By John Wagner and Ann E. Marimow
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, June 6, 2006; B02

Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley did not wait long after arriving at a campaign event last week to deride Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. as "a governor who allowed all of us to get gored" by the state's largest electricity provider.

The mayor was no doubt feeling emboldened. A day earlier, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate had won a lawsuit forcing state regulators to reassess the 72 percent increase in electricity rates approved for Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.

But Ehrlich (R) had another take on O'Malley's lawsuit, calling it a "scheme" that "doesn't pass the laugh test."

"He's being aggressive, all right -- to the detriment of a lot of ratepayers," the governor said in an interview after chatting with residents in a working-class neighborhood that straddles the line between Baltimore and Baltimore County.

The appearances highlighted what is at stake in the ongoing battle over electricity rates -- which yesterday seemed destined to bring the Maryland General Assembly back to Annapolis for a special session.

O'Malley's and Ehrlich's messages were aimed largely at blue-collar Democrats in the counties ringing Baltimore, the voters who helped send Ehrlich to the governor's mansion four years ago, making him Maryland's first Republican leader in more than three decades.

They are also the voters among the hardest hit by the rate increases -- and the ones Democrats hope to bring back to their side in November.

So it is that every candidate for governor -- even Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan, whose constituents are primarily served by Pepco -- feels a stake in delivering rate relief to BGE's 1 million customers. In recent weeks, Duncan (D) has repeatedly urged legislative leaders to hold a special session, most recently in a letter Friday.

"While it appears that the governor wants to fight with the mayor and the mayor wants to fight with the governor, it's time that the debate really be about what's best for Maryland's residents," Duncan said yesterday.

Ehrlich, for his part, negotiated a rate relief plan with BGE that would have spread increases over 18 months. A judge threw out that plan last week, saying state regulators had not acted in the "public interest" when approving it.

Yesterday, O'Malley started airing campaign ads in the Baltimore area that portray Ehrlich as captive to special interests while O'Malley is fighting for working-class families and "taking on BG&E to stop the rate hikes."

He said his lawsuit, which sends the rate increase back to the state Public Service Commission, could produce a better deal for consumers.

Ehrlich boosters are hoping the strategy backfires. They point out that the commission's first step after the judge threw out the rate relief plan was to impose a temporary plan even less favorable to customers.

As Ehrlich breezed into the eastern Baltimore neighborhood last week, residents who watched from their brick rowhouses said they were dissatisfied with the pending rate increase. But some also said they were perplexed by the mayor's legal challenge.

Allen Eshleman, a retired lab technician and registered independent, said O'Malley is "trying to make himself look good because he's running for governor. It's not that hard to figure out."

O'Malley, talking to reporters at last week's campaign event, denied that, saying all he wants is a better deal for customers.

Even so, his political message has been hard to miss. When he announced his energy plan in April, O'Malley stood outside the modest home of Butch Henry, a Dundalk maintenance technician who told reporters, "I'm a hardworking guy just trying to make ends meet."

In 2002, Ehrlich won 61.2 percent of the vote in Baltimore County in his race against Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (D). Townsend's performance was more than 11 percentage points below that of the party's 1998 Democratic nominee, Gov. Parris N. Glendening. Ehrlich also ran far better than expected in Harford, Carroll, Anne Arundel and Howard counties.

If this year's Democratic nominee can cut into those margins, said University of Maryland Baltimore County Professor Thomas F. Schaller, he can win the election.