The following was received from the office of Del. Rick Impallaria:
Annapolis Update #1 – Jan. 27, 2010
Greeting from Annapolis!
Normally, I would have done an Annapolis Update prior to this, but this Session seems to be moving slower than past Sessions and nothing of real substance, at this point, has “hit the fan.”
In my committee, which is the House Economic Matters Committee, we have had a briefing on the unemployment insurance problems with the Fund. The Fund has a major shortfall due to the economic downturn and the State’s formula to resolve that shortfall requires the employer’s contribution to go from 5 percent to 13 percent, which, in my opinion, could cause even greater job loss, due to the additional financial burden being placed on businesses that are struggling to make payroll now. I believe a one-year increase of 2 percent would be enough to replenish the Fund without ...Continue Reading
Representative Frank Kratovil, representing Maryland’s 1st Congressional District is finally waking up from the daze he has been in since January, or so it seems. I received a form letter from him that declared that he would make sure to read and understand the entire health care bill that is currently on the floor of the House before he votes. It is interesting to me that he has embraced this idea now, after he voted for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Stimulus Bill to the rest of us) and the American Clear Energy and Security Act of 2009 (Cap and Trade Bill) without reading either of them. It is quite unsettling to me that he, along with hundreds of other Congressmen and Congresswomen voted to support this legislation knowing what it says. How much money has to be on the line before they will realize ...Continue Reading
A transformer will be passing through Harford County in the near future and this one is no toy. Weighing in at 481,000 pounds and belonging to Exelon Corporation, the first of seven new transformers bound for the company’s Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station in Delta, PA will be hauled on Harford County roads over six nights, beginning sometime in late July.
A 16-foot-wide trailer carrying the transformer will have a 27-foot-high load, resulting in a total shipping weight of 831,724 pounds that will roll along at the snail-like pace of 3 to 5 mph. The trailer will be accompanied by a motor escort composed of law enforcement vehicles, road construction crews and utility trucks. The entire road trip is expected to take one week, including the six nights in Harford County and one day in Pennsylvania. An exact starting date has not been set by the company.
State regulators have approved the construction of a third nuclear reactor at the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in southern Maryland – even as those regulators prepare to review a business deal that could be crucial to getting the new reactor built at all.
The state’s Public Service Commission approved the 1,600 megawatt reactor following an 18-month review including public meetings (which were largely pro-nuke love-fests). The decision was dated Friday but not made public until late Monday evening.
Constellation hasn’t firmly committed to building the new reactor, which wouldn’t come online until sometime next decade and could cost as much as $9 billion to construct. The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission still has to approve the project and has said it won’t do so until 2012.
The new reactor and three other similar nuke projects around the country were proposed by UniStar Nuclear Energy, a joint venture between Baltimore ...Continue Reading
The following was received from the office of Del. Rick Impallaria:
Senate Bill 844 – Public Service Commission – New Electric Generation Facilities – Rate Regulation and Contracts
This bill, which supposedly reregulates utility companies, passed the Senate at the end of March and was given to the House Economic Matters Committee with little time to review. The Committee put in as many hours as we could to study it, and as a member of the Utilities Subcommittee for six years and someone who understands all the issues involving the utility industry, it is clear to me and to my Subcommittee colleagues that this bill does not contain any plan whatsoever to reregulate the industry, has no timelines, no benchmarks, no localities for siting power plants, nor does it have a clear perspective for successful completion of reregulation. The Public Service Commission testified that, “If you’re looking for a ...Continue Reading
The following was received from the office of Del. Rick Impallaria:
ENERGY & RE-REGULATION. SB 844 and HB 1530, dealing with re-regulation of Maryland utilities, are now in my committee, Economic Matters. I have always been a strong supporter of regulated monopolies. Experience has proven that de-regulation is a failure for most Maryland consumers, and now the evil geniuses in the General Assembly are pushing a re-regulation bill which appears to me to be a tax on all utility users in the State. And the State has no plan for the future progress of re-regulation. The bill has come to our committee with little time for review of its merits (or lack of them), or for making changes. This is like a re-run of the situation in 1999 when de-regulation was passed — just take our word for it that this is best. Fortunately, ...Continue Reading
Delegate Pat McDonough has introduced legislation establishing the Constellation Energy Group (CEG) Review Commission. The purpose of the proposal is to provide a group of experts and consumer advocates with the authority to investigate the reasons for the demise of this company. Delegate McDonough believes that current law and the authority of the Public Service Commission will not provide the opportunity to review why CEG stock tumbled from about $100 per share in January of 2008 all the way down to $24 per share.
Mr. McDonough maintains that shareholders and the public deserve to know what caused the financial troubles at CEG. It is important to know the role that management played and what steps the company’s executive leadership utilized to try and prevent the company’s problems.
The details surrounding the decision made by Constellation CEO Mayo Shattuck to sell the company, at what Delegate McDonough termed “a fire ...Continue Reading
Delegate Pat McDonough has introduced legislation establishing the Constellation Energy Group (CEG) Review Commission. The purpose of the proposal is to provide a group of experts and consumer advocates with the authority to investigate the reasons for the demise of this company. Delegate McDonough believes that current law and the authority of the Public Service Commission will not provide the opportunity to review why CEG stock tumbled from about $100 per share in January of 2008 all the way down to $24 per share.
Mr. McDonough maintains that shareholders and the public deserve to know what caused the financial troubles at CEG. It is important to know the role that management played and what steps the company’s executive leadership utilized to try and prevent the company’s problems.
The details surrounding the decision made by Constellation CEO Mayo Shattuck to sell the company, at what Delegate McDonough termed “a fire ...Continue Reading
Annapolis Update – Energy – Deregulate or Reregulate? – Dec. 16, 2008
The final report to the Public Service Commission, “State Analysis and Survey on Restructuring and Reregulation (Task 2) and Analysis of Options for Maryland’s Energy Future (Task 3)” has been made. My committee, Economic Matters, has just received a briefing on it.
After listening to two hours of testimony by the Public Service Commission, I am still in full support of reregulation of the Maryland utility industry. The report showed that reregulation would be a good thing, starting three years after reregulation. This is supported by all the charts and statistics that were presented to us. In spite of this, unfortunately, the Commission feels that there are risks in reregulating.
One thing for sure, there has definitely been extreme risk in deregulation. The most recent risk is the devaluing of BGE and Constellation stock, which ...Continue Reading
