Ratepayers

The fight against hunger still needs public contributions Rob Kasper absolutely nailed the story of our Second Helping program ("Food shuffle: how to fill the plates of the needy," Oct. 17). He structured clearly what we see every day -- the odd combination of joy and pathos, celebration and deprivation, and of enthusiastic volunteers dealing with the consequence of a frayed safety net. For years we've picked up food from the food service industry and delivered it to shelters and soup kitchens, hoping that maybe, around the next legislative session, the key to ending hunger will emerge.

BGE's rate cuts don't do Maryland consumers any favors The Sun reported only half of the issues about the appeal the Mid-Atlantic Power Supply Association (MAPSA) asked for ("Cheaper electricity held hostage," editorial, July 19). The reason that the Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. can offer a low rate for electricity for the next few years is that it stands to collect $528 million from Maryland ratepayers for stranded costs -- money BGE invested in "generation assets" that it has not been allowed to charge ratepayers.

LAUREL -- Prince George's and Montgomery County officials will meet today to decide whether to take the first step toward selling the nation's seventh-largest water and sewer company. But already, the proposal is in trouble.The Montgomery County Council has decided that a yearlong, $400,000 study of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission has failed to prove ratepayers would benefit if the utility's assets were sold."We're not saying privatization is bad, that it will not happen [ever]

Two years ago, Eastalco Aluminum Co.'s Frederick plant had the lowest power cost of the five major aluminum factories owned by its corporate parent, Alumax Inc.But since then, company plants in South Carolina, Washington state and Canada have negotiated lower rates. Today, the Frederick plant has the highest rates."One-third of our costs is electricity," said Earl Robbins, public and government affairs manager for Eastalco. "Over the last three years, we've paid in the neighborhood of $65 million to $70 million a year.

A hearing on Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.'s appliance subsidiary raised questions yesterday about whether the utility's subsidy of the nonregulated operation is greater than the $555,000 reported in a recent study.The amount of support provided to the appliance business is a key question in the Maryland Public Service Commission investigation into the financial relationship between the regulated utility -- which is supported by ratepayers -- and its unregulated appliance and service businesses.

The Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. has won the first round in a Public Service Commission case over whether it is improperly subsidizing some of its nonutility businesses with ratepayers' money.In a decision released yesterday on prehearing motions, a PSC hearing examiner, Joel M. Bright, refused to bar BG&E from expanding its merchandise and service business during the course of the hearing. The hearing itself will begin in January and is expected to last several months.Mr. Bright said the PSC's authority on nonregulated businesses is limited to the effects they might have on the regulated utility business.

With its merchandise operation under fire for being subsidized by ratepayers, Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. yesterday announced that it will establish a separate subsidiary for its merchandise and service businesses."

A Public Service Commission hearing examiner said yesterday that he would decide by the end of the year whether Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. should be allowed to expand its nonutility business during the next seven months.The hearing examiner, Joel M. Bright, made his decision during a conference to investigate whether BG&E has improperly subsidized some of its nonutility businesses with ratepayers money.Two business coalitions and the Maryland People's Counsel, the official that represents ratepayers, had asked that BG&E be kept from expanding its nonutility operation because of alleged misallocation of ratepayer's money.

Sharpening the controversy over whether the Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. is subsidizing its merchandise stores with ratepayers' money, the Maryland People's Counsel and two business coalitions asked the Public Service Commission yesterday to restrict BG&E's non-utility operations and take steps to return the alleged subsidy to ratepayers."

More than half a million dollars of ratepayers' money was used to subsidize Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.'s nonregulated appliance and electronics business last year, according to an independent study released yesterday.The report, conducted by the national accounting firm of Ernst & Young, confirmed repeated charges levied by competitors that BG&E's regulated utility business was helping support its merchandise business. Paid for by BG&E, the study was ordered by the Public Service Commission (PSC)