Yes, your Baltimore Gas and Electric bill is higher than ever. And it’s only going to get worse.

Gas rates have more than tripled, while electric rates have nearly doubled, since Exelon acquired BGE in 2012, according to the Maryland Office of People’s Counsel, a utility watchdog.

More hikes are coming as supply costs climb and BGE and other utility companies implement approved distribution rate increases. With winter temperatures dipping again, the timing of these increases poses a challenge for Marylanders — who have the highest natural gas costs in the region.

How ratepayers will see their bills go up largely depends on household utility usage. If you’re looking for an estimate, this is a good time to pull out your bill and do a little math.

You’ll see figures for electric and gas supply (that’s the product itself) and for delivery (that’s how gas and electricity get to your home). But it’s always good to look at the other line items, such as a monthly customer charge, a fee to support statewide efficiency programs, and other fees and taxes.

Here’s a numbers-driven breakdown of how and why your utility bills keep rising.

3

That’s how many delivery rate increases will hit BGE bills within the first three months of the year.

The first one arrived at the start of the month, stemming from a multiyear rate plan approved by the Maryland Public Service Commission in 2023. That pays for infrastructure improvements to the electrical grid and aging gas pipe infrastructure.

BGE bills will increase again starting Feb. 1, thanks to the $77.2 million the PSC approved BGE to recoup from overspending in 2023. The company had asked for about twice that.

A third rate hike, taking effect March 1, applies only to the electric portion of bills. It comes from another PSC directive requiring BGE to shift supply-side increases from the peak seasons of winter and summer to the fall and spring, when usage decreases.

98 cents

But how much is the gas side of your bill going up exactly? That depends on your average usage per billing cycle or month.

In January, delivery rates for gas customers increased to 94 cents per therm, up from around 90 cents last year. A therm is how utilities measure natural gas.

Using an example from the Office of People’s Counsel, let’s say a customer’s gas usage in the winter averages 160 therms per month. If we multiply that by the new rate from January, that’s $150.40 per month (excluding supply costs and other charges). At the old rate of 90 cents, costs would have been around $144 per month.

The second increase coming in February adds another 3.5 cents, bringing the total to just shy of 98 cents per therm.

Using that 160-therms-per-month example, starting in February, that same bill would now be around $156.80.

Increases like that have upset ratepayer advocates and local lawmakers, prompting them to call on the Public Service Commission and Maryland General Assembly to help tamp down bills.

$14.7 billion

Electric customers have been hit hardest by ballooning supply-side costs in recent years, including the one coming in March that will last until the end of May.

Supply costs in the service area for PJM Interconnection — our grid operator — for 2025-26 hit $14.7 billion. That’s reflected as a $16-per-month increase on the average electric bill. Costs for 2026-27 will “remain largely unchanged,” and ratepayers can expect an estimated $3 per month in relief. But supply charges swell again starting June 1, 2027.

Meanwhile, electric delivery rates are nearly double what they were in 2012, the OPC found, and they keep going up.

By February, BGE customers will see two small increases in delivery rates, rising by 0.2 cents per kilowatt-hour — an additional 72 cents on the average monthly electric bill, according to the PSC.

Let’s say a BGE customer uses 1,000 kilowatt-hours in a month. With a 0.052-cent delivery rate in February, they’d be looking at a charge of around $52. (This excludes supply and other charges, as well as taxes and fees.)

80%

That’s how many Marylanders rely on Exelon’s three utility companies — Baltimore Gas and Electric, Pepco and Delmarva Power — for electricity. BGE customers have the lowest electric distribution rates of the three.

Potomac Edison, owned by FirstEnergy Corp., is the other for-profit electric utility company in the state and serves 400,000 customers in Western Maryland and West Virginia. Potomac Edison has increased rates for Marylanders just twice in the last 25 years — compared to 10 times since 2012 for BGE — and has a delivery rate that’s less than half of BGE’s, the OPC found.

$527 million

Ratepayer and consumer advocates, alongside local politicians, have long been concerned about Exelon’s profit margins.

Before Exelon acquired BGE, the utility company’s annual profits never reached above $150 million. In 2024, its profits hit $527 million while its parent company’s surpassed $2.46 billion.

2027

BGE files to the Maryland Public Service Commission rate cases that cover three years of proposed increases (or, theoretically, decreases) instead of just one.

It’s due to submit a three-year case for 2027-29.

BGE and other utility companies have participated in two rounds of multiyear rate plans. But that style of utility rate setting is under fire. The PSC is weighing whether it should continue, be modified or stop altogether.

An announcement of the commission’s determination should happen in the coming months.