Maryland's Office of People's Counsel is pressing state regulators to force Baltimore Gas and Electric and Delmarva Power to immediately hand back more than $32 million collected in excess from customers, arguing the two Exelon-owned utilities are misusing a brand-new consumer protection law to justify keeping the money.
The watchdog agency says BGE reported $28 million in overcollections while Delmarva Power reported $4.27 million, both disclosed in annual information filings tied to their multi-year rate plans, according to WBFF. People's Counsel David Lapp said the Public Service Commission should require BGE and Delmarva Power to refund the excess revenues collected from customers. Lapp added that the companies' stance amounts to a decision to keep money that was over-collected from customers rather than return it.
Utilities Cite New Law Meant to Protect Ratepayers
At the center of the dispute is the Utility RELIEF Act, the bipartisan Reducing Energy Load Inflation for Everyday Families law that Governor Wes Moore signed on May 12, 2026, after it cleared the Maryland General Assembly in April. The omnibus legislation was designed to shave at least $150 a year off average household utility bills and to stop utilities from filing reconciliation requests that pile extra charges onto customers, according to the Office of Governor Wes Moore. BGE and Delmarva Power, both subsidiaries of Exelon Corporation, filed reply comments on August 21 arguing that the same law stripped the Public Service Commission of its authority to order mid-cycle customer refunds, per OPC.
That reading has struck the Office of People's Counsel as backward. The agency says the companies' position follows other actions that undermine customer affordability protections, and it has filed further comments addressing the utilities' interpretation of the statute while requesting a formal hearing on the refund matter. OPC first raised the issue in initial comments filed in July, asking the commission to require the utilities to issue refunds, then followed up with reply comments on August 21 pressing the case further.
How the Overcollections Piled Up
The disputed money surfaced through Annual Information Filings that utilities operating under multi-year rate plans must submit to the Maryland Public Service Commission. Under the pilot guidelines the commission established for these plans, the filings are meant to track whether a utility's forecasts matched its actual costs and revenues, allowing for mid-cycle rate adjustments when the two diverge. Lapp said the commission built that framework specifically to prevent utilities from benefiting at ratepayer expense when their cost forecasts turn out to be inaccurate.
This is not the first time Delmarva Power has been flagged for collecting more than it was authorized to. In May 2025 filings before the commission in Case No. 9681, OPC identified a separate $6.5 million revenue over-recovery by Delmarva during Rate Year 2 and pushed regulators to order a bill credit refund under the multi-year plan's adjustment rider. Lapp said the commission has previously ordered refunds for Delmarva customers when annual filings showed collections exceeding the authorized forecast-based revenue, establishing precedent OPC is now invoking again.
A Pattern Across Exelon's Maryland Utilities
The friction extends beyond this single filing. In October 2024 comments in a separate case, OPC reported that multi-year rate plan reconciliation mechanisms had already led BGE and Pepco to seek more than $268 million above their authorized revenue requirements, a dynamic the watchdog argues encourages excess capital spending at ratepayers' expense. As of publication, Exelon Corporation and BGE had not responded to requests for comment on the current refund dispute, according to OPC.
The standoff arrives as BGE pursues higher rates on a separate track. The utility submitted a request to the commission on July 3 seeking roughly $133 million in additional annual revenue, a move that would raise average residential dual-fuel bills by about $8.53 a month starting in August, as Hoodline previously reported. Exelon's BGE subsidiary generated approximately $578 million in net income in 2025, corporate filings show, a figure ratepayer advocates have repeatedly contrasted with rising household power costs.
Regulators Have Pushed Back Before
Maryland officials have shown a willingness to challenge Exelon utility spending in recent months. On August 28, the Public Service Commission disallowed Pepco from recovering costs for a multimillion-dollar substation project, ruling the utility had failed to prove the spending was prudent or cost-effective, according to the governor's office. In June, a Baltimore Circuit Court judge went the other direction, affirming a commission order that let BGE recover up to $120 million in underground conduit upgrades through customer rates, resolving an appeal OPC had brought.
Governor Moore has also used the new law offensively. On July 2, Moore, Public Service Commission Chair Kumar Barve, and Lapp jointly filed a complaint with federal regulators using the Utility RELIEF Act to try to eliminate so-called RTO adder surcharges that electric utilities collect, transmission-related fees that account for roughly 15 percent of a typical Maryland residential electric bill.
For now, the $32 million refund question remains unresolved before the commission, with OPC awaiting a hearing date and BGE and Delmarva Power maintaining that the same law meant to shield customers from added fees also blocks the commission from ordering the money back.
