At the Utilities Town Hall meeting on February 18, companies got a much easier ride than expected with no voluble residents challenging utility costs. An article in the February 20 issue of the News Review described how local families are struggling with huge utility bills this winter, but didn’t cover the town hall, which took place too close to press time.
About 15 residents attended the meeting, outnumbered by city and utility staff. Pepco sent Senior External Affairs Specialist Ronni McTier, the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development sent Business Development Manager Linette Harley, the Maryland Energy Administration sent Director of Energy Programs Eric Coffman and WSSC sent Community Relations and Outreach Specialist Carlos Salazar.
Pepco
Pepco’s McTier acknowledged recent unexpectedly large bills and explained that Pepco’s website hosts an Energy Assistance Tool which covers a set of programs for which an applicant may be eligible (including those offered by other organizations) and offers assistance to homeowners to reduce their energy consumption.
She did not explain (and was not asked) why Pepco’s rates had escalated so much or account for the disparities among electricity rates among Maryland vendors.
State of Maryland
Maryland’s Harley spoke of the state’s role in investing in neighborhoods. A Division of Energy audit program is available free to a family of four earning less than $98,500 or about $70K for individuals, including assistance in replacing appliances and performing ventilation and weatherization audits. Those earning more can use the program with a fee.
Harley also spoke of the Maryland Energy Program solar energy help available to consumers, including grants of $7,500 and rebates for equipment like electric vehicle chargers.
EmPOWER Fund and Grants
One resident pointed out that the state’s EmPOWER is the largest surcharge on the Pepco bill and only slightly less than the combined state and local taxes. She questioned why she was subsidizing low-income renters to get improved appliances or heating and cooling equipment that then became the property of the landlord when the renter moved on, removing responsibility from the landlord and rewarding them with new equipment based on the poverty of their renter rather than their own financial situation. Harley countered that most of these grants were made in impoverished areas in Western Maryland where both landlords and tenants were financially challenged and landlords couldn’t afford to retrofit their properties – an answer that didn’t seem to satisfy the questioner.
WSSC
WSSC’s Salazar reported a difficult year with cold-related water breaks and noted that the utility has four programs to assist with water bills and pipes. A question by resident Steve Skolnik, former president of Greenbelt Homes, Inc. (GHI), about the disputed responsibility for water pipe maintenance within GHI, resulted in no clear answer.
Salazar reassured the meeting that WSSC’s water was tested almost continuously and continued to hold a perfect record for potability.
Bill Analysis and Power Rates
In the accompanying graphics, the News Review analyzed a recent local Pepco bill. The bill is annotated to show what each line means. Only about 15 percent of this property is heated by an electric mini-split; other heat and hot water is from natural gas.
Most surcharges are a percentage of electricity cost and several are mandated by state and local governments. The more energy used, the bigger the surcharges. Here, about 14 percent of the total goes to state and local authorities. The biggest surcharge by far goes to the State of Maryland for its EmPOWER program.
The graphs on the right of the graphic (using data through mid-2024) also show pricing for the five Maryland utility companies, three of which are owned by Exelon: Pepco, BGE and Delmarva. As noted previously, Potomac Edison and SMECO are noticeably lower in cost. Exelon has closed down antiquated coal plants but not built new capacity and purchases most supply from the grid. Potomac Edison generates most of its own power and purchases little from the grid as a member of the First Energy group which does generate power. SMECO buys most of its power from the grid but is still lower in cost than the Exelon companies – it is a cooperative.
Data are drawn from the Office of the People’s Counsel (OPC) June 2024 report entitled Maryland’s Utility Rates and Charges which is available at opc.maryland.gov. The OPC website hosts multiple analyses of Maryland utilities. Rates have increased still further, following the trend apparent in the graphs, but more recent summary data are not yet available.
