OPC Works for You

Why is my winter bill so high?  

If you’ve had sticker shock from your recent utility bill, you are not alone. Your energy bill is going up mostly because the costs your utility charges to deliver gas and electricity to your home have been rising significantly in recent years.  Excessive cold or hot temperatures also drive up your bill because you use more energy to heat or cool your home.

Read more about why your bill is so high this winter: 

Why is my winter BGE bill so high?

Why is my winter Delmarva Power bill so high?

Why is my winter Pepco bill so high?

To understand why summer 2025 rates were high, OPC released the Consumer's Guide to Summer 2025 Electric Rates that explains the basic components of customer electric bills, how customer consumption affects bills, and why bills are rising.

OPC has released multiple reports explaining bill increases over the last few years.  This report reveals that most Maryland utility customers have seen their gas and electricity distribution rates increase substantially over the last 10-15 years and focuses on the amounts that utilities charge their customers for delivering electricity and gas to customers’ homes and businesses, as distinct from the supply (or commodity) charges.  

Meanwhile this August 2024 report shows how many Maryland customers face average annual electricity bill increases of hundreds of dollars in the coming years because of problems in the regional market run by PJM Interconnection, LLC, the entity that administers the wholesale power market and is responsible for transmission planning.

Pepco's proposed rate increase

Pepco is asking state regulators for a distribution rate increase. Pepco’s proposed increase would grow its existing summer rates by 15 percent and winter rates by 33 percent, for an overall increase of 23 percent. Because Pepco’s summer rates apply for 5 months of the year and its winter rates apply for 7 months, the overall increase reflects a weighted average of those two seasonal rates. The proposed increase would follow a decade of steadily rising distribution rates. If approved by the Public Service Commission, it would mean distribution rates will have increased about 63 percent since 2020 and 132 percent since 2016.

To better explain Pepco’s recent rate proposal, OPC prepared “A Consumer’s Guide To Pepco’s Proposed Rate Increase.” The Consumer Guide identifies how much rates would increase under Pepco’s proposal and how they have grown in recent years, the novel type of rate proceeding Pepco is seeking along with its implications, and how you can get involved.

Pepco is proposing a new method for setting its rates based on forecasted costs. OPC is asking the Public Service Commission to reject Pepco’s request and apply standard ratemaking policies to evaluate Pepco’s proposal. Click here for more information about the concerns and risks about the new method.

OPC is evaluating Pepco’s proposal and will advocate in the rate proceeding to keep residential rates as low as possible while maintaining safe and reliable service. 

A Consumer’s Guide To: Pepco’s Proposed Rate Increase

Read OPC’s press release “Pepco proposes 23 percent distribution rate hike—on top of massive rate increases over last decade, OPC Consumer Guide shows.”

Projected gas bill increases -- Gas Utility Spending Report 

OPC’s 2025 report, prepared by the consulting firm DHInfrastructure, provides critical information on current and future spending to maintain and expand the gas delivery system—the pipes, concrete, computers, and other infrastructure that make up the local distribution system. It also provides important information about future gas bills in the absence of reversals in current practices, in particular the Strategic Infrastructure Development and Enhancement Plan that promotes gas infrastructure replacements and accelerates utility cost recovery.

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Learn what STRIDE, the program driving up everyone’s energy bill is all about. Listen as People's Counsel David Lapp discusses STRIDEl on the Maryland Energy Talk podcast.

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