BGE customers given a reprieve

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The Power - Sav - 2009-04-13 13:33:57

Ok. I looked into the "Power - Sav" device. Yeah it can save you money but nothing like the claims. Basicaly what it does is use a bunch of Capaciters to recapture the Load energy used by electric moters when they no longer need it and redistributes it back into the house for use. An electic moter stores up a charge or load of power when in use and when shut off that stored energy just goes away and is lost. This device captures at leasta portion of that energy for use. Here is the snag however. This kind of thing has been done for a vary long time in factory type settings becuse the moters they use waste allot of energy and it can maybe save them maybe a half a percent or even less ont here energy use bill. this can add up to thousands of dollers for a business. For a home however it may be 1 or 2 cents a day. Power saveings these people are reporting are more likely attributed to the fact that they are being more concious of there power consumption then they used to be. After all they just bought a device that is supposed to magicaly save money makes sense there being a bit more responsible int here habbits as well. Only rel test is to install one in someones home without them knowing and then see how the numbers come out. The power save however wouldnt pay for itself in your lifetime let alone a year or so as they claim.

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K. Overman - arnold, MD - Karma: Neutral

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edward madden - 2009-04-13 13:01:27

"If you have old appliances there's a device that's called a power saver that is install in your electrical panel,what this does is clean up the power coming into your home so anything that has a motor runs more efficiently." That just screams of scam to me. So my power is dirty and If cleaned I use less? I could break it down to why thats sounds fishy but honestly I think I will save that until I know what this device actually says it does. All my learnin says thats pretty much balogny.

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K. Overman - arnold, MD - Karma: Neutral

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oil cost - 2009-04-11 08:57:52

last year it cost $1100.00 for 275 gallons which lasted from the end of September to the end of march,lets say 6 months that's 183.00 a month plus 145.00 for electric is 328.00 a month. Oil prices are down now so it will be less this year. just filled the tank for 530.00,88.00 a month plus 145 equals 233.00 a month Tina this would seem to be a lot cheaper than electric.that's with a furnace that is almost 15 years old,the new furnaces are more efficient than mine

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edward madden - edgewater, MD - Karma: Neutral

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heating oil - 2009-04-10 10:19:40

I think you should include the cost of filling your oil tank if you want any credibility ?

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Tina Schubbie - annapolis, MD - Karma: Bad

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proactive - 2009-04-10 09:24:07

I hear about high electric bills but still haven't receive any,we live in 2400 square foot house and are bill last month was $125.00 and has not been over $145.00 all winter.But we don't have a heat pump we have an oil fire furnace and use about 1 tank of fuel a year.Heat pumps are not efficient way to heat,the only reason they were install in this area is they have a cheap up front cost.
Once the temp. is below 40 degrees they run on resistance heat [emergency heat] which i like to call a giant toaster that's heating your house.Heat pumps should have never been installed in are climate zone.If you have old appliances there's a device that's called a power saver that is install in your electrical panel,what this does is clean up the power coming into your home so anything that has a motor runs more efficiently.Which all of us have like well
pumps,refrigerator,freezer,air conditioners,washer,dryer,fans and so on.It can save as much 20% or even more if your appliances are really old.We also changed out are light bulbs to fluorescent bulbs and lighting fixture that have multiple bulbs we removed some of them,most important we always turn them off when were not in the room.There is alot that can be done to conserve electric which would reduce your bills.The way I see it you can't blame bg&e for your over consumption of power.Don't take me wrong on this I do agree that we should have other options for a electric supplier in Maryland.So Get rid of the heat pump and install a energy efficient gas or oil furnace.The state also will subsidize installation of solar power system, this is likely to increase under Obama administration.

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edward madden - edgewater, MD - Karma: Terrible

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Nationalize - 2009-04-09 19:21:51

Energy is too important to be anything but a nonprofit, public industry.

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T. P - Odenton, MD - Karma: Neutral

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Bring in the competition - 2009-04-09 14:13:10

We need competition, not re-regulation. If the regulation goes through, we will be back at this same point in a few years, dealing with another set of years rates all at once and no real answers or solutions. I don't have alot of info on competitors, but if any one does, list some alternative and phone number, and we'll all be right on it.

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Jen Rhoades - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Excellent

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Better Tracking - 2009-04-09 13:12:22

Oh, and Tina actually makes a great point with her first comment. Consumers have no way of knowing how much (in $$) electricity they've used during the month. I can see my past bills online but can't see anything for the month in progress. Why can't BGE add this feature? I would love to be able to track my usage (in $$) so that if I saw my bill was getting out of hand, I could take greater measures to reduce consumption before it was too late. Or so I could determine how much I could reduce my bill by using certain lights/appliances less. Furthermore, I'd like to see BGE notify us in advance when its price per kilowatt-hour changes, rather than after the fact on a bill. I bet a lot of people don't realize that not only do you use more electricity in winter, but the unit price of that electricity is higher too.

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Scott S. - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Excellent

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here we go again - 2009-04-09 12:56:35

So basicaly there reprieve it to say, "You canj pay us latter". In the mean time they still cant afford the monthly bills.

All that is going to happen is the deadline will run out although most probably wont make it that far, and get hit with an even bigger bill they can't pay.

Where is the reprive?

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K. Overman - arnold, MD - Karma: Neutral

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Next Steps - 2009-04-09 12:48:45

I have no love for BGE, but I'd expect any company to protect its own interests. The PSC is the worst offender here. Deregulation was done so that other competitors could be brought in...the only problem was that the PSC didn't do anything to make sure that these promised competitors (other than a few tiny ones) actually materialized. Meanwhile, we had our rates frozen for 6 years, which meant we got hit with 6 years worth of rate increases at once. Reregulation is not going to take prices back to 1999 levels; it will keep prices at current levels AND eliminate the possiblity of competition. The only way to reduce prices is to bring in more companies to compete with BGE...or maybe break up BGE into multiple smaller companies that would compete with each other (like what was done years ago with the phone monopoly).

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Scott S. - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Excellent

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meter - 2009-04-09 12:40:40

I have the new "consumer friendly" digital meter... Consumer friendly my a**!!! The month after BG&E installed the new meter my bill went up 3X what it had been, and it had already increased significantly from the cost hikes. How a single person living in a home less that 1,000 sq. ft. has a bill of almost $350.00 is beyond me! I have only been heating 3 rooms and am rarely home on the weekends! I think we should have Walmart threaten to put in for a power plant to supply our electricity, I bet BG&E will change their attitudes quick! (and pay off Legislatures) :)

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Michelle B. - Edgewater, MD - Karma: Excellent

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Big Bu$ineSS - 2009-04-09 09:13:13

BGE don't care about us, oh no. They have no social responsibility just ask Milton Friedman. But my experience with big business is that you can make them listen and respond. But you must find a chink in their legal armor and tear them open. Perhaps there is a way we can sue them in order to make them install user friendly usage meters. Or sue them for anything....but dammit it is time to sue someone about this crime.

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Tina Schubbie - annapolis, MD - Karma: Bad

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Worse, the last - 2009-04-09 08:52:11

Jessie makes my argument for me. Electricity IS just like water and price can only be moderated a few ways. One major way is to encourage competition. That's the path we chose when we deregulated, following California's lead. California paid the price with skyrocketing energy costs a few years later.. it's happening to us now. The other major way is to regulate. That USED to work here. (As Jessie astutely points out, that's how it works with water). Our state government voluntarily changed the rules and we're paying the price. The third, minor way, is to voluntarily conserve. Note that I don't include "rely on BG and E's kind heart" as an option. If you really expect that, I can understand how you're angry at BG and E now. My experience with big business is that with few exceptions this doesn't happen.

So, again, my point? I just don't see BG and E voluntarily making life easier for us. They have to be compelled to do so. This is not being done. Now THAT's what makes me angry. Where is the PSC? Where is our state government on this issue? That's my point and I'm sticking to it.

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John M. - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Excellent

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BGE needs competition - 2009-04-08 22:19:23

BGE is omnipotent until we, the great citizens and humble servants of the law, stand up in unison against them. We must break their backs anyway we can. They work for us!!!! We must demand that they kiss our feet in order to earn our business. As an earlier Capital-online poster mentioned, why can we not read and calculate our own bills. If we had an interior digital usage meter that did was not as encrypted as the outside multi-dial thing we could monitor our usage and cut back in order to need our budgets. We must demand this be installed at the Supplier's expense. I would ask that we seek a supplier to do this, and tell BGE to go away --perhaps to france. Let's get some competition please !!!! please.

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Tina Schubbie - annapolis, MD - Karma: Bad

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Does John M. work for BGE? - 2009-04-08 18:43:59

He sure appears to be a big defender of BGE.

John, if everyone had reasonable BGE bills, this would be a non-issue. BGE has been getting away with everything for years and it is coming to a full circle now.

Nobody was paying attention during boom times when they could refinance their house to pay their bills.

Electricity is a UTILITY. It is not a new pair of Gucci sunglasses. It is something we all need. A single company should not be able to dictate everything and do whatever they want.

If you subscribe to the theory that they should, why don't we just go ahead and privatize water? That way, if people cannot afford it, they will not get it.

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Jesse B. - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral

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john m - 2009-04-08 15:55:36

I was more "upset" you could say with some of your terminology.

Personally I will take my retirement and Social Security and move to Mexico or Honduras. I am completely disgusted with the way everything is headed within this State and Country. Let the illegals have it, they being given it anyway. We can take over the beautiful resort areas of their Country and they can have our Country and State that they are sending to hell.

If you watch House Hunters International you will get a taste of what is really going on with Retirees and where they are heading to.

And Yes I was Being Sarcastic (somewhat)

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Michelle B. - Edgewater, MD - Karma: Excellent

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Worse, redux - 2009-04-08 14:26:39

I'm not taking BG and E's side on this... but then I don't expect much from them (except regular delivery, a separate commentary...) I DO expect more from the PSC. My point is that the PSC has been less than effective; rather, they've actually hurt matters. It wasn't PSC that got us into this mess in the first place, it was the good old Maryland legislature, so I'll cut PSC some slack for that. But do you remember when the PSC brokered a deal whereby we could defer some of the rate increase? I do. I had already contacted BG and E to start taking the increased pay when I could so I wouldn't get charged interest. PSC intervened, and got me a temporary reprieve that deferred (DEFERRED) increase along with a finance charge. Net effect? Same high rate, with interest. Now PSC is doing the same thing. So, you get angry at BG and E. I'll save my anger for a Public SERVICE Commission that makes things worse, not better.

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John M. - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Excellent

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John M. - 2009-04-08 12:25:47

What do you mean "voluntarily incurred debt"? I consider electricity these days a necessity and the problem is with the economy in the crapper people aren't "choosing" not to pay an incurred debt. they are choosing between paying the "Thieves" of BG & E or feeding their families. Unfortunately we "consumers" of electricity do not have a choice of where to purchase our electricity, so there is no competition to keep BG & E in check.

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Michelle B. - Edgewater, MD - Karma: Excellent

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Which is worse? - 2009-04-08 11:28:56

This back and forth reinforces my confusion about what the PSC actually does. The story talks about the PSC meeting and having issues with BGE's "alternative plan". Did I miss something? The story doesn't indicate that there's a "proposed" plan by the PSC. Is that the writer's inaccuracy or is the PSC just being the PSC?

Regarding their criticisms.... Nazarian is concerned that BG and E is determining what the payer can afford. No, that's not the case at all, Mr. Nazarian. What BG and E is OFFERING is terms to repay a voluntarily incurred debt in a manner that is less harsh than what the original terms specified. To Nazarian's question about why 9 and not 12 I ask, "why 12?".

There are no white hats in this game; I include BGE, PSC and, by the way, consumers who aren't doing their due diligence to address their debt. There's lots of blame to go around. One thing is certain, and historically accurate, is that whenever the govt/PSC gets involved with no plan other than to want BG and E to defer bills until "whenever" we consumers get hit worse than if they hadn't gotten involved in the first place. BG and E, being a business, will recoupt all of these costs. Those owing money will end up paying interest that they won't want to pay OR consumers who pay their bills regularly will end up sucking up the cost.

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