Is the Governor Patching Over a Crisis of His Own Making by Clayton Mitchell

“When the music’s over, turn out the lights.”

– The Doors (When the Music’s Over)

Wes Moore is back at it again, slapping a press release on a problem he created and calling it leadership. 

The Governor’s latest announcement of a $19 million energy relief initiative, reported by Bria Overs of the Baltimore Banner, is being billed as a major act of compassion. It is not. It is a smokescreen for a green agenda that has driven electricity prices through the roof and put thousands of Marylanders in a daily struggle between food and power.

Let’s be clear about what this program is and is not. It is not state money, despite the public relations framing. It is not ongoing assistance, and it will not solve the structural problems Maryland families face. 

As Baltimore-area financial expert Tyrone Keys rightly put it, “What Governor Moore is not saying is that this fund is being provided via a charitable contribution from BGE/Exelon to the United Way. So (A)… It’s a tax deduction for Exelon [and] (B)… It’s one time relief for those who are behind on their bill. Without more supply and with demand growing the problem of Marylanders not being able to afford power will persist. This sham fund is a band aid on an arterial bleed.”

That “arterial bleed” is a crisis born from Moore’s aggressive closure of in-state energy production. The looming shutdown of the Brandon Shores power plant, recently delayed until 2028 under a “Reliability Must Run” order, was not Moore’s decision but PJM’s. PJM, the grid operator, had to step in because of fears of blackouts. That’s right… blackouts. The green dream had to pause not because Moore suddenly saw reason, but because the experts feared mass grid failure.

The real cost of that delay? A billion-dollar transmission project to pull electricity from Pennsylvania into Maryland for a state that once powered itself. And who pays for those billion dollars? You do, in the form of surging monthly utility bills that no rebate will undo.

Moore’s press office proudly announced that grants of $250 to $750 will be offered to select BGE customers starting July 1, with administration by the United Way and other nonprofits. As Overs reports, this is targeted toward residents defined as ALICE: asset-limited, income-constrained, and employed. In other words, people who are working but still cannot afford basic needs. 

That population is growing fast, and Moore’s energy policies are accelerating the slide.

Keys, in a scathing social media post, dropped the hard math that no one in Annapolis seems willing to confront. BGE takes in at least $250 million a month from ratepayers. This so-called relief fund equals 7.6 percent of one month’s revenue. And that is before Exelon takes its tax deductions at the state and federal level. This is charity theater, designed to distract from the fact that the Moore administration’s energy strategy is a fiscal and moral failure.

Delegate Steve Arentz cut straight to the heart of the matter in a recent social media post: “This does nothing but use the dollars from ratepayers to appear like he’s done something to fix the problem. More smoke and mirrors, a cheap Band-Aid. We should be looking at real cuts for ratepayers. Our policies on energy in Maryland are not viable. The PSC approves Exelon’s rates; they set the profit for these companies. Why aren’t people seeing this and demanding actions that make sense for all ratepayers? No accountability from the Governor on this except to take credit for giving you back a small token of Exelon’s profits while skyrocketing rates are getting pushed onto ratepayers.”

And yet, the Governor is out there saying, “Marylanders are counting on us to put the interests of the people first.” If that were true, he would not have pushed for policies that undermined in-state generation, bypassed local governments to jam through utility-scale solar projects, and left our grid dangerously dependent on other states. Instead of building reliable and affordable energy, Moore built a public relations strategy based on press conferences and posturing.

Bria Overs reported in The Baltimore Banner that ratepayer frustration boiled over earlier this year, especially after BGE forecasted a 12.4 percent increase in gas and electric bills by June. Then came the kicker… another increase hit ratepayers on June 1. 

What changed? Maryland’s supply situation worsened, and costs went up. Tyrone Keys nailed it: “Maryland’s energy crisis and [Moore’s] approach to it proves he doesn’t give a damn about poor people.”

You will hear Governor Moore talk a good game about compassion, justice, and equity. But the reality is this: policy is not measured in speeches. It is measured in outcomes. Moore’s energy agenda has hurt working families, small businesses, and seniors on fixed incomes. The Customer Relief Fund does not change that. It is a press release masquerading as reform.

There is a woman in West Baltimore choosing between rent and heat. There is a family in Salisbury keeping the lights off to save money for groceries. There are thousands of Marylanders who will not be helped by a one-time credit but are burdened month after month by Moore’s destructive energy policies.

This is not compassion. This is political cover. Marylanders are not fooled but they are paying the price.

Clayton A. Mitchell, Sr. is a life-long Eastern Shoreman, an attorney, and former Chairman of the Maryland Department of Labor’s Board of Appeals.  He is co-host of the Gonzales/Mitchell Show podcast that discusses politics, business, and cultural issues.