Baltimore Gas and Electric Company to Proceed with Smart Grid Implementation
August 16 2010 - 9:01AM
Business Wire
Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE), a subsidiary of
Constellation Energy (NYSE:CEG), today announced that it will move
forward with implementation of smart grid throughout its Central
Maryland service territory.
“Following the Maryland Public Service Commission’s approval of
our project this past Friday, BGE is pleased to move forward with
our ambitious smart grid program and deliver the significant
transformational benefits of smart grid to each of our 1.2 million
customers,” said Kenneth W. DeFontes Jr., president and chief
executive officer of BGE. “Those benefits include at least $2.5
billion worth of savings for BGE customers over the life of the
project, as well as major new enhancements in customer service and
reliability. In addition, BGE will be able to take advantage of
$200 million that the U.S. Department of Energy awarded BGE for its
innovative program, reducing the cost of the project for BGE’s
residential customers by 80 percent.
“Our decision to move forward also reinforces our continued
commitment to helping the state meet its aggressive energy
efficiency and conservation objectives under EmPOWER Maryland, and
to enhancing the service we provide our customers,” said
DeFontes.
BGE’s ability to invest the hundreds of millions of dollars in
smart grid on behalf of its customers depends on predictability,
certainty and fairness in being able to recover those costs.
Importantly, in its order, the Maryland Public Service Commission
(PSC) found that the public interest is served by a decision to
move forward with this initiative. The commission also assured BGE
of its right to recover “prudently incurred costs” related to the
project, as well as an appropriate return, and that its future
review of costs will not be subject to “unfair, post hoc
nickling-and-diming.” BGE is further encouraged that the PSC
accepted BGE’s proposal to conduct periodic reviews of project
implementation on an ongoing basis, so that BGE and the PSC can
more constructively work together to ensure that ongoing project
implementation is meeting expectations and enable mid-course
corrections, if needed.
“We strongly believe that a gradual, annual phasing-in of both
the benefits and costs of smart grid is the best approach for our
customers and the company,” added DeFontes. “Although the
commission chose a different regulatory method than we proposed, we
will work with the commission to find ways to better align the
benefits and costs of the project while mitigating the potential
for a rate spike at the end of deployment.”
The PSC also approved BGE’s general plan for long-term,
customer-focused education and communication surrounding smart
grid. Building on experience gained through its highly successful
smart grid pilot program and from utilities nationwide, BGE will
devote the necessary time and resources to ensure that all of its
customers, including limited-income customers and senior citizens,
have the information they need prior to each phase of smart grid
implementation. BGE is developing the appropriate metrics to ensure
the success of its outreach effort.
“We appreciate that the commission now views this initiative as
a ‘win-win proposition for BGE, its customers and our state,” added
DeFontes. “We are absolutely confident in our ability to deliver
these savings and benefits in a timely and cost-effective
fashion.”
In addition to the significant energy-management and
energy-savings benefits that smart grid affords BGE customers, the
company projects the added economic benefit of an estimated 350
direct jobs and more than 1,300 indirect jobs related to
implementation of smart grid.
“With our decision to press forward with smart grid, BGE will
remain a national leader in delivering innovative and cutting-edge
technology to our customers,” said DeFontes.
BGE’s addition of smart grid adds to the company’s growing suite
of energy efficiency and conservation programs that it has
introduced in recent years. The company has focused on helping its
customers take advantage of innovative ways to manage energy use,
lower energy costs and reduce environmental impact by offering a
number of inventive initiatives that are part of the BGE Smart
Energy Savers ProgramSM. These initiatives include residential
heating and cooling rebates, PeakRewardsSM programmable thermostat,
lighting and appliance rebates on ENERGY STAR® refrigerators and
clothes washers, Quick Home Energy Check-up, Home Performance with
ENERGY STAR® and Limited Income Energy Efficiency Program.
BGE, www.bge.com, headquartered in Baltimore, is Maryland’s
largest gas and electric utility, delivering power to more than 1.2
million electric customers and more than 640,000 natural gas
customers in Central Maryland. The company’s approximately 3,000
employees are committed to the safe and reliable delivery of gas
and electricity, as well as enhanced energy management,
conservation, environmental stewardship and community assistance.
BGE is a wholly owned subsidiary of Constellation Energy,
www.constellation.com, a FORTUNE 500 company also headquartered in
Baltimore, with subsidiaries that generate, sell and provide other
energy-related services to customers throughout North America.
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