Group decries utility regulatorsÂ’ cap on rates
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - Helping small businesses deal with higher electricity rates could come at the expense of larger businesses.
So says a group of commercial and industrial electric customers that challenged state utility regulators, who approved a cap on rates for 17,000 Maryland businesses May 29.
The Maryland Public Service Commission is requiring many of the state's small commercial customers to transition to a new utility rate by June. That transition, combined with rising energy costs, could levy a 40 percent increase in electric rates on businesses in service areas for Baltimore Gas & Electric, Delmarva Power & Light Co., and Allegheny Power.
The PSC is capping the increase at 15 percent for the companies from June to August. To help fund the rate cap, the PSC will require all commercial and industrial electric customers to pay an increase in distribution rates, a roughly 1 percent to 3 percent increase in their overall electric bills, during that time.
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Investigation reveals power company 'gamed' $100M from Ontario's electricity system
TORONTO - Hydro customers shelled out about $100 million in "inappropriate" payments to a natural gas plant that exploited flaws in how Ontario manages its private electricity generators, according to the Ontario Energy Board.
The company operating the Goreway Power Station in Brampton "gamed" the system for at least three years, according to an investigation by the provincial energy regulator.
The investigation also delivers stinging criticism of the provincial government's Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), slamming it for a lack of oversight. The probe by the Ontario Energy Board's market surveillance panel was completed nearly a year ago, but was only made public in November because…
