More than 120 Baltimore residents join lawsuit against BGE over gas regulator installation
BALTIMORE - We are learning more about a lawsuit filed against Baltimore Gas & Electric by several Baltimore City residents.
The residents are seeking an injunction to keep BGE from installing gas regulators outside their homes.
Three of the plaintiffs in this lawsuit were arrested in Federal Hill last Thursday while protesting and trying to block the utility company from doing their work.
Residents say there are still about six homes without service after BGE cut the gas off for not consenting to the utility work.
"I was just in shock," Stephen Topping said.
The full lawsuit will not be released until Monday.
But we know it was filed in Baltimore City Circuit Court on Friday and that there are 120 plaintiffs from across the city listed in it.
Baltimore Police arrested three women on Warren Avenue in Federal Hill for protesting BGE.
The women refused to move from the street, blocking BGE crews for hours before their arrest.
The arrests outraged neighbors who saw it all happen.
"The fact that our city leaders let us down, the fact that the police were so brutal with three middle-aged women," Topping said. "It's just unacceptable and everybody in Baltimore city should be outraged."
They are part of a group of homeowners trying to prevent the installation of external gas regulators.
The work would require BGE to drill into the facade of their more than 100-year-old homes and tear up the sidewalk.
According to attorney Thiru Vignarajah says there are 121 plaintiffs listed in the lawsuit and 14 of them have historic homes.
"Seeks injunctive relief to prevent BGE from installing external gas pressure regulators when they are not required by law over the objection of the homeowners," Vignarajah said.
WJZ spoke with one of the women named in the lawsuit after she was released from jail.
"We deserve better. Baltimore City residents deserve better," Claudia Towles said. "The fact that those resources were used for a private company to bully their way into an unlawful action, we should all be outraged."
According to BGE, the regulators are critical safety upgrades and more than 10,000 of the regulators have already been installed.
Some homeowners told WJZ they would be OK with the work if BGE offers a less noticeable option.
"I'm happy to have an internal regulator if its thought to be safer," said Donna Sylvester. "That's not the problem. It's this external regulator that is defacing the historic nature of these older homes."
