Gov. O'Malley hosted a policy summit today on how to make Maryland energy affordable, reliable and clean. Two people summed up the event very nicely, one cynically, the other realistically. Cynical: a lawyer who shall be nameless: "Nice photo op." Realistic: Public Service Commission Chairman Steve Larsen: "Everybody agrees we need to do a combination of things, but the question is, what's the most cost-effective combination?"

It's true that the event provides good PR for O'Malley, who is on the defensive after overseeing a 50 percent rise in BGE residential electric prices. But it also brought out articulate descriptions of the challenges and lots of ideas. It should help the process. O'Malley, who seems quite educated about energy issues, didn't grandstand and mostly listened.

That said, the meeting gave the impression of people talking past each other, with not enough signs of compromise. The environmentalists want wind power, but they don't want the new transmission lines needed to ship it to customers. The power companies want new generation plants and are frustrated when communities object. The consumer advocates want cheap electricity and forget that it costs money to clean up pollution and build new plants. Government officials want to reduce energy use, but they are very reluctant to admit that the best way to make that happen is raise prices.

Forging consensus would be hard under any circumstances. Making things harder is the fact that state leaders have only limited ability to effect change. Wholesale power markets, which are a big part of the electricity picture, are largely regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. One thing missing from today was much reference to what's going on elsewhere in the country. Numerous states are trying to deal with these issues, and maybe a model will emerge for Maryland to follow.