Utilities

The woman who says she represents North American Power is not telling the truth about the benefits of buying electricity from her company. "You can save up to 10, 15, 20 percent of your bill, depending on your usage," she says in a telemarketing call to my house. But the rate she eventually quotes is only about 7 percent less than the standard price offered by Baltimore Gas & Electric — something the average customer would have no way of knowing. And of course the percentage savings won't vary even if my "usage" goes up to that of a steel mill.

Feeling overburdened by your utility bills paired with your monthly rent? Join the growing ranks of Americans and Baltimoreans. The Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire reports that post-recession, more renters feel the strain of spending more than 30 percent of their income on rent and utilities. That's according to research by Jessica Bean, the institute's vulnerable families research associate. In 2010, 49 percent of all renters spent more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs.

Executives from Maryland's two largest electric utilities defended the speed of their response to thousands of power outages caused by January's severe winter storm as they appeared before state regulators Thursday. Joseph Rigby, chairman and CEO of Pepco Holdings Inc., told the Maryland Public Service Commission about the utility's reliability enhancement plan that is expected to cost more than $250 million over five years. The utility took about five days to restore power to more than 180,000 Maryland customers in January.

A 47-year-old Joppa resident died Wednesday night in a motorcycle accident on Old York Road, according to the Baltimore County police department. Larry Stephen Hicks Jr., of the 1900 block of Mountain Road in Joppa, was pronounced dead at the scene. According to the police department, officers responded around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday to a report of a motorcycle accident at Old York Road and Openshaw Road. Investigators determined that the 2008 Harley Davidson motorcycle operated by Hicks was traveling eastbound on Old York Road when it left the roadway and struck a utility pole.

We have read recently about outrage from customers and politicians regarding slow restoration of power to homes after bad weather. We have to say that our experience this week has been quite different. A tree fell across our power lines last Friday afternoon. By that night, Baltimore Gas and Electric and Baltimore County had cleared the street and made the power lines safe. The next day, the four downed poles were replaced. Twelve hours later, the power was restored. The next day, the phone and cable companies restored service.

Maryland energy regulators on Thursday considered proposed regulations that would set reliability standards for the state's utilities. The proposed standards would reduce the average length of outages statewide by 90 minutes and the frequency of outages by 24 percent by the end of 2015. They also would set benchmarks for tree trimming and telephone call response times, as well as deadlines for restoring power during normal and inclement weather. The Maryland Public Service Commission would have the authority to impose fines if utilities failed to meet the standards.

Maryland energy regulators have ordered the state's utilities to provide better and more up-to-date information on prices for consumers shopping for electricity. The decision issued Thursday is intended to improve "price to compare" information for standard utility service that appears on customer bills. Instead of providing apples-to-apples comparisons for consumers, the Maryland Public Service Commission wrote in its order that the "price to compare" information has been "confusing, can be misleading and will often be dated."

Despite the best efforts of more than 1,100 Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. workers, some of whom trudged through 3-foot drifts and climbed poles in the driving snow, about 20,000 residents of the region remained without power Saturday night. During the storm, nearly 180,000 Maryland homes and businesses were without power, most of them in Montgomery County. Utility company representatives said most of the outages were caused by tree branches breaking under the weight of heavy snow and bringing down lines.

Maryland power companies and some of their biggest customers say the state's economy has a lot to gain from more competition in the electricity business.But almost all sides want the Public Service Commission to move very cautiously if it deregulates power prices, and most say Maryland should not go it alone but instead should join neighboring states in a regional deregulation plan."Let others blaze trails. There are bound to be constructive lessons to be learned from their mistakes," the Potomac Edison Co. urged in a 117-page paper that added up to an essay on the need for caution in changing familiar arrangements that have provided Marylanders with electric power for decades.

Federal regulators approved a plan yesterday that would set up a common operating system to handle electricity transactions between a group of mid-Atlantic utilities.The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's approval will allow the utilities -- including Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. -- to establish an independent system operator beginning Jan. 1.But in approving the plan for the group known as the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland Interconnection, FERC ordered that the companies have no financial interest in the operator.

The Orioles are purchasing the contract of utility man Bill Hall from Triple-A Norfolk, an industry source has confirmed. Hall will report to Baltimore on today and will be available for tonight's Orioles' game against the Rays at Camden Yards, the source said. Signed to a minor-league contract on April 23, Hall became a free-agent  when he didn't make the Yankees' 25-man roster this spring. In 15 games at Norfolk, Hall put up a .222/.269/.381 line with four doubles, two homers and seven RBI. Hall has had success against left-handed pitching at Norfolk, hitting .444 (8-for-18)

Rookie utility man Ryan Flaherty started just one game in the club's first 16 games and now has started each of the past four, including in right field Saturday night - the first time he had appeared there as a major leaguer. “I think every day you have to somewhat expect to be in there, and once you're not, then you make changes according to that plan,” said Flaherty, whom the Orioles selected from the Chicago Cubs in December's Rule 5 draft. The Cubs organization wanted to increase the position flexibility of Flaherty, an infielder by trade, so he played 28 games (21 starts)

Rookie utility man Ryan Flaherty is quickly becoming a very useful asset for the Orioles. Flaherty, the Orioles' Rule 5 draft pick this offseason. is making his first career start in right field tonight against the Athletics. On a cold, rainy night, Orioles manager Buck Showalter said he wants to keep everyday right fielder Nick Markakis, who has caught the flu-like bug going around the Orioles clubhouse, out of the elements on defense. So Markakis will DH tonight. Fourth outfielder Endy Chavez is also under the weather and battling an intercostal strain, so he's day-to-day.

The Orioles have agreed to terms with veteran free-agent utility man Bill Hall, according to multiple industry sources. He will report to the club's Triple-A team in Norfolk and will replace Josh Bell, who was dealt to the Diamondbacks this weekend after he was designated for assignment. The Orioles like his glove at third base and his ability to hit for power against left-handed pitching. Hall spent most of his 10-year big-league career with Milwaukee, where he had a 35-homer, 85-RBI season in 2006, but the Orioles will be his seventh organization since the beginning of the 2009 season.

SARASOTA, Fla. - It seemed apparent for a week, after Ryan Flaherty 's competition for the Orioles' utility infielder spot departed camp, but on Monday, it became official. Orioles manager Buck Showalter told Flaherty, the Orioles' Rule 5 Draft pick this offseason, in front of the team that he was making the club's Opening Day roster. "It's been great, it's been a great spring I know that for sure," Flaherty said. "And [it's been] a lot, you go from being left unprotected to being taken by a team all the way up to this point.

A bill that would have let gas utilities seek a surchage of up to $2 a month on customers' bill was shot down -- for a second time --  Wednesday by a bipartisan coalition of senators who contended the measure would let monopolies charge ratepayers up front for infrastructure improvements the companies now have to finance out of their own coffers. The Senate defeated the measure 22-24, reaffirming a similar vote earlier Tuesday. After the bill's original 22-23 defeat, a motion to reconsider passed, but a new debate Wednesday failed to reassure lawmakers that the bill provided sufficient safeguards for residential customers.

As a journalist, I've found covering utility rate hearings to be unlike anything else. It mixes protracted boredom, complex methodology, stacks of studies and experts-for-hire happy to speak on either side of the issue. After logging many hours sitting through rate hearings over the years, however, I also am aware how important utilities are to average citizens in their daily lives. A hot topic Utilities remain a hot topic: Consolidation of utility companies continues, with firms pointing to economies of scale as a primary focus.

Noise Cancellation Technologies Inc. announced yesterday that it is forming a consortium with electric utilities around the world, including Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., to assist in refining and producing the company's process of reducing noise from electric power transformers.Michael Parrella, president of NCT, said the goal is to team with between 15 and 20 utilities to share the $5 million development cost of noise-reduction equipment for power transformers used by utilities worldwide.

Starting in May, Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. will begin installing "smart meters" in a huge undertaking intended to modernize Central Maryland's electricity grid and save customers money by helping them control energy use. The three-year, $482 million rollout is scheduled to begin in Pasadena and continue in stages until 1.3 million analog electric meters are replaced with digital ones and 700,000 gas meters are upgraded by the end of 2014....

Ryan Flaherty rattles off the different gloves he has in his locker at Ed Smith Stadium. "There's outfielder, a second baseman's one, one for third and short, one for first," he said. No catcher's mitt? "Not yet," said Flaherty, who was taken from the Chicago Cubs in December's Rule 5 draft. "I guess if they asked me, I'm sure I could go back there and make it work, but I don't have much experience behind the plate. Little League I caught a little bit, but not since then.