Amid rising energy costs, Maryland Governor Wes Moore announced a new initiative to lower energy costs Thursday morning.

The program is a fund that will bring $19 million in relief funding for limited- and middle-income customers in Maryland during anticipated increases in energy bills. 

"Not a day goes by without me hearing from Marylanders about their real and justified concerns over steep bill increases. We need to work together to get them relief - and today, we are taking new actions to achieve exactly that," Gov. Moore said . "We are thankful to have BGE and United Way of Central Maryland at the table."

The program is funded through a partnership between Baltimore Gas and Electric, Pepco, Delmarva Power, and other nonprofit groups, including the United Way of Central Maryland.

What will the program provide?

The fund will provide BGE residential customers with $15 million. Eligible customers could qualify for a one-time grant ranging from $250 to $750. 

Beginning July 1, customers who meet the limited-income or moderate-income/Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed () criteria, along with other criteria, and have a past-due BGE account balance will be eligible to apply for relief from the company's Customer Relief Fund.

Approved grants will be credited to customer's BGE accounts. 

Maryland struggles with energy price increases 

On Jan. 1, Baltimore Gas and Electric raised rates, increasing the average residential gas bill by 9% and the electric bill by 7%.

BGE customers and state leaders publicly challenged the increases, which were a part of the company's planned multi-year utility rate hikes.

In February, the Baltimore City Council called on state regulators to stop the increases, which totaled $602 million over the course of three years. BGE said the increase was necessary to cover the cost of continued investments in gas and electric distribution systems.

In March, City Council President Zeke Cohen led a community walk, going door to door to collect signatures on a petition that asked the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) to stop the hikes.

Some customers experienced price hikes larger than the stated increase rates, with some residents reporting that their winter bills climbed by more than $200.

In response to the hikes, lawmakers passed a bill, the Next Generation Energy Act, which aims to reduce costs by directing the Public Service Commission to reject multi-year rate hikes that don't demonstrate customer benefit, and prohibiting utilities from charging ratepayers for certain expenses like trade association memberships and private planes.

Why have energy costs increased?

BGE said those additional increases seen by consumers were a result of an increase in the price of natural gas and increased gas usage.

Then again on June 1, BGE's electricity cost to consumers rose by $16 monthly, which the company said was due to an unexpected spike in capacity auction prices and the Talen Energy reliability-must-run (RMR) fee.

When BGE announced the increase, the Maryland General Assembly wrote a letter urging federal legislators to stop the increase.

They blamed PJM Interconnection, the region's power grid operator, for miscalculating the supply and demand for electricity during the capacity market auction, a competitive bidding process where power companies promise to make their electricity generation available in the future.