BALTIMORE, Md. — One of Baltimore’s top chefs behind Marta Fine Food and Spirits in Butchers Hill says he paid a $2500 BGE bill in January of last year, but times have changed.
“I opened my bill for January, this past month, and it had reached over $4,000,” said Matthew Oetting.
And it’s not just small businesses who are feeling the pinch.
There are also a number of residential customers who can no longer afford to pay their bills.
Customers, like Nicole Rogers, who hardly lives beyond her means on a disability check in Section 8 housing.
“At one point, BGE told me that they were going to turn my electric off if I didn’t pay $5,000,” said Rogers.
With horror stories mounting over exorbitant bills, City Council President Zeke Cohen says he’s heard enough.
“The city council will stand with the ratepayers of this region, not the shareholders of the gas and electric company,” said Cohen, “We stand with our people over their profits.”
The council’s Legislative Investigations Committee, headed up by Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer, will hold its first hearing next week into what’s driving up the bills.
“Many of our constituents have been faced with monthly BGE bills that are larger than their tax bill,” said Schleifer, “How is it possible that Baltimore City is providing all of the services that we provide for less than what BGE is simply providing gas and electric for?”
The city has pledged to challenge the Public Service Commission to hold the utility’s rates in check if it’s truly putting profits before people.
“The same way that BGE has passed their costs on to their consumers, I cannot in good conscience do the same,” said Oetting, the Butchers Hill chef, “So I have to find a way to keep my prices where they are and stay in business.”
Reasons why your BGE bill is so high
