BGE Customers About To See A Fee Increase

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Get ready to adjust your budget.  BGE is about to get a rate increase.  Pat Warren has more on what this means for customers.

This new rate increase isn't on the amount of electricity you use in your home, it's the price you pay to get it there.

BGE's got to get the power to the people and the people are going to pay.  In the itemized section of your bill, the distribution charge is going to go up.  It's not what you use; it's the cost of getting it to you that's increasing.

Although for many, it's been a struggle just to keep up with the bill they have now.

"It's just too much.  We can't afford it," said one customer.

BGE's not happy, either, because distribution rates haven't increased in 17 years and the Public Service Commission is granting less than half of what the  utility requested to keep its grid going.

"Think about all the things that have occurred in 17 years and all the costs our customers have experienced in their day-to-day lives.  Well, we've experienced the same things as a business, the cost of poles, the cost of wires, the cost of pipe, metal," said Rob Gould.

Although there are estimates floating around of increases for consumers between $10 and $16 a year, BGE says it's too soon to tell what the cost will be and that the distribution charge itself only amounts to about 25% of your bill, so it's not likely to be very high.

"We've been able to do more with less," Gould said.

From a balancing standpoint, now is considered a good time to raise rates because the rate for electricity supply is lower than it has been in years.

The increase would be applied to costs that have occurred since December 4.