Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen calls for oversight hearing after BGE fraud reports
Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen is calling for an oversight hearing into recent reports involving Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE).
This comes after a report from the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) found that a former BGE employee falsified gas pipeline inspection records for the past four years.
The PSC said multiple safety failures were made because of this employee not doing their job, and Cohen wants to hold the company accountable.
"We are extremely concerned about the way our residents have been treated in the city of Baltimore," Cohen said Wednesday at a press conference. "You can't sit there and tell me and the Baltimore City Council that your top priority is safety when we then hear you have an inspector who is not doing their job."
Report highlights BGE oversights
According to a new Maryland Public Service Commission report, state regulators found evidence that a former employee failed to conduct proper inspections of gas infrastructure work and submitted falsified records for over four years. The report also identifies gaps in BGE's quality assurance and compliance oversight.
In a statement to WJZ, a Spokesperson with BGE said, "BGE has fully cooperated with the PSC Engineering Division throughout their investigation. We respectfully disagree with the PSC Engineering Division's conclusions that suggest the former employee's actions compromised our gas system safety or resulted in any imprudent costs. Safety remains our highest priority at BGE. We continue to adhere to industry best practices and are committed to making investments that maximize operational efficiency and our customers' safety benefits."
David Bana represents the 14 former BGE employees who acted as whistleblowers.
"One of the BGE pipeline inspectors was hanging out on his boat when he should've been inspecting gas pipelines," said Bana.
Bana said the report shows BGE failed to show a list of jobs affected by the falsified reports or "performed any targeted remediation or verification work on pipeline segments associated with the inspectors work."
The Engineering Division's recommendations include an audit of BGE's adherence to its inspection procedures and protocols, and consideration of cost disallowance or refund to tax ratepayers.
"Here in Baltimore, everybody knows we are paying top-tier rates for gas services, and we're getting gas pipelines that haven't been properly inspected, so that's a problem that needs to be fixed," said Bana.
