Watch CBS News

Monthly BGE Bills Will Soon Rise

BALTIMORE (WJZ)--Your BGE bill will be rising. The utility has been granted an increase by the state and plans to seek another one.

Suzanne Collins explains it has to do with upgrading all the lines that carry those utilities to your home.

We are not talking about the cost for actual power. The increase is in the part of your bill from BGE that covers the cost of getting electric and gas to your house on its system of wires and poles.

People are trying to conserve when it comes to electricity by shopping around for electric suppliers and making sure not to waste power.

"I also put new windows in my home, and I got a new BGE smart thermostat and that kind of helped as well to help reduce my bills," said homeowner Cheo Hurley.

But BGE says one part of your monthly bill is going up and will go up even more on a regular basis in the future.  That's the cost of getting electricity to your home over its poles and wires.

"We really do need to file more regularly for rate adjustments and we will be filing for an increased rate adjustment this year, and we will be doing so more regularly in the future," said Rob Gould, BGE.

BGE just received approval for a rate increase filed in December. That will add, on average, $16 to its fee for bringing electricity to your home and an additional $10 for gas customers.  It is the first-rate increase BGE has been granted since 1993.

Another request for an increase will be made in October. The money will be used to keep the power infrastructure in good working order.

"It's replacing cable, it's replacing poles, it's investing in technology, it's also added cost we experience from our suppliers," Gould said.

The only saving grace is as that rate increase goes into effect, the cost of buying electricity from a supplier is going down by about 20 percent in the last two years.  Some smart families have shopped around for alternative suppliers and saved money.

BGE says these more frequent rate increases it's requesting will be easier to take rather than having your bill jump a huge amount at one time.

BGE plans to invest $3 billion in the next few years to be sure the delivery of electricity is more dependable.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.