Baltimore Gas and Electric Company: billing error
Dispute the bill with BGE first, pay the undisputed part, ask for a free meter test or cancellation of an off estimate, then go to the PSC.
What does this mean?
Grade A (high: almost everything comes from official pages read directly). 100% of 30 sources are the organization's own pages or government sites.
Collect
- the disputed bill
- previous bills
- meter photos with dates
- call notes with reference numbers
Steps
Call BGE and dispute the bill. Withhold only the disputed amount and keep paying undisputed and future bills.
If not resolved, ask for a BGE supervisor.
If usage looks wrong, ask BGE for a free meter test. If an estimated bill is far from normal usage, ask BGE to cancel it.
If BGE does not resolve it, file a complaint with the PSC Consumer Affairs Division.
More contacts for this issue
Facts you can cite
- Process
Maryland customers must raise a problem with the utility before filing with the PSC Consumer Affairs Division. A customer may withhold only the disputed amount while it is under review and must keep paying undisputed and future bills, or service may be terminated with notice.
Source: psc.maryland.gov, verified 2026-10-12
- Fee
The utility must test the meter free of charge on request, but not more than once every 18 months; the customer may be present. A Commission referee test costs $10, refunded with an account adjustment if the meter is outside 98%-102% accuracy.
Source: psc.maryland.gov, verified 2026-10-12
- Policy
Estimated bills must be marked as estimated and must still be paid. If an estimate is far from normal usage, the customer can ask the utility to cancel it; the next bill then covers two months.
Source: psc.maryland.gov, verified 2026-10-12
Rules in force
- Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act (ROSCA) negative option requirements15 U.S.C. 8401-8405
A seller that charges consumers online through a negative option feature (for example an automatic renewal or a free trial that converts to paid) must clearly disclose all material terms before taking billing information, get the consumer's express informed consent before charging, and provide simple mechanisms to stop recurring charges. The FTC enforces ROSCA.
Source: law.cornell.edu, verified 2026-10-12
1 citable point
- Policy
The seller must obtain "a consumer's express informed consent before charging the consumer's credit card, debit card, bank account, or other financial account".
Source: law.cornell.edu, verified 2026-10-12
- Policy
If that fails, escalate
Go up one step at a time. Keep the reference numbers and dates from each contact.
Customer service
Supervisor
BGE's guide says to call 800.685.0123 and ask for a BGE supervisor if a problem is not resolved.
Written complaint
State agency
Your state’s utility commission. Find it in the list of state agencies (also as JSON:
states/<code>.json, for example states/ny.json).Maryland Public Service Commission, Consumer Affairs Division. Raise the problem with BGE first or the PSC may withdraw the dispute until the company responds.
State agency
Your state’s attorney general. Find it in the list of state agencies (also as JSON:
states/<code>.json, for example states/ny.json).Maryland Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division.
Watch out
- bge.com HTML pages return empty to automated fetches; use the phone lines.
- The medical certification must be on the PSC-approved form and reach BGE by the day before the termination date.
Let your AI agent handle this
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1. Set it up (needs uv):
uvx escalate-anything setup2. Ask your agent:
Baltimore Gas and Electric Company charged me [amount] on [date] for something I did not order. Use Escalate Anything to get it corrected.Source code, other install options and the Claude Code plugin