Energy Affordability- Problems and Solutions

Brittany Baker Maryland Director, Chesapeake Climate Action Network

There is so much information to help us understand the high energy cost issue. Please read it.

Some dive-in on the bill in the slide.

Below is a clear, regulator-accurate breakdown of which parts of your Washington Gas bill are avoidable vs. unavoidable, and what actions (if any) actually reduce each charge.

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1. UNAVOIDABLE CHARGES

You pay these no matter what supplier you choose and even if gas prices fall.

🟥 Distribution Charge ($15.98)

• Pays for pipes, meters, maintenance, emergency response
• Set by Maryland PSC
• Cannot be avoided
• Reduced only by using less gas

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🟥 STRIDE Surcharge (~$1.90)

• Funds pipeline replacement & safety upgrades
• Automatically approved cost recovery
• Unavoidable
• Continues even if you switch suppliers

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🟥 System Charge ($11.85)

• Covers system-wide reliability & balancing
• Infrastructure-based
• Unavoidable

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🟥 EmPower MD Surcharge ($1.80)

• State-mandated energy efficiency programs
• Required by law
• Unavoidable

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🟥 Taxes ($2.99 total)

• Montgomery County energy tax
• MD Gross Receipts tax
• Unavoidable

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🔴 Bottom line (Unavoidable)

~$34–36 of your $47.98 bill is unavoidable

No supplier switch, negotiation, or timing can remove these.

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2. PARTIALLY AVOIDABLE CHARGES

Can be reduced only by using less gas

🟨 All per-therm charges

These scale with usage:

• Distribution charge
• STRIDE
• System charge
• EmPower MD
• Taxes

How to reduce them:

• Insulation
• Heat pump hybrid systems
• Lower thermostat setpoints
• Efficient water heater

⚠️ But note:

Even cutting usage 30% usually lowers the bill only ~15–20%.

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3. AVOIDABLE / CHOOSABLE CHARGES

These are the only charges you can change via supplier choice

🟩 Natural Gas Supply (PGC – $13.46)

• This is the commodity gas price
• You may:
  • stay with Washington Gas default
  • switch to a retail supplier
• This is the ONLY line item you can shop for

Reality check:

• Typical savings from switching: $1–3/month
• Many third-party suppliers:
  • raise rates after teaser periods
  • add early termination fees
  • lock you into higher fixed prices

📌 Most people save little or nothing long-term.

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4. What Is Truly Avoidable?

Charge Type	Avoidable?	How
Distribution	❌ No	None
STRIDE	❌ No	None
System charge	❌ No	None
EmPower MD	❌ No	None
Taxes	❌ No	None
Gas supply (PGC)	✅ Yes	Switch supplier
All charges	⚠️ Partially	Use less gas

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5. Hard Truth (Important)

Washington Gas is essentially a fixed-cost utility disguised as a usage bill.

• 70–75% of your bill is policy + infrastructure
• Efficiency helps, but only modestly
• Electrification (heat pumps) is the only real escape, but costly upfront

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If you want next:

• a side-by-side bill before/after heat pump
• a supplier switch risk table
• how Maryland PSC approved STRIDE and why bills rose
• comparison with BGE / Pepco gas customers

Just say the word.