City must be mindful of unsightly signage
My wife and I recently moved from Baltimore County into Baltimore City, attracted to an area that has a safe community and neighborly feel to it.
We learned recently that the city may allow an enormous sign on the building next door on the corner of University Parkway and North Charles. We may not have chosen this location if it had a commercial and hotel atmosphere.
Baltimore should do all it can to attract new people and not allow for inappropriate zoning decisions that might discourage newcomers or possibly drive residents to abandon the city.
Pointing the way toward greener energy in Md.
Cheers to Maryland’s ratepayer advocate, the Office of the People’s Counsel, for the new report outlining how the state’s successful energy efficiency program can adapt to conserve more energy, better serve low income residents and help meet the state’s climate goals (“Utilities in Maryland should attract more low-income residents to energy savings programs, report says,” May 8).
As The Baltimore Sun recently reported, Gov. Wes Moore just signed a new law to address one of the report’s top concerns: that low-income Marylanders pay more to fund the state’s energy efficiency program than they receive in benefits. The new law, which sets clear goals for the program to better deliver for limited-income Marylanders, wouldn’t have been possible without years of effort from legislative leaders like Del. Lorig Charkoudian and Sen.
Brian Feldman.
The report also found that most utilities are hitting their efficiency goals under budget and likely leaving savings on the table and the gas utilities are underperforming when it comes to energy savings. It further pointed out how the program needs to incentivize electrification for home heating and appliances to hit climate goals and protect ratepayers.
The Public Service Commission, which oversees the utilities and the state’s energy efficiency program, should be a leader in these efforts and push the utilities to do better. How? Well, here are just a few ideas:
The PSC should push for deeper and broader energy savings and use performance incentives so that utilities profits are tied to success, so they won’t leave savings on the table any longer.
In addition to implementing the new law signed this week, the PSC should work with the utilities to improve outreach and services for limited-income households.
Finally, the PSC should take steps to enable and encourage utilities to incentivize efficient electric heat pumps for space and water heating.
Maryland’s energy efficiency program has achieved $13 billion in benefits since its launch in 2008, but we agree with the Office of the People’s Counsel that it’s time to make critical updates to protect energy customers and meet our climate needs.
A reminder of Baltimore’s connection to new king
Jacques Kelly reminds us of the Baltimore connections of Wallis Warfield Simpson in his timely article, given the coronation of Charles III (“Mount Vernon once was Duchess of Windsor’s home,” May 6) and the likely closing of the Oldfields School that she attended in her youth. The article is rich in detail and interesting to read.
However, I would take issue with his statement that the Duke and Duchess of Windsor “resided in Paris until World War II, when they fled to the Bahamas.” Actually, it was well known that the Duke was sympathetic to the Nazi regime and may have had considerable connections to it. He did not “flee” to the Bahamas. Rather, he was appointed governor of the Bahamas, reportedly at the urging of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, to keep him from doing harm to his country through his reported Nazi sympathies. It has also been reported that the couple was not particularly happy with this assignment, which could be construed as exile for the duration of the war.
Without the abdication of the British throne by the Duke in order to marry Simpson, there would be no coronation of Charles III. The Duke’s brother became King George VI of England and his daughter, Charles’ mother, subsequently became Queen Elizabeth II.