Unplugged

You knew it was coming. Three songs into their elaborately staged concert Thursday night at 1st Mariner Arena, members of the country-pop super-trio Rascal Flatts took nasty swipes at that other country-pop mega-threesome: the Dixie Chicks, who had swept the Grammys with five wins just this week. Rascal Flatts, nominated for What Hurts the Most, went home empty-handed, and the guys seemed sore about it. Lead singer Gary LeVox cattily sang the title of the Chicks' hit "Not Ready to Make Nice," then made a disgusted face.

The death of the Constellation merger and the savings it was supposed to provide will cost Baltimore Gas and Electric customers - but not much. A Sun analysis shows that average consumers, already facing a 72 percent increase in rates, will lose monthly credits to their electricity bills of at least $1.62 and as much as $4.54. The savings, which were set to begin in January and vary by electricity use, would have come over 10 years from a total of $600 million in rate relief that Constellation says it tied to the merger with FPL Group Inc. But the state legislature says all but $214 million of those credits are not merger related and still must be applied to BGE bills.

Constellation Energy Group Inc. is unlikely to rush to find another acquirer in the wake of its failed deal with a Florida energy company, and it might eventually look to buy rather than sell, industry experts said yesterday. If nothing else, Baltimore-based Constellation has a financial incentive to sit tight for a while. It would have to pay a multimillion-dollar fee to FPL Group Inc.

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. seized on the failed merger of BGE's parent company and a Florida utility as clear evidence, two weeks before the election, that Democratic leaders are arrogant, over-reaching and anti-business. Ehrlich had long warned that the legislature's attempts to replace regulators and slow the merger would kill the deal. But the potency of his "I-told-you-so" moment is unclear. Nearly every issue at this stage of the election cycle has elicited a response that falls clearly on party lines - but not this one. Ehrlich has long backed the merger, but many other political leaders in the state - including some members of the governor's party - say they were never convinced the deal would have been good for Maryland consumers.

Now that the merger between Constellation Energy and a Florida utility is off, what does this mean for the Baltimore-based company, its customers, the state and others? What happens to Constellation? The deal's end means that Constellation will remain headquartered in Baltimore as the city's only remaining Fortune 200 company. It will continue to operate as a stand-alone company as the country's biggest seller of wholesale power - at least for the time being. Constellation must pay its former buyer, Florida-based FPL Group, $425 million if it sells itself to another party before July 1 and $210 million if it does so between July 1 and Sept.

Constellation Energy Group Inc. and Florida's FPL Group Inc. officially gave up on their merger plans yesterday after executives concluded the deal was hopelessly mired in a populist political debate in Maryland over deregulation and rising electricity rates. The move means control over Constellation and its BGE utility will remain in local hands, rather than shifting to Florida. But it weakens the hand of lawmakers and regulators, who were expecting to use the merger's approval as leverage to extract more concessions to offset a 72 percent BGE rate increase.

Dec. 19, 2005 Constellation and FPL announce a deal to merge. Feb. 27 Maryland lawmakers say they want more testimony from Constellation and FPL to make sure consumers will be protected. March 30 The General Assembly votes to give the legislature power to halt the merger if a special investigator decides it won't be good for Marylanders, a move apparently meant to force concessions in talks over a 72 percent increase in BGE electricity rates. Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. later vetoes the measure.

HOW THE GAME WAS WON Another comeback by Steve McNair. The Ravens quarterback was 4-for-5 for 43 yards on the final drive, hitting tight end Todd Heap for a game-winning, 10-yard touchdown with 34 seconds left. Before that possession, McNair was 13-for-25 for 115 yards. TURNING POINT The momentum began to swing to the Ravens in the fourth quarter, when punter Mike Scifres botched a hold on a 51-yard field-goal attempt that could have put the Chargers ahead by nine points. Instead, San Diego took a safety on its next series and then gave the ball back to the Ravens, who were able to win the game with a touchdown.

When a loud, riotous hard-rock act goes the acoustic route, it's easy to assume the band has "grown up." The campfire takes are supposed to reveal musical and lyrical "depth" previously obscured by fire-alarm guitars and larynx-shredding screams. Sometimes the mission is accomplished brilliantly. The guys of Nirvana, for example, famously went all-acoustic on 1994's MTV Unplugged in New York. As Kurt Cobain's mental distress at the time simmered in his vocals, the band provided solid, sympathetic backing.

Lynn Shepard is ready to force her six children - ranging in age from 1 to 15 - into labor just to pay for the amount of electricity they waste every day. It's a joke, but lately, the office manager says, she and her husband have become tyrants about saving energy. They constantly chase after the kids in their five-bedroom home in Aberdeen with an assortment of pleas that sound like a skipping CD player: Please turn the lights off in empty rooms. Don't leave the video game running if no one's using it. Please shut the TV off if no one's watching.