BUSINESS
By Dan Thanh Dang and Dan Thanh Dang,SUN STAFF | January 7, 2003
At the first sight of snow, Joan Toler heads for the closet. Living without electricity, the 50-year-old retired nurse has to pull on some pantyhose, boots and four sweaters to keep warm. Five blankets help, too. Toler, who drives a taxicab, can't pay the $2,800 that Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. says she owes and she disputes. Her service was cut off Nov. 2. "It's just crazy," said Toler, who says she brings home about $1,200 a month. "I'm freezing." As temperatures drop and fuel bills rise this winter, state agencies and utilities are aggressively seeking families and residents such as Toler who need help paying utility bills.
NEWS
By Liz F. Kay and Liz F. Kay,liz.kay@baltsun.com | February 24, 2009
Helen Brierley turned off her heat pump and has been air-drying her dishes. Amina Gauhar hangs her laundry on a clothes rack and even avoids the vacuum cleaner. Both have turned their thermostats way down. But despite efforts to conserve energy, their utility bills - like those of other Maryland residents - have doubled or even tripled during the past few months. As Maryland regulators and utility executives scramble to explain the sticker shock to thousands of angry customers, the Maryland Public Service Commission set up a hearing this week to address the sharp number of complaints.
BUSINESS
By Hanah Cho and Hanah Cho,hanah.cho@baltsun.com | September 8, 2009
The first home Mette Ramanathan and her husband considered buying was a 2,200-square-foot, five-bedroom place. It was too big for the couple, who were interested in space efficiency and lower utility costs. So they settled on a considerably smaller three-bedroom Cape Cod in Baltimore's Hamilton neighborhood. The larger house was "not only expensive but you're using and wasting an awful lot of space," said Ramanathan, who moved in May. "Even if we start a family, we don't need five bedrooms to start a family."
NEWS
August 21, 1991
No, because it doesn't make any difference. The government will still be getting the money from us in the long run. What's the differenceif they lower it one place and jack it up somewhere else? I think they charge too much on taxes. I own a business and have to operate it on the confines of my budget. The government can't just tax when it needs more money. There has to be accountability.
FEATURES
By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun | January 10, 2012
As Gov. Martin O'Malley prepares to renew his push to build industrial wind turbines off Maryland's coast, a new poll shows strong public support even if the outlook for offshore wind development has grown cloudier lately. The mid-December survey done by OpinionWorks of Annapolis on behalf of a coalition of environmental groups finds that nearly two-thirds of voters statewide favor developing offshore wind power even if it would raise their utility bills by $2 a month. That echoes the finding of an earlier poll in September, in which 62 percent of those asked supported offshore wind.
NEWS
By Alice Lukens and Alice Lukens,SUN STAFF | January 21, 2001
Charles W. Davis Sr., a disabled Vietnam veteran, says he never asked for charity in his life - until recently, when cold weather and rising fuel prices conspired to drive his heating bills into triple digits. Last month, Davis says, he received a $252 heating bill for his two-bedroom Owings Mills apartment - much more than he usually pays. A lapsed Catholic, he appealed to area churches, garnering some money but not enough to pay the whole bill. He is bracing himself for the next bill.