Chesek Was Hatchet Man, Staffer Says

Washington Post ^ | 5/5/06 | Ray Rivera

[conservative in nyc]

He called himself "Al Qaeda" and told an employee he was sent to the Maryland Public Service Commission to thin the regulatory agency's ranks and bring in friends of the governor's administration, the agency's former spokeswoman said yesterday.

Craig Chesek, who became the PSC's chief of staff in 2003, helped create an agency better suited to represent utilities than consumers, Chrys Wilson told a special legislative committee investigating the hiring and firing practices of Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.

--Snip--

The highlight of the probe was expected at the next meeting with the testimony of Joseph Steffen, the former Ehrlich aide who has called himself the governor's "political hit man." He told a radio station last year he would willingly meet with the committee, but a key source in the probe said the committee has been unable to locate him. Attempts by The Washington Post to contact him yesterday were unsuccessful.

According to the testimony of former state employees, Steffen and Chesek were among a group of aides sent to various agencies to identify employees who could be terminated to make room for Republican appointees. In e-mails, Steffen talked with Chesek on personnel decisions.

Chesek has said he was involved in personnel decisions but was not there solely to "get rid of people."

Steffen, who was fired in February after The Washington Post disclosed his role in orchestrating a rumor campaign about Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley, has admitted his role in identifying workers to be fired but said he never took politics into account.

Ehrlich and Republican lawmakers have called the probe a witch hunt intended to make the administration look bad. Democrats say they're out to protect workers.

[conservative in nyc]

An update on the MD4Bush saga, which has been dormant for a few months.

The partisan witch hunt continues in Maryland. The special legislative committee investigating the firing of Maryland at will employees is looking for Joseph Stephen (a.k.a. FReeper NCPAC) to testify before their committee, but NCPAC is supposedly nowhere to be found. He's supposed to testify at their next meeting, date unknown.

[conservative in nyc]

MD4Bush Ping!

[Gabz]

Craig Chesek, who became the PSC's chief of staff in 2003, helped create an agency better suited to represent utilities than consumers, Chrys Wilson told a special legislative committee investigating the hiring and firing practices of Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.

considering how the Maryland PSC got a better deal for Maryland customers of DelMarVa Power and Light than the Delaware legisture - I would say he is more of an advocate for the customers than the utitlity.

DP&L has royally screwed the customers in Delaware, with the full blessing of the Legislature (they wrote a law that prohibbitted the PSC from getting involved).....I'm hoping the Public Utility Commission in Virginia is even half has diligent as in Maryland.....I'm one of the 22,000 customers of DP&L that are about to get burned by DP&L and Richmond.

[conservative in nyc]

FYI - According to the Maryland General Assembly's website, the Ehrlich Witch Hunt Committee (a.k.a. the Maryland Special Committee on State Employee Rights and Protections) next meets at 10AM on May 11 and May 22. If NCPAC testifies, expect articles on those evenings.

[ANGGAPO]

Don't you believe that. There are E-mail conversations between the Maryland PSC and BGE, and their buddies at Constellation Energy. The messages sound like a consperacy to me. A 72% increase in the cost of electricity is a nonstarter for most of Marylanders. The former members of the PSC were fired to make way for hand picked replacements by our Republican Governor. Go figure.

[Gabz]

I can't comment on BGE and Constellation - I'm only familiar with what is going on with DP&L........and DP&L customers on the Eastern Shore got a far better deal from DP&L than did the Delaware customers.

What went on in Delaware between Legislative leaders and DP&L not only sounds like a conspiracy, it WAS a conspiracy.......and the PSC had nothing to do with it because the legislature cut them out of the picture .......but now they are the ones getting the blame.

[Abby4116]

Here in MD, we had a 10% increase from Delmarva last summer and will have a 35% increase this year. I'm not sure how that compares to Delaware's rates, but it's nowhere near the 73% announced by BGE.

[Gabz]

Residential users in Delaware are getting hit with a 59-68% increase, commercial users 100% or above.

In Virginia we're facing a 42% increase from DP&L . There are only 22,000 DP&L customers in Virginia - but they all happen to be in 2 of the 5 poorest counties, the 2 counties that make up "VA" part of DelMarVA........

73% by BGE is a heck of a chunk of change..............are they also part of PEPCO?

[Abby4116]

BGE is not part of Pepco. Pepco also has DC and the Maryland suburbs of DC. They are going up 39%.

Of course, the part that we all choose to forget is that there were rate caps for the past 5 years, enacted by the legislatures. Even with these large increases, we will still be below what much of the northeast, middle Atlantic residents are paying.

[Gabz]

(Good grief - I wasn't really paying attention to who was was talking to in my last post.....sorry)

In Delaware the rate caps have been in effect since 1999.......it's been an absolute mess there. I listen to a Wilmington talk show in the mornings, and it has been a major topic of conversation.....the General Assembly really and truly screwed Delawareans in giving DP&L such a sweet deal and cutting the PSC out back then.

While I'm steamed about the pending increase here, what really has me boiling is that the increase only hits folks here on the Shore........but the danged hearing is in Richmond at 10am on a Wednesday. Like many folks from here are going to be able to make that.

[Abby4116]

Now you know that's "only across the bay" :)

I can't see it being too much different than the rates Delmarva negotiated in MD and DE though. I THINK that we will be paying about 10.5 cents/kwh including transmission and supply costs.

[RebelBanker]

You do realize that the big rate hike is because a "deregulation" deal between Paris Glendenning and Mike Miller kept the electricity rate increases for customers lower than the cost increases incurred by BGE, right? This issue is a time bomb with a seven year fuse for Glendenning's successor, who he assumed would be a Republican because his lieutenant governor was a ditzy lightweight incapable of winning an election on her own.