Howard County?s neediest residents may be left in the cold as energy cooperatives emerge.
“There could be cherry-picking. People with bad credit ratings may not be picked as customers. Those who need it most can be left out,” said Maryland People?s Counsel Patricia Smith, who represents the state?s utility consumers.
The Howard County Council is taking steps to petition the state for the ability to create an energy cooperative; the Columbia Association is moving forward with plans to develop one. Users would save money on utility bills as a consultant purchases energy in bulk.
Robert Anderson, co-owner of CQI Associates LLC, the Columbia Association?s consultant, said it has “never had one person be denied in spite of a credit problem.”
He said about 10 percent of the business? revenues will provide energy for Columbia?s poorest residents. That means about $132,000 could go to charity if all 33,000 eligible Columbia residents pay the company the yearly rate for the cooperative.
Smith also said residents could be overcharged in cooperatives.
However, Anderson said residents could save about $200 over a year, even after paying the $35 to $45 fee charged by CQI.
“We may take a whole community of low-income housing and just go to the organization that runs it and ask if we can provide the service for them for free,” he said.
These programs have not yet been enacted because residents have not signed up for the cooperative. But most importantly, people should have the choice of joining a cooperative, said Wayne Harbaugh, BGE manager of pricing and regulatory services.
At a glance
CQI Associates LLC in Columbia has created 40 cooperative programs in 15 states and holds contracts with the Howard County Public School System and Archdiocese of Baltimore. It has purchased about $100 million in energy. – Source: cqiassociates.com.
