A study conducted by the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore Foundation (EAGB) to estimate Baltimore Gas and Electric’s (BGE) economic contributions to the region in 2013 found that its operations generated a total economic impact of $3.81 billion of output and supported 8,686 jobs. This resulted from the company’s direct effect, the effect of companies that provide services to BGE and the effect of employees of both BGE and the service companies. BGE’s activities contribute more than 2 percent of the entire economic output of the BGE service area in central Maryland.
“We are proud to be able to support our partners in their goal of measuring and understanding their importance to the region’s workforce and economy,” said Tom Sadowski, President and CEO of the EAGB. “Our Chief Market Analyst, Patrick Dougherty, did a tremendous job of assessing and articulating the impact of BGE’s economic contributions to the region.”
EAGB was commissioned by BGE to conduct the study, which used independently verifiable information provided by BGE. Three primary areas of BGE activity were analyzed: operations, energy management and charitable giving. Operations activities include the daily transmission and distribution of electricity and natural gas to customers. Energy management includes the administration and results of programs designed to efficiently manage or reduce customer energy consumption. Charitable giving activities are related to BGE’s community investment programs.
In addition to direct economic activities such as BGE’s more than $1 billion in procurement, the study also accounted for indirect and induced economic activities and benefits such as income received and the spending of BGE employees, and employees and vendors from other companies, who receive wages as a result of BGE’s spending on goods and services.
BGE also acts as a broker of energy management programs through a partnership between the company, its customers, and EmPOWER Maryland, in addition to its operations. The energy management programs administered by BGE, such as the voluntary PeakRewardsSM program, in which customers whom opt into the program have their air conditioning cycled on peak usage days, saved customers $79 million in 2013 and supported $209.11 million in output. Ninety cents of output were generated for every dollar of direct BGE output as a result of BGE’s energy management activities. The administration of energy efficiency and demand side management programs also supported 764 Maryland jobs.
The third aspect studied by EAGB, charitable giving, found that BGE donated $3.57 million to local nonprofit organizations working to improve education, community development, arts and culture, and the environment in the central Maryland region in 2013. For every dollar donated by BGE, an additional 53 cents of output was generated by the nonprofit recipients so that BGE’s charitable giving activities supported $5.46 million of output in 2013.
“This study goes beyond the critical role that a utility company plays in meeting the energy demands of the community – a responsibility that BGE highly values,” said Calvin G. Butler Jr., chief executive officer for BGE. “With this analysis, we are able to understand BGE’s impact on jobs and our place in driving the economy. This creates new opportunities to refine our activities to further strengthen the communities we serve.”
The complete BGE Economic Impact Study is available here.
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About EAGB:
The EAGB is a regional economic development partnership comprised of business executives, elected government officials and leaders from higher education, focused on marketing Greater Baltimore as a world-class region in which to live, work, learn and invest. For more information, go to http://www.GreaterBaltimore.org.
About BGE:
BGE, headquartered in Baltimore, is Maryland’s largest gas and electric utility, delivering power to more than 1.2 million electric customers and more than 655,000 natural gas customers in central Maryland. The company’s approximately 3,400 employees are committed to the safe and reliable delivery of gas and electricity, as well as enhanced energy management, conservation, environmental stewardship and community assistance. BGE is a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC), the nation’s leading competitive energy provider, with 2013 revenues of approximately $24.9 billion. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.
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Media Contact:
Patrick Dougherty, Chief Market Analyst
Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore
pdougherty@greaterbaltimore.org
(410) 637-4104
