Public Service Commission

IT'S no surprise that the Public Service Commission's new report on utility companies' response to Hurricane Floyd focuses on inadequate customer communication and the inability to judge utility performance in restoring service.Those are two nagging questions from the September storm that left hundreds of thousands of Marylanders without electricity.Customers were often kept in the dark, figuratively as well as literally, about the expected time period for service restoration. That added to public angst and anger.

THE OUTRAGE of the 11 households in the Bramble Hills subdivision near Westminster whose water utility rates skyrocketed 900 percent overnight is understandable. Homes were cut off by the private water company, before state intervention forced reconnection.One can also understand the problem faced by the new owner of the communal well: bills long unpaid by some users and unexpected expenses for one of the tiniest private water utilities in Maryland.The episode, though small in scope, highlights an important fact: safe, reliable drinking water is not free.

Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. and its Washington merger partner appealed yesterday to state regulators to modify an order that the two utilities claim threatens their pending $2.9 billion union.The BGE and Potomac Electric Power Co. filing with the Public Service Commission seeks to reduce a $56 million-a-year electric rate cut for Maryland customers and rescind other conditions the state agency set in approving the merger.BGE and Pepco hope to slash the PSC's rate reduction to $26 million a year in exchange for extending a base rate freeze from three years to four.

THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS revolution has brought consumers competition and chaos, new choices and new charges. The first major tremor was felt in long-distance service, where unrelenting competing ads confuse many customers, but the result has been lower rates for most people.Now the controversy is over opening up local service competition, to crack the monopoly of the Baby Bells (like Bell Atlantic) and allow other companies to compete. In one of the first such cases in the nation, Maryland's Public Service Commission is to rule by tomorrow on prices that competitors will pay Bell Atlantic to lease parts of its local service network (in order to resell services to homes and businesses)

At a time when most of state government is slimming down, a Baltimore delegate has proposed legislation that would beef up the Public Service Commission.Del. Brian K. McHale, a Democrat, recently introduced a little-noticed bill that would expand the membership of the PSC from five commissioners to nine.Commissioners earn $79,800 to $87,200 depending on length of service, and each has an administrative aide who is paid a salary of $26,631, said Chris Wilson, the PSC's manager of external affairs.

RESIDENTIAL TELEPHONE consumers in Maryland may expect to see a new form of local and long-distance service in the near future that could have a decidedly old-time appearance.The state Public Service Commission recently gave permission for AT&T Corp., formerly everyone's Ma Bell, to provide local phone service for home and business customers. AT&T already sells long-distance service here.Until the federal breakup of AT&T more than a decade ago, the monopoly provided all services to customers in Maryland.

The Office of People's Counsel urged the state Public Service Commission yesterday to cut the telephone rates Bell Atlantic Corp. charges its Maryland customers by "at least" $40.4 million.The People's Counsel, which represents the interests of the state's residential ratepayers, also urged the PSC to launch its first comprehensive examination of the "justness and reasonableness" of Bell Atlantic's rates in three years.In an affidavit filed with its petition, a witness for the People's Counsel charged that Bell Atlantic's rates produced returns "well in excess" of the guidelines established by the commission in a 1983 case.

In the wake of protests from the elderly, a state hearing examiner has recommended that the Public Service Commission rescind a rule mandating a $5 minimum fare on sedan services, saying in his written opinion that it was "against the public interest."The minimum fare was sought by area taxi companies, whose owners claimed the sedan services were costing them business and were posing a danger to the public because of a lack of regulation.The regulation was approved without comment from sedan service operators or the public, but the PSC decided to reopen the matter after a public outcry.

BRADDOCK HEIGHTS -- Frederick County government temporarily has taken over operation of one of the county's last private water companies while Maryland's Public Service Commission mulls the small utility's future.Owners of Braddock Water Co., which serves about 350 customers atop Braddock Mountain, west of Frederick, withdrew from the operation last week after dropping their appeal of a Public Service Commission decision to revoke the utility's franchise.In a rare move, the PSC decided to withdraw the water company's franchise in September after the utility failed to satisfy a December 1992 order that it secure leases to water sources, fix a damaged water storage tank roof and bury water lines to protect them from freezing and breaking in the winter.

For more than four years, Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. and state regulators have been battling over who will pick up the half-billion-dollar tab left over from the 1989-1991 shutdowns of Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant.More than 20,000 pages of testimony and exhibits have poured into the Public Service Commission (PSC), which regulates utilities in Maryland. Millions of dollars have been spent preparing arguments. Roughly 60 days have been spent taking depositions, while a dozen days of hearings have been held through the years.

Were officials correct to disqualify a cross country athlete from Hereford High School for a minor uniform violation, costing his school a first place finish? Yes 27% No 67% Not sure 6% (1,239 votes, results not scientific) Next poll: : Will the deal allowing Constellation Energy to sell half its nuclear business to the French EDF Group - approved by the Public Service Commission last week and the companies Monday - be good for Maryland? Vote at baltimoresun.

Smart electric meters of dubious value After more than 20 years working in the electric utility industry, I am no longer amazed at the lengths some utility companies will go to wrench one more dollar from the consumer while simultaneously reducing service ("An intelligent idea," July 15). The "smart grid" is still down the road since existing technology is expensive (added costs for consumer) and available on a limited basis, with spotty test results. Several industry specific research groups agree that this is a technology for tomorrow, but first the transmission grid needs to be updated, allowing greater access and thus a reduction in distribution costs.

Constellation Energy Group appealed Monday a court ruling dismissing the utility's lawsuit accusing Maryland regulators of overstepping their authority in investigating a deal to sell half its nuclear power business to a French utility. The legal move before the Maryland Court of Special Appeals comes a week after a Baltimore Circuit Court judge ruled that it is premature for Constellation to challenge a continuing review process under the Maryland Public Service Commission. Judge Stuart R. Berger did not rule on the merits of Constellation's argument that the regulatory review is not required under state law. "We are simply preserving our legal rights in the future," Constellation spokesman Rob Gould said.

Constellation responsible for impasse with state Your editorial attacking Gov. O'Malley for insisting that the Constellation/EDF merger benefit ratepayers, shareholders and the environment rather than just a handful of Constellation executives ("Separate Politics, Power" June 15) is based on several significant factual mistakes: * Constellation got itself into its latest self-inflicted mess in December by filing a frivolous legal challenge to the Public Service Commission's responsibility to review whether or not the transaction is in the public interest.

Constellation Energy Group's pending $4.5 billion deal to sell half of its nuclear power business to France's largest utility is one step closer to completion. The New York State Public Service Commission approved the acquisition Tuesday, saying that "no potential for harm exists" regarding market power or other negative effects for New York ratepayers. Besides Calvert Cliffs in Lusby, Constellation also owns Nine Mile Point Nuclear Unit I and II in Oswego, N.Y., and R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant in Ontario, N.Y. The approval by New York energy regulators is the latest regulatory hurdle the Baltimore company has cleared since agreeing to the deal with Electricite de France.

CLARIFICATION An article in the Business section yesterday about Verizon facing customer service complaints did not make clear that the telephone company provided some documents to the Maryland Public Service Commission on Aug. 6 as requested. Verizon filed for an extension to complete the request on Aug. 22, though the PSC has since determined that the effort was inadequate and asked for more data. The Maryland Public Service Commission has given Verizon Maryland Inc. until the end of the week to fully answer for hundreds of complaints about customer service, or potentially face thousands of dollars in civil penalties.

The Maryland Public Service Commission opened an investigation yesterday into hundreds of complaints from Verizon customers, some of whom said the phone company took two weeks or more to restore service after recent outages - delays that officials fear could create a public safety hazard. PSC officials have logged between 200 and 300 complaints about Verizon repair service so far this year, including reports of difficulties in scheduling repair appointments and no-show repair crews. In its order, the PSC said that "unreasonable" delays meant that some consumers had no way to call 911, contact medical providers or connect security systems to monitoring services during the outages.

Democrats prove powerless on energy I was disheartened to see The Sun's article on the imminent increase in Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.'s electric rates ("50% rise in BGE rates OK'd by PSC," May 24). The energy deregulation legislation law passed by the Democrat-controlled legislature in 1999 assumed that there would be competition in state energy markets. But, strangely, utilities are not eager to do business in Maryland. Could this be because of illegal efforts by the legislature to run businesses, such as the ill-fated Wal-Mart bill or the effort to stack the membership of the Public Service Commission last year?

The Public Service Commission's new chairman said yesterday that he is committed to re-examining electricity regulation and said the commission will look closely at the possibility of a deferral plan for BGE ratepayers who are likely to see steep increases in their utility bills this summer. "I think historically, the approach that has been taken is that the market is setting the rate, leaving not much role for the commission," chairman Steven B. Larsen said. "But that's not what I believe.

A Public Service Commission member who was among those sharply criticized by Democrats for the panel's handling of a BGE rate increase resigned yesterday, giving Gov. Martin O'Malley more control over the agency as it launches a review of Maryland's utility regulations. Charles R. Boutin, who was one of two remaining appointees of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. on the board, said that the departure was entirely his idea. The former Republican legislator said he decided that he had had enough of the stress from the high-profile position and wanted to pursue career options in the private sector.