Electricity customers in Baltimore Gas and Electric can expect an average increase of $21 per month or about $250 A state agency representing ratepayers is warning that starting next June, their bills will face an additional $1.5 billion a year in costs, on top of previously announced rate increases and transmission line costs.

The Office of People’s Counsel, which represents the interests of electricity customers, blames the regional grid operator’s poor planning both in terms of new transmission projects and in the management of wholesale electricity markets and warns that consumers face unprecedented cost increases for years to come.

Higher costs result from the planned retirement of Maryland Power plants and price increases in a recent “capacity” auction by PJM Connectionthe operator of the regional power grid, according to an analysis published by the Ombudsman on Wednesday.

Maryland Ombudsman David S. Lapp said PJM should have planned for the foreseeable retirement of old and uneconomical fossil fuel-fired power plants.

“Maryland customers are bearing the brunt of PJM’s lack of forward planning,” while power generation companies are making record profits, Lapp said in an interview Thursday.

The cost increases in the People’s Counsel’s analysis relate to the delivery component of customer bills and are paid to the power generators, not to the utilities. They are separate from the delivery prices paid to BGE and other utilities, which are determined by the Maryland Civil Service Commission.

PJM conducts auctions, typically three years in advance, to ensure that sufficient generating capacity is available to meet peak electricity demand in the future. July 30 The auction led to a price increase of over 800 percent starting in June next year, partly due to the impending closure of power plants, the analysis said.

PJM officials said in an email Thursday that Maryland To meet its needs, the country has for decades imported electricity produced in other states, and most of the eastern parts of the state lacked electricity transmission infrastructure.

“Pricing Maryland from PJM’s recent capacity auction shows that both generation and transmission are needed to address this congestion and maintain grid reliability,” said Susanne Buehlera PJM spokeswoman.

BGE said in a statement on Thursday that prices at capacity auctions had risen significantly due to reduced supply as a result of power plant shutdowns as well as “increased electricity demand throughout the central and eastern half of the United States.”Atlantic region and a limited transmission network.”

Due to this “acute” imbalance between supply and demand in Central MarylandBGE expects that an average private electricity customer will see an increase of about $18 in their monthly bills from June, slightly less than the OPC’s forecast.

In the 13 states of PJM and the Washington region, electricity demand is expected to increase by nearly 40% by 2039 due to the electrification of vehicles and buildings, increased manufacturing and data centers in Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, New Jersey and other locations. Meanwhile, power plant closures have accelerated, including 14 plants in Maryland who are retired or have announced their retirement, PJM said.

“These critical issues deserve better discussion than constant finger-pointing,” Buehler said. “We look forward to working with the Maryland OPC, as we do with all of our stakeholders, to continue to improve our markets, transmission planning and generation interconnection processes.”

She pointed out that the consumer share of costs related to ‘generation capacity’ or capacity tariffs typically represents only a very small part of the retail bill.

However, consumers’ share of these costs is expected to rise to nearly 27 percent of total wholesale costs in June, according to the OPC report prepared by Synapse Energy Economics.

Maryland Customers must also expect price increases because they Talen Energythe owner of Brandon Shores and HA Wagner Power plants in Anne Arundel Countyto continue operating the plants even after the planned shutdown June 1the analysis states. PJM concluded that these plants must remain open at least until 2028 to ensure a reliable power supply in Maryland.

The Ombudsman argued that Talen’s reimbursement plan would amount to approximately 215 million US dollars per year, of which about three quarters would go to BGE customers.

These costs would be incurred while Exelon, the Chicago-based owner of BGE, builds 725 million US dollars The value of new transmission projects expected to be completed by December 2028Consumers would also have to bear part of these capital costs.

PJM officials responded that Talen had planned Brandon Shores for oil and said they only learned of the plans to close the facility in April last year.

“It is not reasonable to assume that PJM anticipated the impending deactivation of the Brandon Shores units when numerous public statements and direct conversations between PJM and Talen all supported the assumption that Brandon Shores was on track to stay online, albeit with a different energy source,” Manu AsthanaPresident and CEO of PJM, said in a December letter to officials of the Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Lapp said consumers would have to expect additional costs in connection with the transmission projects in the future.

A proposal that Maryland Piedmont Reliability Projectwould create a 70-mile route through predominantly rural areas Baltimore, Carroll And Frederick Counties. More and more residents are rejecting the planned expansion of the regional power grid because it would involve a 500,000-volt overhead line running through farms, parks, residential areas, wetlands and forests.

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