-year-old man was stabbed in the neck and killed Thursday afternoon after getting into an argument at a busy bus stop at North and Greenmount avenues. The victim, who has not been identified, was waiting for the bus before 1 p.m. when he got into an argument with a young woman, said Detective Donny Moses, a police spokesman. The argument escalated, and a male companion of the woman began fighting with the victim, he said. He was stabbed in the neck and ended up across the street at a Rite Aid drugstore.

After months of wrangling and regulatory debate, "smart meters" are coming to Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. customers. That much is certain, thanks to the utility's decision today to accept the terms imposed on the program by the Maryland Public Service Commission's recent order. That's good news for all involved. The Constellation Energy subsidiary stands to reduce its costs considerably. BGE customers are expected to save money on their monthly bills (even those who don't choose to conserve)

Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. went back to the drawing board on smart meters and recently submitted a revised proposal to the Maryland Public Service Commission. The basics of what BGE wants to do haven't changed much, but now it's up to the PSC to allow the program to move forward — or put the long-term interests of customers at risk. We've said it before and now we'll say it again: Maryland needs to get on board the smart grid movement to ensure affordable and reliable energy service in the future.

An unidentified man was found shot in the hand Wednesday afternoon near a gas station in North Baltimore, according to city police. The man was taken to an area hospital, where he was expected to be treated and released, police said. A police spokesman said officers were called about 4:30 p.m. to the intersection of The Alameda and Belvedere Avenue, where they found the man near an Exxon station. Police said they were investigating the possibility that the man's wounds were self-inflicted.

It's going to cost substantially less to heat one's home this winter, so where are the huzzahs? Baltimore Gas & Electric announced Monday that natural gas prices are down 25 percent, and the average residential utility customer stands to save about $184 during the heating season. Declining natural gas prices are good for electric rates, too. The Energy Information Administration announced yesterday that all U.S. households will likely pay 8 percent less to heat their homes (although the savings for heating oil and electricity customers are projected to be less than the 12 percent to 14 percent savings expected for those who use propane or natural gas)

Schools OK contract for reading material 2 The Baltimore County school board unanimously approved Tuesday night a $3.44 million contract to the Pennsylvania-based American Reading Co. for supplemental reading materials, as well as professional development for teachers in Title I schools. The program, which is to be funded using Title I federal stimulus money, is an extension of a pilot reading initiative, which school officials say has shown success in "substantially" raising students' reading levels.

Constellation Energy Group remains committed to sponsoring golf's Senior Players Championship at Baltimore Country Club in October, but an executive acknowledged Monday that the recession has raised concerns about its involvement beyond 2011. "This would not be something that we'd take on if there was no contract in place, but we will uphold our [five-year] commitment," said Stacey Ullrich, Constellation's executive director for marketing and community outreach. Organizers held an event Monday to launch awareness of the tournament, which raised $400,000 for local charities in each of the past two years.

Chief executives of public companies have long had a ready answer when criticized about high pay: It's all about company performance. That argument has been put to the test by the toughest financial environment since the Great Depression. If performance is the standard, many of the Baltimore area's top-earning executives seem to be on shaky ground. To see how last year's financial crisis and worsening recession affected pay, The Baltimore Sun analyzed the 20 companies in the metro area that paid their CEOs at least $1 million.

Constellation Energy Group reported Friday an 84 percent drop in second-quarter profit as the Baltimore company suffered losses from shedding some of its businesses and costs related to its deal with a French utility. But the owner of Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. raised earnings projections for the year to reflect a more positive outlook even as executives responded to Wall Street analysts' concerns about completing its $4.5 billion transaction to sell half of its nuclear power business to Electricite de France.

High sustained winds and rain damaged homes in Finksburg and knocked out power Friday afternoon to more than 40,000 Baltimore Gas & Electric customers in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford and Howard counties. Sinai Hospital in the city was one of the customers affected. Three homes in the 2900 block of Constellation Way of the Star View Estates community near Gamber were condemned after significant damage to roofs and structures, and several nearby homes were also damaged, said Brian Horton, spokesman for the Carroll County Sheriff's Office.