Annapolis Capital Punishment

(The below is a press release from The Maryland Coalition to Stop the BGE Rate Hike)

On Saturday June 23, 2007 the Maryland Coalition to Stop the BGE Rate Hike will be organizing citizens from Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Anne Arundel County to demonstrate and rally at the Governor's Mansion to demand that Governor O'Malley immediately re-regulate the electric utility industry in Maryland. The Coalition will be holding the demonstration and rally beginning at 1 pm at the Governor's Mansion in Annapolis, MD.

Last summer, when initial announcement of a 72% rate increase was made, then Mayor O'Malley negotiated a 15% increase and told the citizens of Maryland that he had stopped the rate hike. However under his watch as governor he has allowed additional increases in March and June that have since brought the increase to 67%. The Coalition believes that the Governor's recent announcement to set aside $57 million dollars to aid rate payers is nothing more than welfare and obscures the fact that the June 1st rate increase is unjust and unwarranted.

The Coalition is extending itsfight against BGE into more counties affected by the rate increase. The Coalition is taking their demands directly to the Governor and State Legislature to re-regulate the industry, restoring price caps and turn ownership of electric utilities over to municipal and state control.

The Maryland Coalition to Stop the BGE Rate Hike is an umbrella organization of various community groups, activists and concerned citizens who have been working together for over a year to stop the energy rate hike for over 1.3 million BGE residential customers. For information contact Leo Burroughs, Jr. - 410.523.6118 or Nnamdi Lumumba - 443.992.7276.