They are two totally separate issues. |
They transferred their coal plants to Constellation, so they are no longer regulated by the state of Maryland. It's the primary cause of the rate hike. |
This is pure window-dressing, so the administration can get some new stories out there without offering any solutions that will offend (the Republican party's) biggest contributor -- the oil industry. |
Those are not investments that Exxon Mobil and the other oil companies are ever going to make. |
Under deregulation, it becomes much easier for these utility companies to claim that this is what our estimated taxes are and we need to recoup these costs. And then they engage in all kinds of tax liability schemes that wind up reducing what they actually owe. |
We don't think these large mergers are good for consumers. They put more utilities in fewer and fewer hands, increasing the likelihood of complex financial structures that will be less transparent and undermining the ability of state regulators to protect consumers. |
We're asking for an investigation to determine whether the rates they are charging are illegal. |
What we're saying is, look, there's an easy way to pay for it: the oil companies. They've got record cash flows, record profits. Impose a new tax on them, use the revenues to dedicate to these programs. |
You wouldn't want that person on the commission at all. |