By Cynthia Hernandez
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
A Baltimore City Council hearing earlier this month was supposed to get answers from the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company about rising utility rates, but instead, it left many residents increasingly frustrated with their electric bills.
An estimated 25 people gathered outside the Du Burns Council Chamber on March 12, hoping to hear from BG&E officials who were scheduled to testify before the council. However, when company executives refused to attend, it irritated both customers and members of the council.
Council President Zeke Cohen left the seat reserved for a BG&E representative empty.
Cohen said BG&E’s leadership told the council they opted out of attending because “their presence would shift the conversation from its intended purpose.”
Cohen characterized their absence as a lack of respect for customers’ concerns.
BG&E spokesperson Nick Alexopulos said the company refused to attend the hearing due to it being “narrow, repetitive, and reductive” in a press conference hours before the meeting.
“It is political theater on the part of City Council president,” Alexopulos said. “It’s not going to help our customers and it’s not going to further the conversation that Maryland needs to have about bringing energy costs under control.”
BGE representatives appeared before the City Council in February 2025. The representatives defended the company, explaining that its practices are highly regulated and are not the “primary driver” of soaring rates.
The company has since declined invitations to appear before the council, calling for an expansion of the conversation on a “complex system.”
During that time, BG&E’s profits increased nearly 10% from 2024. The company reported a record-breaking $578 million annual profit for 2025. Calvin Butler, CEO of parent company Exelon Corp., reported $14.6 million in profit that same year, according to Councilman Antonio Glover.
Amid record-breaking profits, Baltimore residents have been left making difficult decisions to pay their BG&E bill.
Frederique Dambreville, a North Baltimore resident, said she had to take out a loan to pay her utility bill, which increased by almost $400 a month. Dambreville told the council she lives with her elderly father and says she has taken many measures to conserve energy, hoping that will steady costs.
Despite those efforts, it “continues to rise beyond what I can afford,” Dambreville said. The hefty BG&E bills have pushed her close to a $3,000 debt.
Alicia Williams, a Baltimore nurse, told council members that she has spent the last three years helping patients apply for energy relief programs. She said in that time, she had only seen one patient receive funds. The nurse added that she, as the sole resident of her home, recently received a $600 bill.
Williams said BG&E is charging patients who cannot afford life-saving medications “exorbitant amounts of money.”
Cohen said that in last February’s hearing, a senior was so “terrified of her ballooning BG&E bill,” that she had to debate using her medical oxygen tank.
Many residents are seeking solutions to help bear the stress put on their families and homes.
BGE says it has aided thousands of customers through increased rates. The company introduced a customer relief fund in July of 2025, allocating a total of $15 million, with $2.5 million in 2026.
The fund is intended to be “part of a broader, ongoing effort to improve energy affordability.”
The utility says they are continuing to help customers through “flexible payment plans and energy efficiency programs,” now that the fund is closed and no longer accepting applicants.
During the meeting, Councilman Glover said that while the “few million in relief is appreciated,” he knows it is “not enough.”
Maryland’s People Council David Lapp agreed, saying that $17.5 million “is nowhere near enough” for all the residents who need assistance.
Glover compared BG&E’s increase in distribution rates to relief funds, adding that the situation is “unacceptable.”
In customer bills, two costs are included: the price and the delivery of gas or distribution costs. While BG&E does not earn profit from gas itself, they do profit from its delivery, a cost they control, Cohen said.
The company uses multi-year rate plans (MYPs), which allow utility rates to be set for a period of time rather than annually. Through these plans, they have requested higher distribution rates, which Cohen said are to “pay for new infrastructure before they build it.”
According to BG&E, this tool is meant to “achieve the best outcomes for customers and Maryland’s energy future.”
Baltimoreans are seeing the opposite effect.
Lapp said, “It’s difficult, if not impossible,” for these plans to present benefits to customers. The inclusion of forecasted test years in plans and increased investments in capital expenditures are “gambling with the house money,” Lapp said.
The City Council, in the meeting’s mission statement, claims that with the Public Service Commission-approved rates, “the more BGE spends on infrastructure, the bigger profit they can accrue.”
Infrastructure, such as the $500 million Port Covington project that was recently paused, is a capital expenditure. Capital expenditures are funds a company uses to improve or replace its assets.
Lapp said BG&E’s rate of return on capital expenditure is 9.5%. He explained that the half-billion project would assign “100%” of distribution-level costs to customers, not including “profit, taxes, and other costs,” over the coming years if continued.
Exelon, BG&E’s parent company, also cited distribution rates as the reason for “higher utility earnings” in 2025.
BG&E customers are experiencing a trickle-down effect, contributing to the company’s earnings with high bills and late payment fees. MYPs heighten this effect by allowing the utility to recover investments on capital expenditures faster than regular rates. Customers are seeing high bills without increased usage because of excessive spending, Lapp said.
Cohen said that apart from paying profits, customers also shoulder rate hikes due to “a process called reconciliation” that allows BG&E to overspend beyond approved rates.
The company’s decision to utilize contractors and lay off laborers has also drawn attention.
In an email presented during the meeting, BG&E notified 68 unionized workers on Feb. 10 that their employment would be “terminated effective March 12, 2026, due to lack of work.”
Brian Terwilliger, who is a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 410, told the council that 46 of the non-managerial workers laid off by BG&E were all entry-level.
He explained this could lead to a higher reliance on contractors who cost “more than triple of what an in-house employee costs on overtime,” as the “workforce ages.”
Terwilliger says he sees “a deliberate strategy to prioritize contractor arrangements and shareholder returns over stable jobs and reliability for Maryland customers.”
Activists and council members continued to criticize BG&E for pushing their narratives.
Alexopulos, the BGE spokesperson, said in a sit-down interview with Fox 45’s Jessica Babb on Feb. 2 that activists are “not engineers,” and all the company’s work is “necessary and critical.”
In the face of public scrutiny, demands that the company take accountability surge, calling for public power as a replacement.
Maryland House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk, D-Prince George’s County, introduced the Utility RELIEF Act, aimed at lowering and stabilizing energy bills for Marylanders. A deadline is set for April 13, with the bill now under consideration in the Maryland Senate.