BGE Grilled By Angry Residents, City Lawmakers, PSC At 6-Hour Gas Regulator Hearing
By Gary Gately, The Baltimore Observer
Angry Baltimore residents, a city lawmaker and the state Public Service Commission grilled top BGE executives Tuesday over the utility giant’s installing devices on facades of city homes that regulate gas pressure.
"We're here because something has gone terribly awry with your program,” PSC Commissioner Michael Richard told BGE officials at a six-hour commission hearing.
“There's been a real lack of communications with your customers and that is of concern to me.”“I have real concerns right now with the number of lawsuits and just the people that are upset with how you’re treating their homes.”
“Our communities have been bullied by this company and we're pushing back." —?City Councilman Zeke Cohen
BGE’s move has ignited fierce political and legal battles.?
A Baltimore Circuit Court judge granted more than 400 plaintiff residents a temporary restraining order halting BGE’s work, and a City Council measure would permanently stop the utility from moving ahead with its project, which remains in its early stages and has cost $3 million in the past year.?
City lawmakers rebuked top BGE execs at the PSC hearing.
“Our communities have been bullied by this company and we're pushing back," Councilman Zeke Cohen said.
"Simply put, we deserve better from BGE. We deserve excellent service and we deserve for them to listen when folks say they want a waiver…. They do not want these regulators outside their homes and that they have real concerns.”
But BGE once again maintained that the project is designed to ensure residents’ safety by replacing centuries-old cast iron pipes with more modern technology that reduces methane emissions, and in turn, the danger of explosions.
“The goal of this work is to provide customers with natural gas in the safest and most reliable manner possible,” a BGE spokesman said.?
That contention drew skepticism and sharp questions.
The plaintiffs told the PSC that the external regulators, in fact, increase the likelihood of explosions, sometimes deadly ones.?
“All of this community advocacy started by asking questions and not receiving answers,” said Claudia Towles, a Fells Point resident. "This is not an installation that was required.”
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Like other Baltimore residents who have joined the class-action lawsuit, Towles faulted BGE for threatening to shut off people’s gas if they refused to allow utility workers to install the devices on the facades of homes.
That, Towles said, amounts to an attempt to “coerce compliance” with what she characterized as a wholly unnecessary and arbitrary project residents across the city vehemently oppose.?
Magdalena Fitzsimmons, one of three women arrested during a protest against the installation of the gas regulators in Federal Hill in late June, told the PSC:?“It is well past time for City and State officials to protect the City of Baltimore and its citizens from the predatory practices of a company that cares more for its investors in Exelon than its customers it is supposed to serve.”
The Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office has since dropped all charges against the women: interfering with a public utility, trespassing on private property and refusing requests that they leave.
The commission said it would review the testimony before deciding how to proceed.
If you spot any errors, want to share news tips, pitch story ideas or submit a first-person piece, please get in touch. I’d love to hear from you. Thanks again for reading. —?Gary Gately , Editor, The Baltimore Observer, [email protected], 410-382-4364.
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