It's no real surprise. Maryland has milked the enter CEG/BGE nonsense for political points at the expense of actually achieving anything as well as doing quite a bit of additional harm to its reputation. In a time where it would benefit the state a great deal to work on being at least slightly more business friendly and attracting jobs, Annapolis seems more inclined to provide bread and circuses.

O'Malley and his comrades probably don't realize that the joke is on Maryland.
They are take the analyst's comment as a compliment.

The problem with how the state is dealing with CEG goes back a decade+ when the PSC turned down the Pepco merger, which in hindsight, was a horrible mistake by the PSC. Then the PSC did everything possible to kill the FPL merger, which was not really as a good a deal, but would have probably helped out rate payers too in the long run. Now the PSC wants to kill the EDF deal, which is essentially not a merger, just a cash infusion into CEG to keep it afloat on its own, build new nuclear plants, and possibly create more jobs in Maryland and keep one of the last remaining Fortune 500 companies here.

See the pattern here? PEPCO is in decent shape today, FPL same, CEG/BGE ? Nope.

The latest CEG problem goes back to an O'Malley campaign promise that he's never kept... to reduce energy rates for the public. It's a campaign promise he essentially won the election on by attacking then Gov. Bob Ehrlich and making it appear that he was in the pocket of big business. Now O'Malley has the lowest approval rating of any sitting governor and has to appear to at least be trying to keep that promise even if it was only a complete lie in the beginning, which it was. It astounds me that The Baltimore Sun has never done a critical review and study of all of these PSC flubs as well as energy deregulation in Maryland. All of these things were done by DEMOCRATS, NOT REPUBLICANS. Unfortunately, it is the rate payers who've paid the price for all of these PSC & legislative mistakes over the years by Democrats.

People's Republic of Maryland is practically an understatement!
This is the kind of government you get when you have a one-party state.
Politicians and their party essentially become a virtual dictatorship, only one willingly accepted by the public and endorsed by its only major newspaper.
I've often referred to Maryland as a socialist state, borderline communist because of the tight ONE-PARTY CONTROL. Many people do, even across the country. Massachusetts & California have elected more Republican governors than Maryland!
So why is anyone surprised by the CEG comment? It's practically a no-brainer.

And here's why I criticize The Baltimore Sun...
The Baltimore Sun reported that the Ehrlich/PSC deal would have ultimately been a better deal for rate payers, and failed to report that O'Malley's campaign promise was a complete lie and nothing but grandstanding for public favor.
Then The Baltimore Sun endorsed O'Malley for Governor! Go figure.
If I were Bob Ehrlich's campaign advisor, I'd have him officially change his name to
Robert "I told you so" Ehrlich, because everything Ehrlich warned could happen under an O'Malley administration has in fact now happened. Thornton education? Slots? CEG/BGE? Budget crisis? HAha!
All screwed up, but The Baltimore Sun sits like Nero while Rome is burning.

To those outraged by CEG's comments & energy rates, I say...
You got exactly what you asked for, O'Malley is fighting hard for you.
What does your energy bill look like now after all his hard work?
It reminds me of the old Ronald Reagan quote...
"Are you better off now than you were 4 years ago?"
You made your bed voters, now sleep in it. Oh, but with the power turned off of course!

If the EDF deal is not approved, ultimately CEG will go under.
We'll still have some power company here, but imagine what energy rates will be then!
Oh, but don't worry, O'Malley and your State Legislature and The Baltimore Sun will still be fighting for you.

JoeFab - Ehrlich didn't exactly get it right either when he was around for the FPL deal. It's too easy to say that when A doesn't work, B was better. That's like saying the opposite of light is darkness. Don't get me wrong though - we are in agreement on the current administration.

Yet another unfortunate turn of events where money comes out victorious. I mean seriously, what the hell is going through the minds of these people? They are obviously not thinking about anyone else, but themselves. Energy deregulation can absolutely open up a lot of jobs, but it's really a matter of these companies making the right decisions for the people. Thanks for sharing.