Millions of dollars of free money that Baltimore Gas and Electric sets aside to help Maryland consumers pay their energy bills goes unutilized.

“Each year several million dollars never reach families in need despite our outreach efforts in the community,” said Don Dasher said, director of community relations and outreach for Baltimore Gas and Electrict. “BGE sets aside $5 million for low-income households to help them pay their energy bills, gas and electric. However, most of that money goes unused.”

Dasher said many families in need of assistance aren’t getting it because of bureaucratic processes and hours of operation that may conflict with those of working poor families.

“The agencies that administer the funds have intake hours that often conflict with that of working families, usually 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., which may require them to take off from work,” said Dasher. “Document production is also a challenge for these families, things like Social Security cards, photo identification and pay stubs and the fact that they must recertify each year to gain access to the funds.”

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Recently, a number of activist groups have protested outside of the Baltimore headquarter of BG&E's parent company, Constellation Energy, portraying the company as focusing first on profits.

“They put profits before people,” said lead organizer Leonard Burroughs II of The Coalition to Stop the BGE Rate Hike, pointing to profit statements of 72 percent for the utility giant, comparable to the rate increase.

But that is an image with which Constellation and BGE disagrees.

“Constellation Energy and BGE are not some cold, uncaring company — we are extremely sensitive to the needs of the community,” said Rob Gould, director of corporation communications for Constellation Energy. “Constellation set aside $26 million of our corporate dollars to help Maryland families, and the money is dispersed through a number of agencies including the Maryland Fuel Fund.

“We have stepped up in a significant fashion to help those in need each year,” Gould said. “We are making the money available, we don’t want to see any of it returned, we want it to get into the hands of those in need.”

rchappelle@baltimoreexaminer.com