Baltimore Gas and Electric
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| Industry | Electric power and Natural gas |
|---|---|
| Founded | June 17, 1816 in Baltimore, Maryland |
| Founder | Rembrandt Peale, (1778-1860) |
| Headquarters | Baltimore, Maryland, United States |
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Area served
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Baltimore metropolitan area |
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Key people
|
Calvin G. Butler, Jr. |
| Services | Electric power transmission |
| Parent | Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC) |
| Website | www.bge.com |
Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE) is presently a subsidiary of the Exelon Corporation and Maryland’s largest gas and electric utility. BGE earlier had created the holding company Constellation Energy in 1999. Constellation Energy was acquired by Exelon in 2012.
Headquartered in Baltimore, BGE provides service to more than 1.2 million electric customers and more than 650,000 natural gas customers in central Maryland. BGE employs 3,100 people in the state of Maryland, making the company one of the 15 largest private employers in the region.
Artist / sculptor /museum operator Rembrandt Peale, (1778-1860), incorporated the "Gas Light Company of Baltimore" on June 17, 1816, after having exhibited gas lighting at his Holliday Street museum which was designed by famed local architect Robert Cary Long, Jr., built and opened in 1814 (between East Saratoga and East Lexington Streets - after a variety of uses including as Baltimore's City Hall, 1830-1875, later in 1931 to become the Municipal Museum of the City of Baltimore, popularly known once again as the Peale Museum into 1997) ; this was the first gas company in the Americas. The first streetlamp installed by the Gas Light Company of Baltimore stood at the corner of North Holliday and East Baltimore streets and was lit on February 7th, 1817. By February of 1818, only 28 gas-lit lamps existed. The Belvidere Theatre became the first public building to be lit using gas. Over the next decades the company experimented with piping, meters, and other mechanical technology. Baltimore committed to gas for municipal use, including the installation of gas service in all public markets between by 1851. Private subscription also steadily increased; by 1870, the company had 15,301 customers in Baltimore.
In 1955, the company rebranded to become Baltimore Gas and Electric, and began to recognize the acronym BGE sometime during the 1990s.
The Maryland Public Service Commission approved the merger of Exelon and Pepco Holdings (former Potomac Electric Power Company for Washington, D.C. and its surrounding suburbs in the north in Maryland and to the south in Virginia, encompassing a metropolitan area) in May 2015; their approval was required due to BGE's subsidiary status relative to Exelon. The merger, which would set Exelon as the controlling interest for 80% of Maryland's consumer electricity market, has been met with significant opposition within Maryland due to concerns over the potential for major electricity cost increases.
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