The Real Electricity Problem

Here's a great reason to hate politics in Maryland. It's a Democratic machine that is totally out to make the Republicans look bad. Remember this:

In Maryland, the Democrat controlled legislature passed a bill prior to when the current Republican Governor, Bob Ehrlich, took office, that capped the rate which companies could charge for electricity. At the same time, they opened the market to competition. However, the cap was artificially low.

The Public Service Commission, which approved the rate cap, included the brother-in-law of current Baltimore City Mayor and Democratic candidate for Governor, Martin O'Malley. In addition, Martin O'Malley's father-in-law is the Attorney General for the state. when the rate cap term expired, BGE went to the Public Service Commission and told them that they were raising electricity rates to reflect the current market, an increase of over 70%. Republican Governor Bob Ehrlich gave the nod for the increase. The Public Service Commission approved the rate increase.

Martin O'Malley then harshly criticized the governor for raising electricity rates and siding with Big Business. He sued someone to put a stop to the rate hike. The still-Democratic controlled legislature (who wrote the bill to artificially keep the rates below market rates) now also criticized the increase and sued.

They eventually wrote a bill that only increases the rate by 15% until after the general election, at which time the rate may increase more. The rate, no doubt, will return to the market rate. The Democrats hope that the Republican Governor will no longer be in office and the average person who has a short memory and is stupid will not remember who did what.