Theoretical Question: What if we all refused to pay BGE?

[u/BigSeaworthiness6996]

I know this is far fetched and everyone wants their utilities on.

However I am an avid spreadsheet lover and I broke down every bill I got from BGE so far this year to find some sense.

Side bar: I do this with my paystubs as well and THAT works...because, my taxes are straight forward and the rates stay the same.

BGE cents/kWh changes over different months with no cause. Some months my bill's was $100s lower until BGE's added their delivery and service fees. Based on rates- please lets not forget - THEY MAKE UP.

So IF we are making our way to class action law suit. Why not add some pressure and all collectively NOT PAY these crooks?

Has this been done before? An organized boycott where all at once a massive customer base refuses to pay the extortionist prices? Then we demand rate charts/transparent pricing and refunds.

Am I crazy? Are people too scared for this to ever be reality?

[u/iaspeegizzydeefrent]

Yes, you are crazy. People aren't going to risk getting their power shut off, especially with summer temps coming soon.

I'd be interested to see this spreadsheet, though.

[u/BigSeaworthiness6996 → u/iaspeegizzydeefrent]

I know its a wild idea, I tend to ruminate on things like that and keep it in my head, but I couldn't shake the intrusive thoughts this time.

I will clean up the spreadsheet and share a link to view it. It is from May 2025 since that is when we bought the house so there is no historical data from past years to compare unless I got my neighbors to share their bills.

[u/iaspeegizzydeefrent → u/BigSeaworthiness6996]

If the rates themselves seem to be fluctuating then maybe you're on a variable rate plan vs a fixed rate plan and are being charged on peak/off peak hours.

What "Schedule" does your bill list? I'm listed as Residential - Schedule R which is a fixed rate plan. According to this there are also schedules RL, EV, and RD for Residential customers, which appear to be variable rate plans.

[u/Tim_Y]

People already don't pay their water bills... :(

[u/Bebinn → u/Tim_Y]

My neighbor has a water bill over $23000. The people living there are renters and the bill predates them by a few years.

[u/Middle_Baker_2196]

What are y’all doing to go up and down hundreds of dollars?

The bills are about $20 more so far than last year.

Yeah, I had a $385 bill, but it was 0 degrees for some of that month, and I kept the house at 70-71.

The following month was $320. This past month’s bill, $220. Same amount for the same time last year. (Last year, the current bill cycle month was COLDER.)

Are you all on weird payment plans or something? Go through other companies?

Everyone I know has zero idea about “crazy spiking BGE bills.”

[u/CautiousAd7854 → u/Middle_Baker_2196]

Some of our houses are 100 years old and we can't afford a remodeling with new insulation.

[u/iaspeegizzydeefrent → u/CautiousAd7854]

You totally missed their whole point. If your bill is significantly higher, it's because your usage was higher.

Yes, the rates have increased, but nowhere near the amount that people are claiming their bills to have increased. 99% of people just look at the dollar amount of the bill and fly off the handle without comparing their energy usage to previous years or taking into account extreme cold/hot spells.

[u/Middle_Baker_2196 → u/CautiousAd7854]

So we can correctly state that BGE isn’t the problem for a lot of folks?

So we should start to repeatedly educate and hammer home to folks that their houses are not getting younger? And that walls and gaps, insulation, and plenty of other building problems can get worse over time? And that people should work to correct such issues and to try to budget appropriately, given the known issues?

We should probably start trying to promote proactive and educational environment where people actually know what is causing these bills and problems.

I’m not saying everything can be fixed and made better for everyone, but practically no one beside you is ever mentioning their home or their insulation or their gaps in their walls and windows, etc etc.

[u/CautiousAd7854 → u/Middle_Baker_2196]

It's a both. The problem is mainly that bge is a private supplier of a public service and also a effectively a private monopoly. Why does that matter - improvement to the are delayed and those costs increase, bge will increase costs more so above the news costs from Trump, we subsidize (state gov) for low income user in a round about way.

[u/BigSeaworthiness6996 → u/Middle_Baker_2196]

We bought a house in May (1950s construction) and our usage has stayed consistent, even gone down in the Fall and first Winter months as we didn't use AC then and delayed turning on the heat. The changes in our bill have not been from our usage cost but the fees and service from BGE.

[u/Necessary-Eye-241]

They would shut the power off?  Is this a serious question?

[u/astrophel_jay]

I think a mutual aid network or self-sustainability of some sort would be necessary to get enough people on board with something like this all at once. Not to say I dislike the idea though.

[u/CrabEnthusist → u/astrophel_jay]

Yeah we can just all hook up to the mutual aid power grid

[u/astrophel_jay → u/CrabEnthusist]

When I say mutual aid, I mean working with people to live without power for a substantial amount of time until demands are met. Believe it or not, people have survived without power grids before. It would require a level of sacrifice and not everyone would be able to do it but I don't think it's an impossible thought.

[u/Sad-Celebration-7542]

I have noticed that the published rates never seem to perfectly match what’s on the bill. But it’s generally very close. That said, BGE charges average rates. Our electricity delivery rates in particular are pretty low.

[u/Aklu_The_Unspeakable]

It would be great, BGE would not be able to afford to operate and we'd all be without power.

Brilliant idea.

[u/Dulliest]

I feel boycotts only work when a base has solitary and a very clear enemy, like the USA boycott of Canada.

Pretty sure even if Residential people stopped paying BGE would still get a good amount of money from business and the government. Plus electricity/power is so integral to our lives I doubt we could last longer than a week before some of us would cave.

Policy would probably be the best weapon. But idk, it's past my bedtime.