By MDBayNews Staff
When a third-generation local grocery store is staring at a nearly $58,000 monthly electric bill, something is out of balance.
Last week, Robin Grammer, who represents parts of Dundalk, Essex, Edgemere, and Middle River in Baltimore County, posted a screenshot of a Baltimore Gas & Electric bill tied to Geresbeck’s Food Market. The bill—issued February 4, 2026—shows a total electric charge of $57,960.32 for a single month.
Grammer’s message was blunt: “They will be gone if we don’t stop this insanity.”
The politics are loud. But the underlying math is what should worry Marylanders.
The Bill Itself
The commercial account—listed at 2109 Eastern Blvd in Middle River—breaks down roughly as:
- Electric supply: ~$4,900+ (under Constellation New Energy via Electric Choice)
- Electric delivery: ~$800+
- Taxes and fees: pushing total to $5,790.32 in one screenshot version
- Another circulated version suggests a prior balance cycle closer to $57,000+
Large grocery stores run refrigeration 24/7. They power freezers, deli counters, bakery ovens, lighting, point-of-sale systems, HVAC, and storage units. They are among the most energy-intensive retail businesses in existence.
High bills alone aren’t shocking.
What is shocking to many observers is the trajectory.
Multiple social posts compare recent cycles showing bills jumping dramatically month-to-month. Whether $5,700 or $57,000, the broader issue remains the same: Maryland commercial energy costs are rising fast enough to threaten operating margins.
And that’s not partisan rhetoric. That’s arithmetic.
What’s Driving the Spike?
Maryland electricity rates are a blend of:
- Supply costs (generation purchased via PJM markets)
- Delivery charges (BGE infrastructure and maintenance)
- Taxes and mandated fees
- Capacity auction pricing under PJM
Several factors are converging:
1. Capacity Auction Shock
PJM’s most recent capacity auctions saw dramatic price increases after generation retirements and rising demand from data centers and electrification mandates.
When baseload coal plants like Brandon Shores retire without immediate replacement capacity, the region imports more power at higher marginal costs.
Maryland now imports roughly 40% of its electricity.
Imports cost money.
2. Climate Mandates and Transition Pressure
The Climate Solutions Now Act (2022) committed Maryland to aggressive emissions reductions and a transition toward renewable-heavy generation.
Governor Wes Moore has pushed further clean energy targets, grid modernization, and rebate programs under legislation like the Next Generation Energy Act.
The intention: long-term decarbonization and local investment.
The reality: short-term volatility and price strain while dispatchable generation retires faster than replacement infrastructure comes online.
3. Delivery Rate Growth
BGE delivery rates have steadily increased over the last decade to fund grid hardening, infrastructure upgrades, and reliability investments.
Residential customers may see increases measured in dollars.
Commercial customers see it multiplied at scale.
The Political Divide
Republicans like Grammer argue that Maryland’s energy policy is forcing reliable generation offline without securing affordable replacements.
Democrats counter that:
- Utility profits have increased significantly.
- PJM market mismanagement plays a role.
- Clean energy investments will stabilize long-term costs.
- Rebates and SEIF funding can offset household burdens.
Both sides have points.
But small businesses do not operate on political theory. They operate on margins.
Independent grocery stores typically run on 1–3% net margins.
A sudden five-figure utility spike can erase months of profit.
Why This Matters Beyond One Store
Baltimore Gas and Electric serves millions of customers. When commercial rates surge:
- Grocery prices rise.
- Restaurants raise menu prices.
- Contractors pass costs to homeowners.
- Rent increases.
- Inflation compounds locally.
And when a local store closes, it is rarely replaced by another independent operator.
It is replaced by a national chain—or nothing at all.
Geresbeck’s has operated since 1971. It is the kind of business Maryland politicians often claim to champion: local, multi-generational, community-based.
If the cost structure makes it unsustainable, the loss will not be ideological. It will be tangible.
The Hard Question for Annapolis
Maryland’s climate goals are ambitious.
But can the state:
- Maintain grid reliability,
- Keep baseload generation stable,
- Transition responsibly,
- Protect working families,
- And prevent small business collapse—
—all at once?
That balance is the test of serious governance.
Energy policy is not a slogan. It is physics plus economics.
And when the lights stay on but the bills skyrocket, voters notice.
The debate in Annapolis this session should not be about partisan blame.
It should be about this question:
Can Maryland transition to cleaner energy without pricing out its own communities?
Because if long-standing local grocery stores start closing over electric bills, the answer will be written in dark storefront windows—not policy memos.
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The fault is with the Trump regime’s shortsighted insistence on going back to coal fired power plants that had been mothballed & replaced by clean energy projects, that PJM hasn’t done anything to ensure that new shovel ready capacity can be brought online.
Trump’s tariffs are also pushing up the cost of supplies that are needed for the construction of these projects.
That framing skips over some critical facts. PJM has been warning for years that reliability is at risk because baseload generation was retired faster than replacement capacity could be built and interconnected—largely due to regulatory delays, permitting bottlenecks, and state-level policy mandates.
Re-activating mothballed coal or gas plants isn’t about nostalgia; it’s about keeping the grid stable while new generation actually comes online. “Shovel-ready” projects don’t power hospitals, data centers, or homes until transmission upgrades and interconnection approvals are complete—and those delays long predate any recent tariff policy.
Clean energy can and should play a growing role, but grid reliability isn’t ideological. Until replacement capacity is operational at scale, removing dispatchable power without a bridge plan creates real risks for consumers.