Three Baltimore-area congressional representatives have joined Baltimore City Council members in seeking an exit from Baltimore Gas and Electric’s rate increases.

U.S. Reps. Kweisi Mfume, Sarah Elfreth and Johnny Olszewski Jr. wrote to the Maryland Public Service Commission on Friday asking the state utility regulator to rescind the rate hike that went into effect Jan. 1 — and halt future increases. They also forwarded the letter to BGE executives.

The U.S. lawmakers said they had “extreme concern and disappointment” as local residents continue to air grievances about unaffordable utility bills. They also requested the public service commission and BGE to provide them with justifications for the rate increases, which were approved in 2023 as part of the utility company’s multiyear plan.

“In the simplest terms, people cannot afford the rate hikes thrust upon them,” the letter to the public service commission reads. “Local government budgets are stretched thin, Maryland’s state budget is facing a deficit and many nonprofit entities are bringing in less money than ever before.”

Representatives of BGE have pointed out that the unusually cold winter and more expensive cost of natural gas are the primary drivers of higher bills.

“We know some customers are struggling to afford their winter energy bills, and we welcome all constructive dialogue on providing customers relief,” said BGE President and CEO Carim Khouzami in a statement.

The Maryland Public Service Commission, made up of five people appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate, is an independent administrative agency.

A spokeswoman for the Maryland Public Service Commission said Commission Chairman Frederick Hoover has received the letter and plans to respond soon. Hoover also offered to meet with the U.S. representatives or members of their staffs, the spokeswoman said.

“The Commission deeply appreciates the views of the federal elected officials and their continued advocacy on behalf of their constituents — theirs is an important and necessary voice in this process,” the commission said in a statement.

The federal lawmakers' letter follows a similar plea by Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen, who introduced a resolution on Monday calling on the public service commission to cancel the third year of BGE’s planned rate increases. Nearly all 15 council members co-sponsored the bill.

Cohen said at a press conference Monday that ending the multiyear rate plan will “make Baltimore Gas and Electric and any other utility that wants to extract value from our ratepayers have to come back and justify their own actions, but not have it baked in. Not have a blank check for the next couple of years.”

Councilman Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer, who also chairs the legislative investigations committee, held the first in a series of hearings on Feb. 20 investigating BGE rate increases and business practices. Much of the hearing was spent discussing BGE’s Operation Pipeline, which the company undertook after the 2013 passage of state legislation called the Strategic Infrastructure Development and Enhancement (STRIDE) Act.

That law encouraged utility companies to replace aging gas infrastructure, allowing them to add a monthly surcharge to customer bills to recover the costs of projects. It is driving the increase in distribution and delivery charges on natural gas bills.

BGE’s gas delivery rates have more than tripled since 2010, rising from $0.26 per therm to $0.85 in 2024, exceeding the rate of inflation, according to a report last June from the Maryland Office of the People’s Counsel.

The Ratepayer Protection Act, a bill reintroduced by Maryland Del. Elizabeth Embry, a Baltimore Democrat, aims to require more transparency from BGE before additional natural gas pipeline projects are approved by the Maryland Public Service Commission.

Natural gas distribution rates in 2023 were $0.67 per therm, and the OPC projects they will increase by 61% to $1.08 by 2026. Electricity distribution rates will also increase by a projected 31% by 2026.

Electric and natural gas utility companies request a distribution rate plan over three years instead of annually. With the approval of the public service commission, BGE filed its first multiyear rate plan under a pilot program in 2020.

Former Maryland Public Services Commission Chairman Jason M. Stanek said in a February 2020 statement announcing the multiyear plan that it would “increase transparency and accountability, while providing both the utility and customers with a degree of rate certainty.”

The public service commission said in that statement that it previously explored other ways of handling utility rates, but ultimately landed on the multiyear rate plan.

“The Commission’s role will be to ensure that rates remain just and reasonable by holding the utility accountable for meeting its budgetary and performance goals over this multi-year period,” the statement reads.