The writer is Maryland People’s Counsel, the head of an independent state agency that advocates for Maryland’s residential utility customers.
The March 10 commentary “More than consumer choice” amplifies several false or unsupported myths the fossil fuel industry is propagating to preserve the status quo, to the detriment of Maryland’s consumers and the state’s achievement of its climate goals. What the petroleum distributors don’t mention is that electric technologies are outperforming fossil technologies and provide the least-cost path for reaching state climate policy goals, according to technical analyses performed for the Maryland Commission on Climate Change and for my office — the statutory representative of Maryland’s utility customers.
Among its errors, the commentary argues without support that “our electric grid cannot handle the demand” of electrification. That is the argument that Maryland’s largest gas and electric utility, Exelon-owned Baltimore Gas & Electric, advanced last year to defeat proposals that were initially part of the Climate Solutions Now Act. The argument delays the transition away from fossil fuels and serves as a rationale for accelerating the already high levels of gas and electric utility system spending for which utilities earn profits for their investors.
Another example is the false assertion that Marylanders “depend” on “renewable fuels to heat their homes, cook their food, and more.” Few — if any — Maryland homes use “renewable” gas for heating, cooking, or otherwise. Our November report, Climate Policy for Maryland’s Gas Utilities, shows that alternatives to fossil gas are costly and unavailable at any significant scale. But don’t take my word for it: Even BGE calls their potential a future “hypothesis,” and a NiSource gas executive recently told state regulators that “renewable” gas is “very expensive” and “cost-prohibitive to offer for customers.”
The commentary also pushes back against electrification because of the potential for physical attacks on the electric system. We undoubtedly need to protect the electric system from terrorist attacks, but the frequent explosions caused by fossil fuel use in homes, apartments, and commercial buildings pose a far greater and more immediate threat to customers.
“electric technologies are outperforming fossil technologies” is a load of crap!
Can you ‘refill’ your ’empty’ electric car’s power source in less than 10 minutes?
Can your electric car travel more than a couple hundred miles with a full load before needing a ‘refill’ from the ‘full’ state?
Can you access your electric car if the battery is dead?
These are all functions that are currently better than electric vehicle functions.
Maryland People’s Counsel: another enemy of the working class.
I can’t waste time reading this CRAP – but what is an “INDEPENDENT STATE AGENCY”?
Yeah…pretty clear by now that when the state starts promoting superficially good ideas with aggression, and labels all skeptics as “alarmists”, “deniers”, or “conspiracy theorists”, it’s a trap.
why dont you tell us how much money the corrupt democrats in annapolis receive from the electrical companies every year to push their agenda?