Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. are confident in rate hike

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Mar 9, 2007 by Maryland Daily Record Staff

BGE confident in rate hike

Officials at Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. are confident that the company's planned residential electric rate increase will stand up to new regulatory scrutiny before a reconstituted Maryland Public Service Commission. The company's rates are set to rise by about 50 percent in June, and Steven B. Larsen, the nominee for chairman of the PSC, has expressed his desire to make sure that BGE used proper methods to secure power for the coming year. In a statement last week, Larsen said he intends to hold hearings on the issue. BGE said the coming rate increase, which had already been approved by the PSC, is justified based on the cost of producing power.

All aboard

After years of stagnant hiring and with a large percentage of its work force nearing retirement age, freight train operator CSX Transportation Inc. is in the midst of a major hiring boom. The company announced Wednesday it is looking to add 60 new conductors for the Baltimore area. CSX's Baltimore Division encompasses Maryland south to Richmond, Va., and north to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. The company's facilities in Maryland include rail yards at Curtis Bay and Locust Point in Baltimore and in Cumberland. CSX Transportation, the freight arm of Jacksonville, Fla.-based CSX Corp., operates and maintains 560 miles of track in Maryland.

Museums get help

Baltimore City approved a grant to help the financially troubled Babe Ruth Birthplace and Sports Legends at Camden Yards museums, which are operated by the private, nonprofit Babe Ruth Birthplace Foundation Inc. The Board of Estimates, the city's spending panel, approved the $125,000 grant to pad the museums' operating budget, which is facing an annual deficit of $600,000. The money will come from a $300,000 fund the city created to pay for renovations of the Babe Ruth Birthplace, a project that has been postponed in order to deal with the foundation's lagging budget.

'Bottle bill'

The first-ever effort to add Maryland to the list of 11 states that require deposits on beverages is eliciting strong reaction from the groups that believe it will help keep litter out of the state's waterways, as well as from the businesses that believe it is "a poorly conceived plan." The bill would place a 5 cent deposit on many of the bottles and cans sold in Maryland. The "bottle bill" was heard in the Environmental Matters Committee Wednesday. The bill is drawing opposition from many in the beverage, hospitality and retail industries, who view it as ineffective and potentially harmful to their business.

$634M deal for SafeNet

Faced with a possible delisting of its stock, and caught up in an ongoing stock option backdating investigation, Belcamp-based SafeNet Inc. announced a $634 million buyout offer Monday to take the technology company private. SafeNet said it had entered into an agreement with San Francisco-based private equity firm Vector Capital. Under the terms of the deal, Vector Capital will offer $28.75 per share, and a minimum 78 percent stake. A subsidiary of Vector Capital, Stealth Acquisition Corp., will commence the tender offer around March 12. The offer will expire after 20 business days.

Cancer Center bid

The University of Maryland Medical Center and School of Medicine are close to culminating eight years of planning with the final submission of their bid for a federally designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. Winning the designation from the National Cancer Institute would add prestige to the hospital and medical school's cancer program. It also would make the existing Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center eligible for more research grants and clinical trials, officials said. The designation indicates NCI recognizes the program as covering every aspect of cancer care and research.