Baltimore residents concerned by rising utility bills
BALTIMORE -- Baltimore residents say their gas, electric and water bills are getting out of hand.
"Last month, I got my BGE bill. It was $700," said Nanik Wira, a Baltimore resident. "Before, it was always around $300 or $250 in the wintertime."
Sewer and water increase
On Wednesday, the city's spending board authorized a rate hike for water and sewer bills.
The Baltimore Board of Estimates voted 4-0 to raise water and sewer bills over the next three years. This means on average, a typical monthly water bill for most Baltimore City households will rise about 9.66%.
For example, a water bill that's currently $130.15 will increase by $12.58 for a total of $142.73.
But it's not just in 2025, DPW has proposed rate adjustments for fiscal years 2026 and 2027. In 2026 and 2027, your water and sewer bill may go up again another 8.4%.
"You know, I'd love to hear more about what exactly that means," said Abby Keen, a Baltimore City resident. "Why does it have to be done?"
Why the rate hike?
BGE and DPW responded to residents' concerns, saying the rate increases are necessary.
DPW said the water and sewer rate increase is necessary to help maintain the city's financial stability and update infrastructure and projects as the water and wastewater system ages.
Officials said the department will be launching a $1.9 billion, six-year improvement program to address some critical infrastructure needs. The plan will focus on replacing water mains, reducing sewer overflows and modernizing operations.
"Our infrastructure has been neglected for a long long period of time and we have to take care of that infrastructure," said DPW Director Khalil Zaied. "We have to start to buckle up again and do what we have to do to stabilize the utility we have right now and build on it."
BGE said price adjustments like this happen regularly.
"It's not surprising after a month that we saw a lot of cold weather, and generally people are home more because it's the holidays, so they're using more energy, for bills to be higher than in previous months," said Nick Alexopolus, a BGE spokesperson.
Alexopolus explained there are price hikes that began on the first of January, which on average, should have been about $7.77.
DPW created a webpage to help answer questions and concerns residents may have about the rate changes on their website here, BGE customers can save energy and money during extreme cold with these tips on their website.
You can also contact BGE for energy assistance resources by visiting their web page here.
Residents said the bill increases come when customers are feeling the heat of other rate hikes.
"Just with today's economic climate, it is just something else for people to have to deal with," said Baltimore resident Eboni Woodard. "Just with the rising cost of everything, wages are not necessarily going up, you know to compensate that, so you know people are going to be struggling."