Power Outages Forecast For Md.

There has been little investment, though, in part because of environmental concerns about coal and promising but only fledgling industries for wind and solar power. No major power plants are planned to come on line between now and 2011. Maryland imports 30 percent of its power from states that produce more, pushing up prices.

"We have invested time, money and dollars in this for seven years, and the end result is that we have some of the highest [electricity] rates in the nation and no competition," said Paula Carmody, director of the Maryland Office of the People's Counsel, which advocates for residential ratepayers.

Under the competitive system, utilities have sold their generating plants, leaving the wholesale companies that supply power to set prices based on the market.

"It's clear to me we have a monopoly situation with no competition," said Sen. E.J. Pipkin (R-Queen Anne's), one of the lawmakers leading the charge to re-regulate.

Constellation Energy Group, Maryland's largest power generator with three coal-fired plants and the Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant, is reviewing options to enhance the state's electricity supply by reactivating some of its mothballed plants or building new ones. It's unclear when any new power sources would come on line.

Robert L. Gould, Constellation's vice president for corporate communication, said he could not comment until he had been briefed on Larsen's report.

Larsen is expected to tell lawmakers that they cannot count on putting in more power lines. Two massive high-voltage transmission lines are planned to relieve the stressed mid-Atlantic grid, one stretching from West Virginia across Western Maryland and the other through Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

"The problem is getting the power into Maryland," said Sen. Thomas M. Middleton, (D-Charles), Finance Committee chairman.

Pennsylvania-based PJM Interconnection, which controls the transmission grid serving Maryland, the District and 12 mid-Atlantic states, estimates that the lines could be built by 2012. But the report says that date is too optimistic, given likely local opposition that could exceed the opposition to the smaller Dominion Virginia Power line proposed in Northern Virginia.