Utility Reform Advocates Push Baltimore Officials to Reject BGE Campaign Donations

Baltimore Public Power launched a public pressure campaign last week demanding that Mayor Brandon Scott and every City Council member refuse campaign contributions from Baltimore Gas and Electric and return any donations already received.

The initiative, called the "No BGE Pledge," centers on a straightforward demand: no future money from BGE, and any past contributions sent back. Organizer Naadiya Hutchinson framed the stakes in personal terms, describing the bind that rising utility costs have created for city residents.

"I was cold in my house, and I had to pay hundreds of dollars for my utility bill," Hutchinson said.

Her experience, she argued, is inseparable from the political question the pledge raises. "We recognize that when our city and elected officials take money from the utilities, then the utilities have an outsized influence in our local utility infrastructure and rates," Hutchinson said.

The push has already found some traction on the Council. Four members have signed pledges as of March 12, and Councilman Mark Conway, who chairs the City Council's Public Safety Committee, went further: he announced at a December 2025 public power rally that he had already returned campaign donations from BGE.

Baltimore Public Power, which is leading the campaign, advocates for public ownership of the city's electric utility system. The group says the pledge campaign is focused primarily on the mayor and the full City Council but that it welcomes commitments from any elected official or candidate who represents Baltimore residents.

Neither BGE nor Mayor Scott's office offered public comment on the pledge campaign. Scott is explicitly named as a target of the effort, meaning advocates are watching whether his campaign will follow the four council members who have already committed. With the pledge public and the count of signers on record, the next pressure point is the mayor's office.