Baltimore Gas and Electric and its sister utilities renewed calls for boosting power generation Wednesday after the federal government issued an emergency order aimed at preventing blackouts in Maryland and throughout the mid-Atlantic.

The U.S. Department of Energy issued the order, in effect through Friday, because of unusually warm fall weather that’s boosting demand. PJM Interconnection, the 13-state region’s grid operator, had sought the order after warning of tight system conditions, also caused by previously scheduled generator and transmission maintenance outages.

BGE, Delmarva Power and Pepco — all owned by parent company Exelon Corp. — have been advocating for state reforms that would allow regulated utilities to develop new generation and storage facilities through a public process. The companies say they should be part of a broader approach to bring more electricity supply online year-round to meet growing demand and better control energy supply prices. BGE and other Maryland utilities currently do not generate electricity.

“Customers deserve an energy system that is reliable and works to keep costs under control,” Valencia McClure, an Exelon senior vice president of governmental, regulatory and external affairs, said in a statement released Wednesday. “This week’s regional grid conditions show why we need an all-hands-on-deck approach to adding supply.”

Exelon’s president and CEO told The Sun in August that legislation is needed to allow utilities to get back into generation.

“You’re not going to solve this supply crisis or affordability crisis by doing the same thing,” Calvin G. Butler Jr. said. “I’m not trying to take the place of the market. I’m trying to partner and supplement the market.”

Opponents of that strategy, including consumer advocates and environmental groups, have countered that ballooning transmission infrastructure spending by utilities have driven up electric bills in Maryland along with the companies’ profits. An Office of People’s Counsel analysis this year found that customers will pay $7.1 billion in transmission capital costs from 2010 through 2030, then another $5.4 billion from 2031 to 2035.

BGE on Wednesday said an average residential customer has seen monthly bills increase by about $30 from 2024 to 2026 due to higher supply costs, a portion of the bill paid to suppliers rather than the utility. Separately, BGE has asked state regulators to approve a proposed electric distribution rate increase that would add $8 more on average each month to residential customers’ bills.

The utility has said the proposed $156 million increase in revenue would keep bills affordable by investing only in essential maintenance and immediate risks to the electric system serving 1.3 million ratepayers.

Consumer advocates have called on the Maryland Public Service Commission to reject BGE’s request, citing concerns about systemic failures of customer service and safety as well as the utility’s increased rates and profits. The PSC will hold public hearings on the request on Oct. 26, Nov. 4 and Nov. 18.

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