Letters to the Editor: Ruben's electric slide (July 2006)
State Senator Ida Ruben (D-20) is apparently counting on collective amnesia among her constituents as she sheds crocodile tears over the looming electricity rate hikes for PEPCO and BG&E customers. But many of us can recall the year 1999, when Senator Ruben voted seven times in favor of the energy deregulation bill that the big power companies were pushing and that set the stage for the massive rate increases we now face. And what has she done in the interim to generate the competitive market that was promised by deregulation advocates and never delivered?
At the eleventh hour, and in an election year, Senator Ruben (and even Governor Ehrlich) joined the chorus of those calling for a special session of the Maryland legislature to address the steep jump in rates. But the big question for those who held office in 1999 is this: How did they vote when energy deregulation was on the table? Senator Ruben broke ranks with most of Montgomery’s Democratic senators in siding with the energy companies. In 2006 the legislature has been forced to scramble for damage control, but the damage was done seven years earlier.
This election year, Senator Ruben is confronting a formidable challenger. Jamie Raskin, American University law professor and community activist, would bring a fresh breath of integrity to the Maryland Senate. I could cite numerous reasons, but here’s one that stands out: By refusing to take a dime in corporate campaign contributions, Jamie Raskin is immunized against pressures from special interests like real estate developers, and like the energy giants and their associates.
— Mary Reardon
Silver Spring, MD
I was surprised to receive an email from Maryland State Senator Ida Ruben (District 20) expressing her “deep concern” about rising electricity rates for PEPCO and BG&E customers and “welcoming” a special legislative session to deal with utility rate hikes. In July, we will see a 38 percent increase in our electric bills in Silver Spring and Takoma Park while Baltimore residents will experience a 72 percent increase.
It was Senator Ruben who voted, not once but seven separate times, to approve the energy deregulation bill that was pushed through the State Senate back in 1999. While a handful of courageous progressive senators from Montgomery and Prince George’s County—including Chris Van Hollen, Brian Frosh, Paul Pinsky, and Len Teitelbaum—opposed energy deregulation, Senator Ruben voted with the Senate leadership to pass an ill-conceived and ultimately disastrous idea.
Now that the consequences of that deregulation proposal have been made clear, Senator Ruben wants the voters of District 20 and all of Maryland to forget her role in enacting this boondoggle for the benefit of the energy industry. Virtually every Democratic Montgomery Senator in 1999 could see the problem and voted against energy deregulation—what was Senator Ruben thinking?
The energy deregulation issue demonstrates all too clearly, that when the interests of the voters conflict with corporate interests, far too many politicians do the bidding of the corporate interests and reap the benefits of big campaign contributions in return. Senator Ruben is attempting to gloss over her own failure to stand up when the voters of District 20 and Maryland needed her. The residents of District 20 deserve an explanation.
—Ingrid Hassen
Takoma Park