BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s package of energy proposals to combat a looming power shortage will increase local electric rates but lower consumers’ bills, supporters said Tuesday.

State lawmakers in both chambers of the General Assembly heard hours of testimony on legislation to cut energy consumption by 15 percent over the next seven years and require utility companies to offer programs such as rebates for energy-efficient lightbulbs or incentives for in-home energy audits.

“Energy efficiency works,” said Malcolm Woolfe, director of the Maryland Energy Administration. “This isn’t science fiction. The reality is as close as our hardware stores.”

Advocates commonly use discounts on highly efficient lightbulbs as an example of a cost-effective program. But as utility companies begin creating new programs — which Public Service Commission chairman Steve Larsen said would cost hundreds of millions of dollars — consumers’ bills will only go down if programs truly pay for themselves.

“If they aren’t, rates go up and bills aren’t reduced,” Larsen said.

Experts have predicted rolling blackouts by 2011 if consumption is not drastically reduced.

O’Malley has proposed a trust to fund energy efficiency financed by pollution “credits” auctioned to electric companies in June. The first-of-its-kind auction could generate $80 million to $140 million, officials said.

Several lawmakers said they favored using the fund to provide direct rebates to consumers. Bill Prindle, deputy director for the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, said ratepayers would only see a $10 reduction in their bills, which is only 1 percent of the average bill..

Maryland is far behind other states in investing in energy efficiency, officials said Tuesday. In 2004, the state invested 1 cent per person in efficiency, compared with a national average of nearly $5.

“This is not just a West Coast, New England thing,” Prindle said. “Energy bills are going to go up if we do nothing.”

jmalarkey@baltimoreexaminer.com

Comments from Examiner Readers

1:35 PM MST on Mon., Feb. 18, 2008 re: "Energy programs could drive rates up, bills down"

Examiner Reader said:
"ratepayers would only see a $10 reduction in their bills, which is only 1 percent of the average bill.." The AVERAGE bill is $1000???? This guy must have graduated from the O'Malley school of mathematics.

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2:23 PM MST on Fri., Feb. 8, 2008 re: "O�Malley energy plan could boost electric rates"

Examiner Reader said:
What total Green BS! Cuts to consumption mean a reduced standard of living and more goverment control of the market. Get out of Maryland now before it is too late.

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10:50 AM MST on Fri., Feb. 8, 2008 re: "O�Malley energy plan could boost electric rates"

Examiner Reader said:
offering rewards to consumers for using lees energy? the reward money comes from the stolen money that the great legislature gave away to BGE in 1999, also the PSC, owemally's peolpe, is allowing BGE to charge everyone on thier BGE bills for the energy efficent , mercury containing, compact fluorescent bulbs, which in case you don't know, home depot is selling them to us at reduced rates, (yeah sure) and the difference is made up by BGE from thier customers(us again) paying the extra monthly fee, just don't break them because the mercury is a hazardous substance. requiring utilities to purchase minimum % of electric power from wind, solar , whatever without any constraints is really allowing the "subsidiaries" to pop up and build these wind turbines, solar cells fields, and sell the energy back to themselves thru various corporations and making even more profit, unregulated of course.

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8:57 AM MST on Fri., Feb. 8, 2008 re: "Lawmakers target tree-cutting utility companies"

Examiner Reader said:
In regard to tree-cutting utility companies.If the utilities would spend the money to bury the cables unstead of defacing our trees, everyone would be better off. This would also save lives as there would be no poles, like the poles in my neighborhood, that hug the roadways.

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1:24 PM MST on Wed., Jan. 16, 2008 re: "O�Malley energy plan could boost electric rates"

Mark said:
In addition: There is nothing related to O'Malley and "increses" that could ever be considered temporary when more money from the great unwashed is involved. Any of you O'Malley - ites out there remember the "temporary" Baltimore City cell phone charge just until the school system was solvent ? Guess what, it's still there. He's a lying SOB and you idiot Maryland voters get what you vote into office.

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11:03 AM MST on Wed., Jan. 16, 2008 re: "O�Malley energy plan could boost electric rates"

Mark said:
UN-Conscious reader: Spendenning was a Democrat not Republican who left Ehrlich with a huge deficit which Ehrlich (despite not having any cooperation from our state legislature) turned into a surplus which MOM turned into a deficit again. Get your facts straight, your talking points don't fly here.

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10:18 AM MST on Wed., Jan. 16, 2008 re: "O�Malley energy plan could boost electric rates"

Wake Up said:
He will change this in the last second so that we forget about the tax hikes. Then we will think he actually cares about the citizens of Maryland. Smoke and mirrors of the criminal himself.

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1:00 PM MST on Tue., Jan. 15, 2008 re: "O�Malley energy plan could boost electric rates"

Examiner Reader said:
It seems that the rate hike to BG&E customers of 72.5 percent gets much more attention than the similar increase in rates that Pepco customers have experienced over the past few years. After the cap on Pepco�s residential customers expired on June 30, 2004, I calculate the cumulative increase in Pepco�s residential rates at 72.9 percent (the product of four consecutive years of increases: 15 percent in 2004, 4.5 percent in 2005, 38.5 percent in 2006, and 3.9 percent in 2007). The cap on BG&E�s residential customers didn�t expire until June 30, 2006, with the cumulative 72.5 percent increase in their electricity rates the product of a 15 percent rate hike in 2006 and a 50 percent rate hike in 2007.

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9:10 AM MST on Tue., Jan. 15, 2008 re: "O�Malley energy plan could boost electric rates"

Examiner Reader said:
Somebody tell this; What in O'Malley's history even suggests that he should come anywhere near this problem? Maybe he can fix it so that 83% of BGE customers will pay less, right? You want to keep 'yo big tv's fired-up, you going to have to pay for it....sorry. Want to pay less? Turn off the idiot box, and insulate your attic. I can only hope the O'Malley Bots leave this one, well enough alone.

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7:40 AM MST on Tue., Jan. 15, 2008 re: "O�Malley energy plan could boost electric rates"

Conscious Reader said:
LOL...Omalley is fixing what Glendenning mucked up, and Erlich put a band-aid on! This is necessary medicine, but typical of what Democrats are accused of. The Republicans break it, do a shell game with the money and the finances (get rich in the meantime) and then pass the blame of the costly fix to the Dems...I know the next Democratic President of the US is going to get blamed for Bushes pseudo-war, at the tune of a cool 1trillion a year, and it is going to be all their faults for the fix. Don't you cats remember the saying, money doesn't grow on trees? Well it doesn't, and things have to be paid for. Marylanders have a quality of life that requires money to support, what, you do know inflation. The shell game is over, and isn't really Omalleys fault that he is the one that has to pull the curtain off of Oz...Dorothy, this isn't Kansas, it is Maryland...It is broken, and we are all going to have to fix it or it is only gonna get worse!

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6:34 AM MST on Tue., Jan. 15, 2008 re: "O�Malley energy plan could boost electric rates"

Examiner Reader said:
Since there charging all rate payers for 2 cfl light bulbs and constantly raising our rates they should include a tube of KY. I think we're all gonna need it over the next couple of years.

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5:31 AM MST on Tue., Jan. 15, 2008 re: "O�Malley energy plan could boost electric rates"

Examiner Reader said:
O'Malley is a jerk.

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5:27 AM MST on Tue., Jan. 15, 2008 re: "O�Malley energy plan could boost electric rates"

Examiner Reader said:
I don't want any more complaints about O'Malley. You morons voted him into office, now we all have to live with it. Dopes.

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4:44 AM MST on Tue., Jan. 15, 2008 re: "O�Malley energy plan could boost electric rates"

The Undertaker said:
O'Malley is a lying scumbag, but I would expect nothing less from an IRA supporter like him. Ehrlich was an arrogant jerk too, but at least he didn't lie to us.

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