However on Friday, BGE attorney Daniel Gahagan presented a letter from BGE?s president and CEO to the commission that states BGE will not charge interest to these customers.

“BGE?s stockholders will pick up carrying [interest] costs to serve those customers who postpone full market rates,” Gahagan read from the letter during closing arguments of the rate hike hearing. “Those customers will only have to repay the principal and will not pay interest rates on this debt.”

BGE was concerned with the impact higher rates would have on seniors, the working poor and people with low incomes, as well as its Moody?s rating, which Gahagan said was two levels above junk bonds.

Further delays into full market rates would create even higher prices for consumers as BGE?s financial standings continue to drop, he said.

During the hearing, the commission asked industry experts questions on alternative ways to meet energy needs, such as building a state-owned generation plant, portfolio management of the purchase of electricity and conservation measures, in an effort to help keep prices lower.

The Maryland Office of the People?s Counsel, which represents consumers, agreed that BGE prices were obtained at fair market rates, its attorney Paula Carmondy told the commission.

“Moving forward, we need to look at other components to address the long-term problems, whether we go forward with deregulation or take a different path,” she said. “We have to examine ways to provide consumers with affordable, nonvolatile, stable prices, increasing funding for our energy assistance programs and adjusting qualifying guidelines. In my view, deregulation has not delivered the benefits that we thought it would to consumers.”

Carmondy asked the commission to extend the time for consumers to be phased into the BGE rate plan by an additional five months.

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