Md. Moves To Overhaul Utilities Commission

When the Public Service Commission announced this month that Maryland's electricity rates would soar in the summer, it became a target of legislative efforts.

For Pepco's 500,000 customers in Montgomery and Prince George's counties, the typical household bill would increase 38.5 percent. Baltimore Gas and Electric's 1.1 million customers in Baltimore and the surrounding region would see an average increase of 72 percent.

Taking aim at the commission yesterday, the Senate moved to effectively fire its five commissioners in April and allow the General Assembly to appoint four and the governor to appoint one new member.

"If we had a Public Service Commission that wasn't industry-driven, that was fair, that could look at the facts, we wouldn't have 72 percent," said Sen. Paula C. Hollinger (D-Baltimore County). "The public has to have confidence."

All but one Republican on the Senate Finance Committee joined the Democrats to pass the legislation 10 to 1.

A spokeswoman for the commission chairman, Kenneth D. Schisler, declined to comment on the bill, but Schisler has said the commission, in approving the rate increase, was following rules put in place before he was appointed.

Earlier yesterday, 21 Republicans parted with Ehrlich on the House bill. And two offered some of the most passionate support for a bill to appoint an independent counsel to scrutinize a pending merger between BGE's parent company, Constellation Energy Group, and a Florida power company. The measure, which the governor opposes, would give legislators the power to accept or reject the deal of more than $11 billion and take the decision temporarily out of the hands of the commission.

"This is not about Democrats or Republicans; it's about the people we all represent," said Del. Richard K. Impalleria (R-Baltimore County), prompting cheers and applause from the chamber, which approved the bill 111 to 25. The merger "is bigger than all of us," he said. "We must uncover every aspect of it."

The backing from Republicans was in sharp contrast to Ehrlich's opposition to tying up the merger. "There's obviously a lot of fear up there," Ehrlich said of the legislature. "But people need to understand that the merger allows the company to put more dollars on the table."

In a sign of some movement, Ehrlich met yesterday for the first time this session with Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert). Without revealing specifics, Ehrlich said that he was "awash in numbers and spreadsheets" and that he shared with Miller elements of his approach to the problem. Miller, the governor said, "agreed with me on my number, which is light-years from 72 percent."

Miller was more reserved in his assessment, saying, "One day doesn't make a session."

Sen. E.J. Pipkin (R-Queen Anne's) took exception to the suggestion by many, including the governor, that the commissioners repeatedly briefed lawmakers about the looming rate increases.

Every time lawmakers tried to question the deregulation plan, commissioners told them, "You have to wait, you have to play this out," Pipkin said. Competition "could be right around the corner."

"Well," Pipkin said, "it's played out now, and the bill has come due."

Staff writer Matthew Mosk contributed to this report.