Baltimore residents rebel against energy giant BGE | The Real News Network

BALTIMORE, MD: As the unaffordability crisis deepens across the US, poor and working-class residents are struggling to pay for rent and food along with exorbitant monthly utility bills charged by gas and electric monopolies that control local power grids. In Baltimore, MD, local residents’ inability to pay skyrocketing utility bills from energy giant Baltimore Gas & Electric (BGE) has sparked a grassroots “public power” campaign to establish a publicly owned energy alternative. In this on-the-ground report, TRNN takes you to the front lines of a Dec. 20 public power rally held in downtown Baltimore…

Energy assistance programs are available through OHEP (once a fiscal year, larger grants available once every five years). The Fuel Fund of Maryland gives grants too, if you have an active turn-off notice (all turn-offs are canceled through February 28).

Also, BGE is planning to lay off union employees, relying on more expensive contractors.