Campaign contributions linked to electric deregulation vote in General Assembly

Nine years after the General Assembly voted to deregulate the electricity industry those members who remain in office and who voted in favor of the measure are still receiving much of their campaign contributions from the utility industry, a new report from the advocacy groups Progressive Maryland and Common Cause, finds.

“There are presently 88 members of the General Assembly who were in office when the energy deregulation bill was passed in 1999—65 of whom voted in favor of the legislation,” the report said. “Those who voted on that bill have received at least $280,000 combined in campaign contributions from the electric utility industry since 1998. Those who voted yes received 93 percent of that total.”

The study finds that Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr. (D-Clinton) has received at least $39,000 in contributions from the utility industry since 1998, the most of any legislator, while Sen. Thomas Middleton (D-Waldorf), the chair of the finance committee, has received at least $23,600.

PolitickerMD.com contacted the offices of Sens. Miller and Middleton, but they were unavailable for immediate comment.

“When (the General Assembly) deregulated the electricity industry it was one of the worst disasters that ever hit Maryland,” Ryan O’Donnell, the executive director of Common Cause Maryland, said.

O’Donnell pointed to the large increase in utility costs as an example, while saying he found the “magnitude” of the contributions to be “shocking.”

According to the report, “Baltimore Gas & Electric (BGE), which serves more than half of Maryland’s 2.08 million households, received a windfall of $1.15 billion as its customers saw their annual utility rates rise by an average of $743 per household.”

“Lest anyone argue that this is a short term burden on Maryland ratepayers, BGE announced another rate increase planned for June, adding roughly $100 more to the average household energy bill, and bringing the total rate increase for BGE customers to 85% since deregulation,” the study continued.

O’Donnell called the rise in utility costs along with the contributions to senators, a “one-two punch.”

The executive director also said the large donations created a “terrible appearance of impropriety” that “hurts our faith in government.”

“It causes concern that there is undue influence,” O’Donnell added.

Sean Dobson, the executive director of Progressive Maryland, agreed, calling the data “troubling.”

“The appearance looks really bad,” Dobson said after calling the deregulation bill “the biggest policy debacle” Maryland had seen.

Of those donations given, the report found that a majority were made in amounts of $1,000 or more, with just 17 percent under $250.

“Indeed, 17 donations of $5,000 or more totaling $155,000 were donated directly to Maryland’s Democratic and Republican State Central Committees,” the study said.

The full version of the report can be found at the following address, http://progressivemaryland.org/public/documents/reports/2008/2008-3-PowerOfSpecialInterests.pdf.