As our climate spins out of control, an urgent need exists for clean energy advocates and watchdog organizations to ensure that protecting climate-conscious energy consumers goes hand in hand with efforts to support programs to address the climate crisis.
A recent Maryland study published by the Energy Supplier Reform Coalition illustrates this point. It found that residential retail competitive energy has cost families $1 billion more since 2014 than standard utility prices. That is an astounding amount at a time when energy prices are rising, consumers are struggling to pay their bills — and our climate is spinning out of control. Interestingly, consumers who chose renewable retail energy offers often paid some of the highest rates.
Even more distressing is that low-income households and communities of color often bear the brunt of these excessive charges. Both the