Maryland Briefing
O'Malley Seeks Utility Re-Regulation; Hormones Link Two Fish Problems; Juvenile Treatment Center Reopening; Man Convicted in Hyattsville Bank Slaying
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STATE GOVERNMENT
O'Malley Seeks Utility Regulation
Gov. Martin O'Malley said yesterday that his administration plans to make re-regulation of Maryland's energy markets a priority during the next session of the General Assembly.
He also took a swipe at a possible $87 million payout to Constellation Energy Group chief executive Mayo A. Shattuck as a condition of the proposed purchase by Electricite de France of Constellation's nuclear assets.
The comments came as the Board of Public Works approved $4.6 million in consulting contracts for the Public Service Commission, Maryland's utility regulator. The money is paying energy experts who are fighting federal regulators to lower wholesale electricity prices and helping the commission negotiate the terms of the complex Constellation deal, which it must approve.
The O'Malley administration and some legislators are exploring whether the commission can demand some rate relief for electricity customers as part of the deal.
"I want you to retain whatever expertise we need," O'Malley (D) told commission Chairman Douglas Nazarian, "so the people do not get worked over by the energy industry."
Electricity prices shot up when rate caps imposed during the deregulation process were lifted. A bill to partially return Maryland to a regulated market passed the state Senate this winter but stalled in the House of Delegates.
The Public Service Commission is expected to decide next week whether the French company's purchase would give it enough control over Baltimore Gas and Electric, the utility owned by Constellation, to allow regulators to demand givebacks.
-- Lisa Rein
ENVIRONMENT
