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Hold Maryland's Electric Utility Accountable

Restructuring of Maryland’s electricity market has failed to deliver more choices or lower costs to Maryland customers. Urge your legislators to restore accountability to our electric utility system and get it working for the public:

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Letter	I urge you to support the following policies to restore accountability to our electric system: Demand Wiser Energy Use: Utility companies should be required to implement programs that reduce electricity use 20 percent by 2020. Every dollar invested in energy efficiency pays back more than 300 percent in savings[1]. Investing in energy efficiency will lower individual bills and have the potential to lower overall rates by reducing strain on the system and making us less reliant on the spot-market used to meet peak demand. Special attention needs to be paid to the needs of tenants, since tenants pay the utility bills, but landlords generally perform maintenance on a property. Require Long-term Planning: Utility companies should be required to develop 15-20 year plans to buy power for consumers at the least possible cost. Utilities should be encouraged to purchase power from a variety of sources over various contract lengths and should be penalized if they deviate from this plan. Demand management and energy efficiency should be the preferred elements in the utilities’ strategies for providing electric service, but regulators should be able to require utilities to acquire or build generating potential if it is deemed in the public interest.
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