March 15, 2011: O'Malley Proposes New Tax on Electricity!
The candidate who campaigned on the promise to lower
electricity rates has become the Governor of high-cost
electricity for all citizens in Maryland.
As reported in the Washington Post, "Maryland Gov. Martin
O'Malley . . . will ask lawmakers to support a proposal to raise
almost every state resident's electric bill for the next 20
years to underwrite a plan for Maryland to generate some of the
nation's first offshore wind power. O'Malley's legislation runs
counter to a campaign promise to lower ratepayer costs that
helped propel him to the governor's mansion five years ago, as
well as repeated efforts since then to cast himself as a fighter
for lower residential energy prices." (For
the full article click here).
The legislation, Senate Bill 861 - Maryland Offshore Wind
Energy Act, will be heard in the Senate Finance Committee today.
The Administration estimates that the monthly tax on residential
customers would be $1.44 but legislative analysts expect the tax
will be higher at $3.61 per month.
Utility analysts have testified that the residential tax
could be far higher in excess of $7.00 per month. Industrial
customers would pay thousands more on their utility bills.
What caused this transformation from the "I will rollback
your electric rates" candidate to the Governor who will "cause
everyone's energy costs to rise while funneling profits to a
small group of developers"?
As described in the Washington Post article, political
influence may have affected the way the bill was drafted:
"Several committee members said close ties between O'Malley and
one of the project's potential developers has raised eyebrows
and needs to be fully understood. The governor's former chief of
staff, Michael R. Enright, a friend since high school, is
managing director of an energy company that has paired with a
Virginia firm to try to win federal leases needed to develop all
of Maryland's offshore wind areas."
More importantly, off-shore wind power is sexy with an
extraordinary high profile at the national level. The first
Governor to harness the offshore wind as a clean green energy
source can catapult himself quickly onto the stage of national
politics.
Thus it is no wonder that O'Malley, after failing to rollback
electric rates in his first term, has abandoned the cause of the
little guy and now becomes the chief proponent of higher
electricity taxes for all! |
