Bge

Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. said Thursday that energy prices will rise $6 a month for the typical residential electricity customer who doesn't use an outside power supplier, the first jump in energy prices in four years. That rise in costs, running from June through next May, comes on top of a distribution-rate increase approved in February. The state calculated that distribution rise at $3.33 a month for the average residential electricity customer, though BGE said typical customers - halfway between the biggest and smallest power-users - would pay $2.66 a month extra.

The playground at the Salvation Army was in sad shape: It was 50 years old, falling apart and infested with bees. The playground was so shabby that kids were no longer allowed to play on it. That changed Friday, with a day-long construction blitz that ended with a shiny new playground featuring swings, slides, a rock wall and a zip line. Once the concrete cures, kids from the Salvation Army and surrounding neighborhoods will be able to jump and swing and frolic on the new playground on Monday.

Forecasters are watching an expected outbreak of severe weather from Illinois to Maryland that some are likening to last June's derecho; one meteorologist predicted it would be a "multi billion dollar storm" causing massive power outages. Storms were developing in Illinois and Wisconsin early Wednesday evening, bringing tornado threats from there through Indiana and into Ohio. Meteorologists say conditions could be conducive for those storms to strengthen into a massive squall line packing up to 70 mph winds, large hail and heavy rain.

Worried about your air conditioner getting through the summer? See if Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. rebates could help with a tune-up or replacement. BGE said today that customers buying new heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems can qualify for a rebate of as much as $1,150 if they choose high-efficiency options. BGE says it also offers a $100 rebate for residents bringing in a contractor to ensure their AC is operating as well as it can. The contractor must participate in the BGE Cooling Efficiency Improvement Program . The utility offers rebates for other items , too, including refrigerators and washers.

A natural gas explosion ripped apart a vacant Westminster house yesterday afternoon, severely damaging dozens of neighboring homes and spreading debris more than a mile away.No one was injured, officials said.Nearly 100 families were evacuated after the 1:18 p.m. blast, and at least 50 homes were damaged -- 20 of them seriously enough to be declared uninhabitable by county housing inspectors.Residents were not allowed to return to their homes last night.The Autumn Ridge neighborhood was strewn with garage doors, shattered windows, ripped insulation and aluminum siding, while all that was left of the house at 90 Sunshine Way was a smoldering pile of wood, brick and aluminum.

Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. customers will be paying higher rates this year, with the average bills rising by several dollars a month, to cover the cost of upgrading the utility's infrastructure. Maryland's Public Service Commission, which regulates the company, said Friday it approved an increase to distribution rates that will cost the average residential electricity customer an additional $3.33 a month and the average residential gas customer an extra $2.70 a month. The utility had sought larger rate increases.

Three in every 10 Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. customers are buying their electricity through third-party suppliers, continuing a steady trend of increases in recent years, the company said Wednesday. About 30 percent of electricity customers don't purchase their energy from BGE, up from 25 percent at the end of 2011 and 18 percent at the end of 2010, the company said. BGE's natural-gas customers are less likely to switch to third-party providers, though more have done so in the last few years - 22 percent, up from 13 percent at the end of 2010.

Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. asked Friday for another rate increase, three months after winning approval for higher charges, and company officials said they expect to seek more in the future. It's the third time in as many years that BGE has requested higher distribution rates. If approved, the typical residential customer getting both electricity and gas would pay about $72 more a year for distribution. Company officials said they expect to ask for frequent rate increases as they seek reimbursement for more aggressive tree-trimming, infrastructure upgrades and other work aimed at improving service.

I realize that the current power outage is a unique situation, but the usual priorities for restoring power are supposed to be, first, hospitals, and then senior citizens' complexes. My wife and I are both 85 years old, and as I write the temperature in our apartment at the retirement community where we live is 91 degrees. After almost 48 hours, BGE should have been able to do something for us, but they don't even answer our inquiries. Right around now I would be really hot under the collar - if that weren't already my coolest spot.

When I read in The Sun ("Report from BGE details efforts to get storm crews," Aug. 1) that the average outage following the June derecho was 38 hours, I was doubly outraged. For the second time following a storm, the residents of Anton Farms Road in Baltimore County were without power for seven days. Baltimore Gas and Electric feels customers expect too much, getting impatient when electricity is out for 48 hours. Well, our community needs electricity for water and sewage, and seven days is well beyond BGE's average.

About 17,000 Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. customers lost power for about an hour on Monday afternoon after an unexpected problem occurred at a substation in the Mount Washington area of Northwest Baltimore, according to a company spokeswoman. The unexpected and still unidentified problem, which is under investigation, occurred with one piece of equipment at the substation about noon, at the same time another, similar piece of equipment had been taken offline and de-energized for routine maintenance, according to Rachael Lighty, the spokeswoman.

In reference to the article, "BGE seeks rate increase on heels of last case" (May 17), BGE should be run like any other company. Every other company has to pass some of the cost to the stockholders, reducing quarterly earnings, for instance. I would like to own a company where I can say, "Well, I will just get more money from my customers and they have no say. " Since Gov. Martin O'Malley, House Speaker Michael Bush and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller are taking more money out of our pockets by passing a lot of new taxes, BGE must now think they can dip into our pockets.

Baltimore Gas & Electric certainly isn't likely to win any popularity contests. It secured a rate increase from the Public Service Commission in February - its second in the last three years - and turned around and filed a request for another one on Friday. And at the same time, the utility is asking the PSC for what may be unprecedented in Maryland: a surcharge on customers' monthly bills to pay for improvements to the electrical grid in advance. But as little as we may like it, the truth is that failing to make investments in maintaining the grid and improving its reliability is costing us dearly, too. It's just a harder cost to figure than the one that shows up at the bottom of our electric bills every month.

Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. asked Friday for another rate increase, three months after winning approval for higher charges, and company officials said they expect to seek more in the future. It's the third time in as many years that BGE has requested higher distribution rates. If approved, the typical residential customer getting both electricity and gas would pay about $72 more a year for distribution. Company officials said they expect to ask for frequent rate increases as they seek reimbursement for more aggressive tree-trimming, infrastructure upgrades and other work aimed at improving service.

A line of thunderstorms passed through Harford County Saturday afternoon, knocking down trees - including one at the Harford County Courthouse - and causing sporadic power outages. By 7:30 p.m., the BGE web site was reporting roughly 2,200 customers were without power in the immediate aftermath of the storm; more than 1,500 had power restored and more than crews were working to get 700 more back on line. Hardest hit were areas along Route 24 from Forest Hill to Joppa, and in the greater Havre de Grace area.

What do you think of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. and its parent, Exelon Corp.? Some companies survey customers to find out. Results are mixed. J.D. Power and Associates' most recent survey -- for 2012 -- shows BGE with a roughly average score for large utilities in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, but substantially below average overall. BGE's 598 score for customer satisfaction among electric residential customers, on a 1,000-point scale, ranked it below 109 of the 126 utilities the marketing-information firm surveyed.

I live in northern Baltimore and was without electricity for a week after the recent storm. Our neighborhood looked like a war zone, with trees and power lines down on almost every street. But not once did I or my neighbors get mad at BGE because we realized the scope of destruction caused by the derecho and what a mammoth job the cleanup was going to be. Now the politicians are puffing up their chests and damning BGE to make it look like they are doing something. The dialogue has become an either-or discussion about whether or not to put power lines underground, which would cost a fortune.

I have read and listened to the citizens of Baltimore whine and complain about BGE's inability to restore power immediately after last month's freak storm ("Report from BGE details efforts to get storm crews," Aug. 1). Didn't they read about the crews they got from other states to help out, or the fact that they worked 24/7 in 100-degree heat to restore power? Didn't they see the number of trees felled or the amazing number of dangerous downed lines that could not be repaired in a day or two?

Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. expects to ask for a rate increase within the next two months, less than half a year after it won approval for its last one. The plans were disclosed Wednesday during parent Exelon Corp.'s earnings call with analysts. Chicago-based Exelon said BGE would file its request by the end of June. The Maryland Public Service Commission approved BGE's most recent distribution-rate request in February, though not at the level the company had asked for. The regulatory agency said the average residential electricity consumer would pay an extra $3.33 a month and the average residential gas customer would pay an additional $2.70 a month.

Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. said it will give $25 to each residential customer who recycles a working room air-conditioning unit at an event this weekend. The utility said consumers can drop off the room units at two Sears locations, Eastpoint Mall in Dundalk and Hunt Valley Towne Centre in Cockeysville. BGE said workers will unload the units from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday (May 4) and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday (May 5) . BGE said it will pay $25 for each room air-conditioning unit -- up to two per customer -- as part of its Smart Energy Savers Program . Checks will be mailed about four weeks after the recycling event.