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To: The Maryland State House, The Maryland State Senate, and Maryland's Governor

Stop Maryland's Electric Utilities from ripping off taxpayers!

Pepco and BGE have been overcharging taxpayers for street lighting services for years and dragging their feet on efficiency upgrades.

The Maryland General Assembly and our Governor can put a stop to this by passing the County and Municipal Street Lighting Investment Act!

Why is this important?

Maryland's taxpayers overpay tens of millions of dollars each year to Pepco, BGE and other utilities for street lighting services.

These monopoly companies own the lights and "lease" them back to our counties and municipalities. Facing no competition, they have little incentive to repair lights in a timely manner, offer fair prices or make energy efficiency upgrades. The Maryland Public Service Commission has not helped, often rubber stamping the utilities' inflated rates.

There is a better way! By passing the County and Municipal Street Lighting Investment Act, our counties, cities and towns will have the option to "fire" Pepco and BGE and take control of the street lighting service, efficiency and savings. This approach has worked well in other states.

Only the Maryland General Assembly and our Governor can make this happen. Send them a message now by signing this petition!

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Updates

2023-02-11 12:20:40 -0500

Del. Aaron Kaufman has introduced House Bill 459, an updated version of the County & Municipal Street Lighting Investment Act. Please send a quick email to your State Delegates and Senator asking them to support HB459.

HB459 is enabling legislation intended to:
Streamline the process for county & municipal governments considering assuming ownership of utility-owned lights.
Require electric companies to file a tariff with the MD Public Service Commission for customer-owned lights.
Establish a process for the MD PSC to resolve disputes between local governments and utilities.
Establish a fair formula for determining the value of utility-owned lights.
Enable local governments that acquire utility-owned lights to select a maintenance provider.
Enable local governments to accelerate energy efficiency upgrades to lower their carbon footprint while improving public safety.
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/HB0459