Maryland watchdog takes pipeline fight to court as gas bill costs keep climbing

Maryland utility regulators are facing a court challenge from the state office that represents consumers in a case that could affect what residents pay for essential home energy service.

The dispute centers on a 2025 Maryland law designed to limit pipeline replacement projects that are not clearly needed and to reduce the bill's impacts tied to that spending.

What happened?

According to Maryland Matters, the Maryland Office of People's Counsel has appealed to the Baltimore City Circuit Court, alleging that the state's utility regulators have not met the 2025 requirements.

That law requires gas companies to evaluate alternatives and demonstrate safety and customer benefits before proceeding. Even though it took effect more than a year ago, the Maryland Public Service Commission has yet to complete the implementation of rules and has continued to allow Washington Gas to advance planned projects, Maryland Matters reported.

Maryland People's Counsel David Lapp said the outcome has been a "business-as-usual approach."

In a statement, Lapp said: "The General Assembly took an important step to curb gas infrastructure replacement work that is driving up utility rates and contributing to an energy affordability crisis. But so far the reforms have had no meaningful impact."

Rachelle Whitacre, Washington Gas' senior vice president of regulatory affairs, said the company's proposal is guided by safety and affordability: "At Washington Gas, safety and customer affordability guide everything we do."

Whitacre also said the utility's spending supports "a safe and (99.8%) reliable system."

Why does it matter?

The case may help decide whether ratepayers continue covering the cost of gas-system projects that critics say go beyond what is needed at a time when many households are already struggling with energy bills.

Figures cited by Maryland Matters from the Office of People's Counsel show utilities had spent more than $2.1 billion under Maryland's STRIDE program as of February 2025. The same office projects another $7.2 billion in utility spending by 2043, with total consumer costs reaching $11.3 billion.

Maryland Matters reported that infrastructure-related charges can remain on customer bills well after construction ends. If more residents replace gas appliances with electric ones, those costs could be spread across fewer remaining gas customers, raising the burden on that smaller group.

When utilities continue to invest heavily in gas systems, communities can become locked into costly infrastructure rather than shifting toward cleaner technologies that may save money over time.

What's being done?

After advocates raised concerns about whether Washington Gas had truly evaluated alternatives for its 2026 project plans, the Public Service Commission opened a rulemaking in February, Maryland Matters reported. Draft rules are expected on or before July 31.

Lapp said the commission can enforce the statute without waiting for those rules.

"This idea that they need regulations to comply with a statute is entirely a false premise," he said. "This idea is another delay tactic."

Delegate Elizabeth Embry, a Baltimore City Democrat who sponsored the 2025 law, also criticized the wait.

"The law took effect on June 1 (2025), and it's not contingent on rulemaking or any other event," Embry said. "It's effective as of that date."

"What we're seeing in this case is a subversion of legislative intent — no question about it," Lapp added.

PSC Chairman Kumar Barve said the commission is moving slowly because "we want to take everybody's point of view into account, and we can't make everybody happy."

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