Electricity choice is working in Maryland as competition is pushing the price for power down. Maryland’s largest electric utility, BG&E, has seen more than 30% of their residential customers shop for competitive power and ultimately select a competitive energy supplier. The majority of these customers are currently paying less on their electricity bills than they would have had they remained with BG&E default supply prices. The only exception would be customers who enrolled in variable rate plans with low introductory teaser rates that then increased substantially. We recommend locking in low fixed electric rates for this reason.
Baltimore Gas & Electric customers who do not shop for competitive electricity prices end up paying a default rate for their power supply with BGE. The BGE default price is set to decrease by 7% on October 1st from 10.445 cents per KWh to 9.726 cents. Meanwhile the lowest competitive prices currently available in the market are below 8 cents, yielding 18% savings versus the new lower BGE default rate.
At this point in time there is no reason why a residential customer serviced by BG&E would not shop the market for lower Baltimore electric rates in order to reduce their monthly energy bill. Most people who haven’t done so are informed or under educated on Maryland electricity choice and contain unwarranted concerns. Maryland electricity choice laws have kept the utility companies, such as BG&E, in charge of delivering the power. BG&E is now in the business of delivering power and maintaining the wires through regulated distribution charges found on the BG&E electric bill. The default supply prices that they charge are passed through to other energy companies who have bid through an auction process held by the Maryland Service Commission to service default customers. Choosing a competitive supplier with the goal of lowering your electric bill is simply a financial decision which will not effect the quality of the power or BG&E’s willingness to fix your power lines if they were to go out.
Current competitive BG&E electricity rates are listed below.