Eight Baltimore community associations are planning to take legal action against BGE to stop the installation of gas regulators on the exterior of homes, which homeowners argue are unsafe and unsightly.
The resident groups have engaged former Maryland deputy attorney general Thiru Vignarajah to lead the legal challenge.
Among the associations are the Butcher’s Hill Community Association, Federal Hill Neighborhood Association, Fells Point Residents Association, Fells Prospect Community Association, Mt. Vernon Belvedere Association, Pigtown Community, Upper Fells Point Improvement Association, and Washington Hill Community Association.
According to a press announcement from Vignarajah, BGE’s actions prioritized “profits over major environmental and safety concerns by doubling down on gas infrastructure even as cities and states nationwide, including Maryland, move away from fossil fuels.”
At a press conference Thursday morning, Vignarajah alleged that BGE is trying to make money before Maryland phases out gas as an energy source — a stated goal of the Moore administration and environmental groups around the state and nation. By classifying the work as “infrastructure investments,” BGE is trying to pass along the cost to customers, rather than the company absorbing the costs itself, he said.
There have been multiple meetings between representatives of BGE and neighborhood associations from Fells Point, Butcher’s Hill, Federal Hill, Washington Hill, and others. But so far they have been unable to reach a resolution or compromise.
Residents at those meetings overwhelmingly prefer the gas regulators be placed inside their homes for a number of reasons, including safety and protection from vandalism and vehicular collisions. However, BGE has insisted on placing them on the outside of homes, citing internal policy and 2019 National Transportation Safety Board regulations that outline exterior gas regulators as safer than interior ones.
But Vignarajah says BGE’s reasoning is inconsistent with their previous position.
“Under the false pretext of safety and exploiting the tragedy of the Flower Branch apartment explosion seven years ago, BGE has pivoted 180° from vocally objecting to external gas regulators before the General Assembly to now insisting upon them, realizing they can use the unwanted ‘infrastructure investments’ to add a profit-gouging surcharge to customers’ bills,” the press announcement reads. Seven people were killed in a 2016 explosion at the Flower Branch apartment complex in Silver Spring.
In 2019, BGE said the historic nature of some neighborhoods should be taken into consideration, and that placing the regulators outside of residences left them vulnerable to damage. At the press conference, Vignarajah read from BGE’s position paper in which it argued those points.
BGE also placed regulators inside many homes throughout Phase One of the project, which happened before the COVID-19 pandemic, but after the passage of Flower Branch Act, which required gas companies to move gas regulators to the exterior of multifamily homes.
The fact that BGE is arguing against the placement of regulators inside homes now as a safety concern, but not during Phase One, does not ring true for residents. It’s something Vignarajah called “a nonsense argument.”
The press announcement and legal action also address what residents have described as “bullying” and “threatening” behavior on the part of BGE and its contractors if residents did not want to allow workers to install the exterior gas regulators. Vignarajah read an example of a letter BGE sent a resident giving them 11 days to comply or have their utilities shut off — an action Vignarajah alleges is illegal.
“When they write a letter that says they’re gonna cut off your service if you don’t allow them to install these regulators, they are fraudulently inducing customers into giving up their rights without any basis in law,” he said.
“If they do not withdraw this ridiculous position, and if they do not stop this battery of threats of discontinuing service, we will as early as next week, on June 19, be filing a legal action seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop them from causing irreparable damage,” Vignarajah continued. “Irreparable damage either by drilling into historic homes, or irreparable damage by cutting off utility service to hundreds, potentially thousands of residents all across Baltimore.”
In an email response to Baltimore Fishbowl, BGE communications manager Talon Sachs said “BGE cannot comment on pending or threatened legal action.”
They continued, “That being said, BGE has always undertaken and will continue to undertake work that enhances the safety and reliability of the natural gas distribution system. This work is reviewed and approved by the Maryland Public Service Commission, is in accordance with applicable laws and regulations, and is communicated to customers and impacted property owners multiple times through a variety of channels including community meetings, letters, door hangers, and information on BGE.com. Many of the statements made in the news conference are based on inaccurate information.”
Sachs added that the new regulators are part of BGE’s process of “modernizing its gas system by replacing its aging low-pressure gas infrastructure with a higher-pressure system” to make natural gas service “more reliable and resilient.”
BGE reiterated that external gas regulators are safer than internal ones to reduce the effects of gas leaks.
“Externally placed regulators are safer because in the event of an unintended gas release incident, gas vents directly into the atmosphere as opposed to building up inside a structure where it is susceptible to ignition that can have catastrophic results,” Sachs said. “External regulators are also readily accessible to first responders and BGE personnel in the event of a gas emergency as opposed to internal regulators that cannot be accessed as quickly.
They added, “Customers can choose to discontinue their gas service and electrify their homes and businesses, which would negate the need for internal or external regulators.”
Residents have also complained that local politicians have been unresponsive to their complaints.
“I don’t know why BGE doesn’t do the right thing on its own,” Vignarajah said at the press conference. “They stand to make a lot of money, we know that. And no politicians seem to be willing to hold their feet to the fire. We hope that will change. But at the end of the day, if we have to haul them into court to make them do the right thing, we will do it.”
Baltimore Fishbowl has reached out to Baltimore City Councilmembers Zeke Cohen and Robert Stokes Sr., who represent many of the neighborhoods involved in the legal challenge. They have not responded to our request for comment for this story.
