Thanks for this incredible insight. Every single BG&E customer should be reading this and should be doing something about it!

Years after the implementation of deregulation, 20/20 hindsight prevails in Mr. Hancock's view of the wisdom of Mr. Travieso's advice. But, accepting the validity of that point, leads to the inescapable conclusion that the real culprits are our elected officials not BGE or CEG. As acknowledged by Mr. Hancock, Mike Miller, Senate Majority Leader then as now, was a leading proponent and a sponsor of the deregulation bill that was passed by an overwhelmingly Democratic General Assembly and signed by a Democratic governor. In addition, Mr. Busch, the current leader of the House of Delegates, voted in favor of the bill as did many current members of our legislative body. If Maryland residents were ill served by the deregulation bill, it is due to a colossal failure of judgement on the part of Miller, Busch and company in disregarding the advice of Mr. Travieso and others. Similar failures in private industry are most often accompanied by termination or resignation. In Maryland compliant voters return the responsible parties to office while scapegoating a corporation for the failure of those elected officials.

Well said,
I should have said "Every BG&E customer / VOTER should be reading this and doing something about it."
That being said, BG&E and Constellation are STILL peddling their same story line and should NOT be left off the hook.

Tim,
It would be nice if you gave some particulars on how CEG and BGE are at fault here. They are not charitable organizations - they are corporations whose goal is and ought to be maximizing profits for their shareholders. They entered into a perfectly legal business arrangement with the state of Maryland that was fully reviewed by the legislature and by then governor Glendenning who signed the bill. If it was a bad deal for the citizens of the state then those legislators who voted for it and the governor who signed it (or at least his party) ought to be held responsible.

Like you, Marylanders fully bought into the tactics of O'Malley Democrat party's to scapegoat the companies and the Ehrlich administration for a piece of legislation that was passed by their party.

Ok Ed,
I get it, you're a Republican. So am I. So what. I don't like your tone and I don't care about your politics. I never blamed Ehrlich or his administration for this debacle. BG$E's shareholder's are not my concern.My concern is the Maryland taxpayer. When all of this was signed into law, I was away serving my country (and still paying state taxes), where were you? I could not agree with you more about accountablilty for those in public office who actually signed it into law. That being said, two separate auditors have concluded that what BG$E and Con$tellation had proposed as benefits to the consumer are simply not the case. They are saying they are saving us money and yet we are paying alot more. It's very simple. Michael Travieso knew what the outcome would be, and so did BG$E. Basically, it was a scam. No, BG$E is not a charitable org, but they are not regulated anymore. They bamboozled their way to make more money under FALSE pretenses, as outlined in the 10 Reasons To Vote Against HB 703. That, is how they are at fault, as well as the state legislature and governor who MADE it all legal.

When it was signed I was raising my children and paying taxes as well. Thank you for your service, but it does not make you right in this discussion. In debate we would it an ad hominem and worthless as an argument. You haven't listed one FACT that shows the deal was in any way fraudulent or that the companies were in any way guilty of anything other than entering into a deal that ultimately proved to be good for them and not so good for the customers. That, after all, was my challenge to you.

I'd suggest you go back and read the articles in the Sun archives concerning the impetus for the deregulation. In brief summary, deregulation was occurring country wide. It was even being discussed within Clinton administration that mandatory deregulation would be imposed on the states by 2003. Casper Taylor and Mike Miller drove the deregulation bill because, among other things, they feared a Maryland would be at a competitive disadvantage relative to other states like Pennsylvania which deregulated in 1996. This was not a deal foisted upon the state at "gun point". And issues like stranded costs were being raised in similar situations by other utilities.

The fact remains that O'Malley and the Democrats jumped on this issue when it became apparent that the rate rise would be steep. That rise had been deferred by the terms of the legislation - part of the deal where the company furnished electricity at bargain rates. Consequently the rise came in one large jump, not a gradual increase. O'Malley grabbed the headlines with his frivolous lawsuit that ultimately led to Marylanders paying more than if the deal Ehrlich had negotiated had been allowed to proceed. Even today though BGE prices are in line with other utilities in this area. Just check the sites and look for the "Price to Compare".

Be aware that CEG/BGE disputes many of the claims that are made in the press over stranded costs and other issues. But even if the claims made are true, there is nothing wrong with making a smart business deal, which is all the companies have done.

You sound like shareholder. Maybe you should go back and look at where energy deregulation really came from. Yep, you got it, a down home little company called ENRON. It was a scam from day one. Once other interests, such as shareholders and corporations owned the grids, they could create a false sense of supply and demand to bring in bigger profits. They started this by simply turning off grids. Remember those rolling blackouts? All a scam. Of course O'Malley jumped on the bandwagon. But to use your "good business" model, he was just a good politician, right? Did he do anything illegal? Nope. I voted for Ehrlich. Twice. You were wrong about me and you are wrong about this issue. This is very much NOT a simple matter of good business.

1. Facts, Tim, facts. You still haven't cited a single fact (dates times, names, court or regulatory body opinion) to support your rather wildly overstated claims. Even if I accept your characterizations, the rolling blackouts occurred in California not Maryland, That's a little farfetched when, after all what this discussion concerns is CEG/BGE. Guilt by association isn't good debating tactics.

2. Deregulation began quite some time ago in industries other than the electrical industry. Interstate trucking and the airlines were some of the earlier examples. Deregulation, at least in the electricity side, began with the Public Utilities Regulatory Act of 1978. Enron came into being in 1985 when InterNorth purchased Houston Natural Gas (Ken Lay's company) and changed the name of the combined entity to Enron. So really the Enron that caused problems came into being some 8 years after the process of deregulation began. They were a result of the process, not a instigator of it.

3. When prices go up for gasoline for our cars or electricity people always look for a scapegoat. Politicians are among the worst. Most of the rhetoric that results is uninformed and usually issues from the mouths and pens of those who never attended a Economics 101 class much less delved deeply into the complexities of the markets in electrical generation and supply. It is clear that the O'Malley and Democratic party in this state has used this tactic to escape responsibility for what is perceived to be a bad deal at this time and to score political points to help O'Malley in the election. I never said O'Malley did anything "wrong", unless you count the fact that his actions wound up costing Maryland customers more than had he allowed Ehrlich to complete the deal that had been negotiated with CEG.

4. No, I am not a shareholder, but even if I were that's another ad hominem. It doesn't address the issues. Facts, Tim, facts.