What?s this? An offer we can?t refuse?
It sure is. But the Godfather is not the loan shark forcing more than a million Maryland residents to pay, on average, $263 each for a loan they may neither need nor want.
Oh no. Even organized crime has a certain sense of decency and restraint. Criminals, at least, do not force victims to pay for covering up the crime. Not so with our legislators. Our representatives are attempting to appear populist by delaying Baltimore Gas & Electric Co.?s 72 percent residential rate hike at our expense.
That?s right. Our state government is forcing us to borrow money to pay for the sham reduction in the rate hike that hit July 1.
Lawmakers eliminated a provision allowing customers to decide whether to pay the new rate from Day 1 or take the temporary reduced rate for 11 months and pay interest on the difference for 10 years. On average, that will cost customers $2.19 extra a month.
That?s the interest we must pay because lawmakers refuse to take responsibility for artificially capping electric rates at 1993 levels.
Obviously, net impact of our General Assembly?s cynical rate “stabilization” vote is destabilization.
Lawmakers destabilized the economic, ecological and personal financial balance with a crude ploy to deceiveus, hoping we?ll send them back to Annapolis in 2007.
The real problem is artificially low rates encourage profligacy and subsidize those able to pay while doing nothing to help the needy who our politicians always claim to care about.
We have effective social mechanisms to ensure the poor get help. Every county and Baltimore City has an energy assistance office with a hot line. So the phony concern of our legislators should not fool informed voters. It?s too late for us to get out of the loan they forced us to take, but we can make sure they understand in no uncertain terms what we think about it. And we can remind them next election.
While we?re at it
The announcement this week of Constellation Energy?s debt rating downgrade was unsurprising.
Given the legislature?s performance on residential electric rates and the Wal-Mart bill, this state is a riskier place to do business than competing states.
Because of the credit downgrade, Constellation will pay more to borrow money, and all of us will pay more in the next rate increase to cover the borrowing costs.
And the bill forcing Wal-Mart to pay health benefits not only put jobs at risk in our state right now, but sent a clear signal to any business planning to locate or expand here that the climate is hostile. Voters must hold lawmakers accountable.
