Representatives from Constellation Energy and Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. will have a chance to air their grievances today during a hearing of the state?s Public Service Commission.
The hearing comes as the back-and-forth between the state?s regulatory agency and leading residential energy provider has heated up in recent weeks. At issue is a report released by the PSC last month concluding that deregulation has cost Maryland ratepayers $1.15 billion but netted them only $315 million in rate cuts.
Constellation fired back in its third-quarter earnings report last week, with Chief Executive Officer Mayo Shattuck saying the report had “injected a destabilizing element of uncertainty into the … energy marketplace in Maryland.” As a result, in the earnings report, the company said it would move forward with a $386 million lawsuit against the state.
Late last week, Fitch Ratings placed Constellation and BGE on a list of companies that could see downgrades in their bond ratings. The Fitch report noted the ongoing feud between Constellation and the PSC.
“The issues between the companies and regulators and political leaders largely resurrect the same issues that surfaced in 2006,” the report said in part. “Since the publish of the PSC?s report … all parties have, at a minimum, stepped up the rhetoric or at worst, espoused what appear to be intransigent positions.”
The PSC, meanwhile, hopes to get Constellation and other utilities to sign long-term contracts to lock in energy costs while promising to build new generation facilities. But long-term contracts are a “nonstarter” for the company, Constellation spokesman Rob Gould said.
PSC spokeswoman LaWanda Edwards declined to comment on the hearing beyond a news release issued by the agency last week. In the release, the PSC says that “information has been distributed to Wall Street analysts, Maryland Legislators, and the Governor that allegedly rebuts the Commission?s reports. This information has not been provided to the PSC.”
Gould said Constellation has not rebutted the commission?s report directly to the agency, the point of today?s hearing, but had done so in other public forums.
“We?re go to the hearing, and we?ll answer questions that the commission may have,” Gould said. “We?ll certainly provide our perspective on those pieces of information.”
