ANNAPOLIS — Gov. Martin O’Malley yesterday said he was hopeful a legal settlement with Constellation Energy for rate relief to consumers would not be scrapped by an amended bill passed by the Maryland Senate.
The agreement, which requires legislative approval, is valued at $2 billion and would end lawsuits filed by the state and Constellation Energy Group Inc. over a long-running dispute over energy costs.
The problem, however, is that the Senate changed the legislation in a way that isn’t acceptable to the Baltimore-based company. Senators amended the bill to give the state some regulatory control over new power plants, control that the state lost when it decided in 1999 to deregulate electricity.
“We are hopeful that this will get back on track on the House side,” Mr. O’Malley said.
The Senate went ahead and passed the bill yesterday morning. Mr. O’Malley is hoping the House will approve a measure acceptable to Constellation.
“We don’t want to do anything to endanger an agreement that would be a $2 billion benefit to consumers,” Mr. O’Malley said.
The Senate amended the bill Thursday night, after senators argued that it was the only way to return some regulatory control.
After the bill was passed 43-0 yesterday, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., Southern Maryland Democrat, told senators they should expect to see another version of the bill coming back to them.
Under the settlement, customers of Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. would receive $187 million in one-time “rate rebates” on their electricity bills from the company by the end of the year. That adds up to about $170 for each of BGE’s 1.1 million customers. Among other benefits, customers also will not be liable for about $5.2 billion to decommission each of the two nuclear power plants at Calvert Cliffs.
The settlement would also put plans back on track for a new nuclear power plant to eventually be built in Maryland. During the legal battle between the state and Constellation, the company threatened to build the plant elsewhere.
In return, the state agreed to change investment laws to give Constellation flexibility to raise capital. The change will allow up to 20 percent of Constellation stock to be acquired without advance approval from state regulators. The settlement also would loosen rules restricting ownership of Constellation stock by a nonpublic utility.
• Associated Press writer Kristen Wyatt contributed to this report.
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