The bill blame game

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Impending increases in electricity bills will bring Maryland in line with average energy costs in the region, but that hasn't stopped the political blame game over the hit to voters' wallets.

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., a Republican seeking re-election, has borne the brunt of the attacks from the Democratic-controlled legislature, the state Democratic Party, his gubernatorial rivals and even longtime supporters.

"The governor's focus hasn't been on finger pointing and it hasn't been on casting blame," Ehrlich spokeswoman Shareese N. DeLeaver said yesterday. "It has been on working with legislative leaders to mitigate the 72 percent rate increase. Period."

Mr. Ehrlich has pledged to block rate increases that will boost the average electric bill by more than $700 a year.

The energy-rate increases set to take effect this summer -- 72 percent for Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. (BGE), 39 percent for Potomac Electric Power Co. and 35 percent for Delmarva Power -- are partly the result of a 1999 utility-deregulation plan passed by the Democratic-controlled General Assembly and signed by Gov. Parris N. Glendening, a Democrat.

Mr. Ehrlich blamed the "flawed" 1999 plan, which set rate caps that kept electric bills artificially low for the past six years and discouraged competition from entering Maryland's partially deregulated utility market.

Last summer, residential customers paid an average of 11.72 cents per kilowatt-hour in the Mid-Atlantic region, according to the Edison Electric Institute, an electric utility association.

However, BGE customers paid an average 9.251 cents per kilowatt-hour last summer, according to the Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities.

BGE's planned increase to 14.834 cents per kilowatt-hour should bring its prices up to current market rates, said Jason Cuevas of the Edison Electric Institute.

Still, the Maryland Democratic Party is airing a 60-second radio spot blaming Mr. Ehrlich for higher electric bills.