New Legislation Aims to Increase Transparency and Accountability in Maryland’s Utility Industry
The Utility Transparency and Accountability Act, introduced by Sen. Katie Fry Hester and Del. Lorig Charkoudian, seeks to protect customers from having to pay for political influence activities and other expenses unrelated to the delivery of energy services by monopoly utility companies in Maryland. The legislation comes in response to recent scandals in the utility industry, including one involving FirstEnergy and Potomac Edison, where customers were wrongly charged for expenses related to a bribery scandal.
The bill will restrict how investor-owned monopoly utilities can spend customer money and increase transparency by requiring companies to disclose how money collected from utility bills is being spent, including recorded votes in Regional Transmission Organizations. This will ensure that regulators, consumer advocates, commission staff, and customers are able to see how their money is being used.
Similar legislation has been passed in Colorado, Connecticut, and Maine, with bills introduced in Arizona, California, Illinois, New York, Virginia, and Ohio. The Utility Transparency and Accountability Act aims to hold monopoly utility companies accountable for their spending and prevent customers from being unfairly charged for expenses that do not benefit the delivery of energy services.
House and Senate hearings on the bills are scheduled for Feb. 22. The legislation has the support of consumer, environmental, and watchdog organizations, aiming to ensure that when monopoly utility companies spend money on political activities, it comes from their profits and not their customer’s wallets.
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