Gas utilities continue to evade 2025 consumer protection law, driving up costs for consumers

Maryland PIRG

BALTIMORE — Thirteen months after the Next Generation Energy Act (NGEA) went into effect, consumer and environmental groups are calling on the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) to enforce the law. The NGEA included legislation originally filed as the Ratepayer Protection Act to require gas utilities to prioritize safety and demonstrate that gas pipeline spending is cost-effective. Spending on gas pipelines has been a leading cause of BGE gas customers’ delivery rates more than tripling since 2010, leading customers to pay $2 in delivery charges for every $1 they spend on gas. 

“I introduced the Ratepayer Protection Act to ensure gas customers in my district and across the state have access to safe and affordable home heating,” said Delegate Elizabeth Embry (District 43). “Thanks to the support of my colleagues in Annapolis and Governor Moore, the PSC has both the legal right and the legislative directive to require gas pipeline work to prioritize safety and be cost effective. The continued delay is not fair to ratepayers.”

Research from Maryland PIRG Foundation on BGE’s 2025 gas pipeline work found that the company is not adequately prioritizing safety. If BGE completes its $4 billion in STRIDE-related spending without intervention, the Office of the People’s Counsel projects customers will repay $19.5 billion over time, including interest and utility profits. Washington Gas has also proposed $3.9 billion in gas pipeline spending, which could cost customers $22 billion to pay back. 

“BGE and Washington Gas are charging customers billions under the banner of safety for programs that may actually be delaying the work to replace or repair the riskiest pipes, while driving up our bills and their profits” said Emily Scarr, Senior Advisor at Maryland PIRG Foundation. “The time for gas utilities to obey the law isn’t tomorrow or next month, it’s today. Regulators need to intervene.”

Earlier this year, utility regulators at the PSC allowed both BGE and WGL to proceed with planned 2026 gas pipeline replacement programs without complying with the law, and directed staff to file draft regulations by June 2026. Late last week, Commission staff asked for a 30-day extension to publish draft rules. In filings submitted Monday, consumer and environmental advocates called on the PSC to quickly finalize these rules as mounting delays to implement the NGEA will further exacerbate rising energy bills across Maryland. 

“The NGEA’s requirements on gas pipeline spending have been the law in Maryland since June 1, 2025,” said Bryan Dunning, Senior Policy Analyst at the Center for Progressive Reform. “We appreciate that the Commission is taking steps to draft clarifying regulations to ensure certainty in the application of NGEA, however, the law has imposed binding requirements on gas companies’ spending on infrastructure for over a year, and further delay on implementation could lead to increased customer costs ”

During the 2026 legislative session, Delegate Dylan Behler (District 30A) introduced The Break STRIDE Act (HB1253) to push for stronger enforcement of the Next Generation Energy Act. His bill would fully repeal the STRIDE law, which provides customer-funded financial incentives to gas utilities to replace gas pipes and equipment, while maintaining NGEA requirements that gas pipeline spending be cost effective and prioritize safety.

“Marylanders continue to struggle with unaffordable heating bills while corporate utilities are seeing record profits,” said Delegate Dylan Behler (District 30A). “I’m committed to taking swift, urgent action to stop wasteful spending on gas pipelines and require BGE and WGL to prioritize safety over profits.”

The PSC’s delay in implementing the NGEA comes as the Commission also delays finalizing rules to end gas line extension allowances (LEAs), an outdated policy that allows utilities to charge existing customers for new gas connections. The PSC’s failure to end LEAs puts nearly $1 billion in expected savings for BGE and Washington Gas customers at risk over the next decade. 

“Not only are BGE and Washington Gas’ multi-billion dollar pipe replacement programs expensive and ineffective, they could also lock us into polluting fossil fuels for decades to come,” said CCAN Maryland Director Brittany Baker. “It’s time to invest in cleaner, safer alternatives.”

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