news/EXC/2023.02.20/BGE's Multi-Year Energy Infrastructure Plan Ensures Safe and Reliable Energy for Custom...txt

*Proposed infrastructure projects are vital for the continued safe and reliable delivery of energy to customers across central Maryland*Planned work is aligned with the State of Maryland's long-term energy goals*Requested rate increase would result in total bill growth rate of less than 1.5% per year since 2008*Proposed work will inject nearly $36 billion into local economy and support 72,000 jobsBALTIMORE - Today, BGE filed a multi-year energy infrastructure investment plan with the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) designed to continue improvements that will enhance reliability, safety, and resiliency of the electric and natural gas systems serving 1.3 million electric customers and 700,000 natural gas customers in central Maryland.Covering the years 2024 through 2026, the plan details how BGE will invest nearly $2.3 billion annually in the electric grid and natural gas system and nearly $400 million total in electric vehicle and building efficiency programs. These investments will inject nearly $36 billion into the local economy and support an estimated 72,000 jobs, as well as generate more than $8 billion in labor income and $1.7 billion in tax revenue for the State of Maryland as calculated by the Regional Economic Studies Institute of Towson University."Our customers, whether they are residential, small businesses, or industrial, are becoming more reliant on safe and reliable energy to power their lives and livelihoods. At the same time, we are facing more and varied threats to the resiliency of our infrastructure, including cyber intrusions and more frequent severe weather brought by climate change," said Carim Khouzami, BGE's President and CEO. "The energy infrastructure investments we make now will ensure we can continue to meet our customers' needs and begin to lay the foundation for the State of Maryland to reach its goal of net zero emissions by 2045. We have designed our plan to meet these challenges, while delivering the greatest impact possible to central Maryland through steady work for our suppliers and contractors and our continued community impact efforts."As BGE makes investments in the energy systems serving customers, the company is focused on working with local and diverse businesses. Last year, BGE spent $497 million with diverse businesses, of which $262 million was with diverse firms located in Maryland. This continues a trend of BGE annually increasing work with local and diverse suppliers and complements workforce development initiatives to expand local training and hiring programs.BGE's energy infrastructure plan includes more than 300 projects and maintenance programs for the period 2024-2026. Examples include:*Enhancing energy infrastructure supporting the reliability needs of customers throughout central Maryland and the growth of important economic development sites.*Installing smart automation equipment to identify and circumvent damage to the electric grid and reduce the frequency and duration of power outages faster for our customers.*Replacing outmoded technologies, such as limited capacity 4kV electric systems to improve reliability, enable greater adoption of solar energy and electric vehicle charging and increased capacity in areas where redevelopment adds additional customer demand.*Preparing the grid for extreme weather and threat-actor actions with continued tree trimming and vegetation management and cyber security enhancements to improve resiliency against manmade and natural threats to mitigate risk to our customers.*Replacing more natural gas pipeline segments and installing over-pressurization protection equipment to improve safety and reliability for our customers while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than 210,000 metric tons annually.Customers are benefiting from infrastructure investments by BGE. The number of outages a customer experiences has decreased 40 percent since 2008 and when customers do experience a service interruption, their power is restored 36 percent faster today. Hundreds of miles of natural gas pipes are being replaced at an accelerated pace, which results in a safer, more efficient gas system that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 210,000 metric tons annually-the equivalent of taking 45,000 gasoline-powered cars off the road. In addition, under an amended agreement with Baltimore City, BGE will work to improve the City's conduit system infrastructure enabling more reliable service for the City at ultimately a lower cost to customers.The multi-year plan structure enables BGE to spread costs of the investments across several years. For the average residential combined electric and gas customer's monthly bill over the course of the three years, the plan would result in an average annual increase of $10.36 or 5.0%. With this increase, the average residential customer's total BGE bill growth rate since 2008 would be 1.4% per year, which is significantly below the rate of inflation.As a reminder, just one out of five customers who are eligible for energy assistance have applied for and are receiving this financial support. Customers who may be challenged by the energy costs can visit bge.com/assistancefinder to learn more.Utility multi-year plans provide the PSC with planned utility investments in advance for review and approval. The multi-year plan review process is a public process led by the PSC, an independent state commission, that ensures transparency, public input, and fair rates for all customers. A decision on the current proposed plan is expected from the PSC in December 2023.More information on BGE's multi-year plan is available at bge.com.###About BGEBGE is Maryland's largest natural gas and electric utility, providing safe and reliable energy delivery to more than 1.3 million electric customers and 700,000 natural gas customers in central Maryland. The company was founded in 1816 as the nation's first gas utility and remains headquartered in Baltimore City to this day. BGE is a subsidiary of  Exelon Corporation (Nasdaq: EXC), the nation's leading energy utility company. Engage with the latest BGE stories on  bgenow.com and connect with BGE on  Facebook,  Twitter,  Instagram, and  YouTube..(C) 2023 M2 COMMUNICATIONS, source M2 PressWIRE