Governor Martin O'Malley Urges Public Service Commission to Order New Electricity Production
ANNAPOLIS, MD (December 18, 2009) –Governor Martin O’Malley today filed comments with the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC), urging the Commission to order new electricity generation in Maryland. In his comments, submitted as part of two pending cases (PSC Cases 9117 and 9214), the Governor urges the PSC to use its existing statutory authority to (1) order new electricity generation to be built in Maryland; (2) adopt a more balanced, diversified energy mix for residential and small commercial customers; and (3) include clean, renewable power as part of the State’s long-term energy strategy.
“Deregulation has failed the vast majority of Marylanders who were promised lower rates and a reliable supply of electricity,” Governor O’Malley stated in the filing. “We can no longer afford to passively wait for competitive energy prices or pay higher incentives for merchant generation. Marylanders deserve affordable, reliable and clean energy. New generation in our State will go a long way in reducing price pressure, minimizing potential reliability concerns, and steering Maryland toward a cleaner and more sustainable energy future.”
The full Comment may be accessed here.
The Governor cites the failure of deregulation to deliver lower energy prices for Marylanders as a chief reason for this decision. New large-scale electric generation has not been built in Maryland since 2003. As a result, the state now imports almost 30% of its energy from coal-fired power plants in West Virginia and the Ohio Valley. The lack of new in-state power plants has constrained supply, resulting in higher electricity prices, higher congestion and capacity charges, and future reliability concerns. In addition, retail electricity competition has languished, with fewer than 5% of Maryland’s 2.1 million residential customers having chosen a new retail electricity supplier.
“The governor's direct intervention in this case underscores the importance of this issue,” said Maryland Energy Administration Director Malcolm Woolf. “We can't continue to wait for a market which, regardless of economic peaks and valleys, hasn't moved to address an energy imbalance tilted against Maryland ratepayers. In order for Marylanders to have affordable, reliable and sustainable energy, the state must not only begin building new power plants under a rate-regulated basis, but also diversify our energy portfolio with a combination of short, medium and long-term contracts for energy and include renewable generation in the mix.”
The PSC has two pending cases in which it is considering whether to order utilities to build new Maryland generation under a traditional, rate regulated basis and whether to reform the way the PSC procures power for residential and small commercial customers.
The full Comment may be accessed here.
