It’s been 11 years since a clueless general assembly deregulated our utility industry and over 4 years since the rate caps expired and we BGE ratepayers were saddled with some of the highest electricity rates in the country.  I say clueless because in my years of advocating and working for reregulation, many legislators have admitted to me that they did not understand what deregulation really was, how negatively it could (and still does) affect ratepayers and did not read the legislation they voted for. They admit deregulation is a mistake, but admit they do not know what to do to correct it.

Welcome to the real political world – where political “leaders” decide what’s good for us and their favored corporate campaign contributors – and their political allies in the general assembly go along with it to save their own jobs and ensure their own survival.  While tending to themselves they forget about us, our lives and our survival.  But they do manage to remember us at election time when they need our votes.

Have we ratepayers suffered under deregulation?  Are we still suffering and struggling to pay what are some of the very highest electricity rates in this country?  You know the answer to those questions every time you open your BGE bill.

And yet, neither Robert Ehrlich nor Martin O’Malley ever talk about BGE, as if by ignoring this issue, it’s no longer an issue.  But we know differently, don’t we?

Both of them are opposed to reregulation, negotiating for significant rate concessions or anything that would force them to get tough with Constellation Energy.  I have publicly asked who runs the state – we the people clearly do not – but is it the governor or Constellation Energy?  On this issue, it is clearly Constellation Energy.

So what do we do?  At the very least, your governor should, as other deregulated states have successfully done, bring Constellation Energy to the negotiating table.  Constellation will kick and scream (although what Mayo Shattuck with his $20 million annual compensation package has to kick and scream about I cannot possibly imagine).  That is the job of elected officials – to do the hard work that must be done to ensure we are protected from predatory corporations like Constellation.  And make no mistake, Constellation is a predator.  Any company that charges people who cannot possibly pay the $800, $900 and more for  monthly utilities is a predator.  Any company that forces people to choose between food, medicine and electricity is a predator.  And any company that is allowed to legally shaft its customers as it gambles their money away on Wall Street is worse than a predator.

But as I said, other states have taken big steps to right the wrong of deregulation.  in 2007 the Illinois legislature with the leadership of a committed governor standing on the side of ratepayers, secured $1 billion in rate concessions from its utility, Ameren.  That guaranteed a significant rate reduction that is providing 10 years of real rate relief.

Why has nothing been done in Maryland?  Is it because both candidates have taken large sums of campaign cash from Constellation?  Is it because both O’Malley and Ehrlich believe it’s OK to sacrifice struggling ratepayers for their belief in the “free-market?” Is it because both of them have no idea what it means to try to pay an $800 monthly electric bill on an income of $1200?  A measly $170 one-time credit is not standing on the side of beleaguered ratepayers.

Because the 1999 deregulation was a transfer of assets (BGE transferred ownership of its power plants to Constellation) and not truly a sale, reregulation could occur if the general assembly and the governor stood on the side of ratepayers and worked for it.  At the very least, they owe us negotiating with Constellation for significant rate concessions.  And they most certainly owe us a shift to renewable energy and publicly owned utilities.  Hagerstown Electric has always been a municipally-owned utility and their ratepayers pay around 8 cents per killowat hour as opposed to the 12 cents BGE ratepayers are forced to pay.

I’ve worked for several years on the BGE issue and it has been apparent to me that our lawmakers, our governors and the powers that be are content to let the very people who can least afford it finance the legalized theft of our money by Constellation Energy under this state’s failed deregulation scheme.

What people should know is that all that money we paid in astronomical utility bills went to finance Constellation’s gambling on Wall Street with Lehman Brothers.  By September of 2008 when Lehman was allowed to fail, Constellation’s huge exposure with Lehman almost caused its own bankruptcy.  That’s when Warren Buffet rode in to save the day, another debacle we ratepayers ultimately paid for.

That was our money and Constellation gambled it away.  Yes, Constellation closed its financial trading unit in London (have you ever wondered what in the world our once-local utility was doing with a financial trading unit in London?) but only after its existence proved to be a political and financial disaster for Constellation.

The sad, sordid story of utility deregulation here in Maryland is undeniably complex and undeniably disgraceful.  It’s a tale of taking from the poor and middle class and giving to a mismanaged corporation run by a former financial services executive who knew little about utilities and whose business philosophy is more, more, more. There is no bottom line.

BGE used to be a good solid investment, a great place to work and a company that made enough of a profit to be both.  Unlike Constellation, BGE actually maintained its infrastructure with the profits it made.

But here’s the issue in a nutshell.  Electricity still costs around 5 cents per killowat hour to produce.  And we continue under deregulation to pay far more than that.

When you go to vote on November 2, you should ask yourself why you are paying 12 cents for something that costs 5 cents to produce.  You should ask yourself why Robert Ehrlich and Martin O’Malley have done nothing to alleviate the horrendous burden the deregulation of our once well managed provider of electricity at fair but profitable rates has placed on all of us.

We need a governor who will stand on the side of ratepayers, individuals and small businesses.  I ask for your vote on November 2.