Termination notices are set to resume for BGE customers who have past-due balances on their accounts beginning on Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
The possibility of losing power due to non-payment poses significant concerns in the throes of a massive heat wave in mid-July. However, a BGE spokesperson confirmed to Baltimore Fishbowl that during the summer, they do not do service shut-offs during high heat conditions. High heat conditions are defined as either a 3-day forecast with a 95°F heat index threshold, or National Weather Service/Maryland Department of Health declared heat emergencies.
For those facing service cut-off due to non-payment after July 15, Marylanders have multiple avenues of assistance.
“These power cutoffs will cause major problems for many people in the Baltimore region, especially seniors living on fixed incomes who simply cannot afford their energy bills,” said Laurel Peltier, chair of the Maryland Energy Advocates Coalition. “The good news is that many Marylanders qualify for programs to help them pay their energy bills – but they must act soon to keep their power on. In 2025, only about 30% of the eligible households applied for energy assistance grants.”
Peltier suggested the following means of assistance for customers seeking help paying or reducing their energy bills:
- The Maryland Office of Home Energy Programs (OHEP) provides grants for income-eligible households. A five-minute video guides customers through the process, and the site has information, forms, FAQs, and other sections to help customers at risk of cut-offs.
- Customers can subscribe to energy efficiency programs, like free HVAC tune-ups and Quick Home Energy Checkups to ensure their systems are not costing more money than they should.
- Subscribing to a solar farm is another option, like Community Solar, which allows customers to save money on energy without having to install solar panels on their roofs.
BGE’s spokesperson told Baltimore Fishbowl that customers will only be disconnected from service if they do not pay their bill. They have taken several proactive measures to help customers prepare for the moratorium lift. They have notified customers that turn-off notices would be mailed to customers this week, they have had a banner on their website for several weeks that disconnections for nonpayment would resume after July 15, and they are making phone calls to customers who have not paid their bills to try to make payment arrangements and other help.
In addition to the OHEP assistance mentioned above, BGE is expanding other customer support options. Those include:
- Extended payment arrangements of up to 18–24 months
- No deposit requirements for customers in arrears seeking to maintain or restore service
- Continued promotion of assistance programs, including OHEP and the Fuel Fund of Maryland.
BGE customers can get financial assistance through state programs, find information on BGE’s self-service Assistance Finder, make payment arrangements or get due-date extension eligibility information on the utility’s website. Most of these resources can be found on BGE’s “Here to Help” page.
In December 2025, the Public Service Commission (PSC) ordered a six-month moratorium on bill-collecting from customers with unpaid bills because BGE had issues with its customer service call center. Average wait time in December was clocked at 546.6 minutes – over nine hours. By February 2026, that wait time number had been reduced to 7.1 minutes, according to BGE’s petition. Average Speed of Answer had been reduced by more than half, dropping from around 14 minutes to six minutes in the same period.
On May 15, the PSC ruled the moratorium could be lifted starting on July 15. In its ruling, however, the PSC noted that the improvements could be partially attributed to the moratorium itself, and expressed concern that they could be maintained once bill-collecting resumed. BGE must report its call center statistics back to the PSC monthly for the next three years.
“BGE attributes these gains to comprehensive operational reforms, which include increasing its call center staffing from 186 to 237 agents, expanding overtime opportunities, implementing a “Second Chance” callback pilot, and prioritizing customers waiting more than 40 minutes by moving them to the top of the queue,” read the PSC’s order lifting the moratorium.
