BGE will start sending termination notices again on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, to customers with past-due balances, ending a six-month pause on bill-collection steps. The utility says customers will still be disconnected only if they do not pay their bill.
The timing matters because the notices are returning in midsummer, when demand is high and households are already under pressure. BGE has already mailed turn-off notices and posted a website banner telling customers that disconnections for nonpayment would resume after July 15. It is also calling customers who have not paid to try to set up payment arrangements and steer them toward help before the notices go out.
Laurel Peltier said the restart could hit families hard, especially seniors living on fixed incomes who already struggle to cover their energy bills. She said many Marylanders qualify for assistance, but they need to act quickly if they want to keep their power on.
That aid includes extended payment arrangements that BGE says will now run as long as 18 to 24 months, no-deposit options for customers in arrears who want to keep or restore service, and continued promotion of programs such as OHEP and the Fuel Fund of Maryland. The Maryland Office of Home Energy Programs offers grants for income-eligible households, and BGE is still pushing those options as the notices return.
There is, however, a line BGE says it will not cross in the heat. A spokesperson said the utility does not do shut-offs during high heat conditions in the summer, which it defines as either a three-day forecast with a 95-degree heat index threshold or heat emergencies declared by the National Weather Service or the Maryland Department of Health. So the company is restarting collection notices while keeping actual shut-offs off the table during the hottest stretches.
The move follows a moratorium ordered by The Public Service Commission in December 2025 after BGE ran into problems with its customer service call center, where average wait times reached 546.6 minutes. The six-month pause ends just as BGE begins warning that overdue customers who do not make arrangements could face the next step after July 15. What remains unknown is how many customers will receive those notices, but the message from the utility is already clear: the grace period is ending, and the clock is running again.
