Company Also Challenges Unconstitutional Taking of $386 Million During 2006
Special Legislative Session
BALTIMORE, March 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Constellation Energy
(NYSE: CEG) announced that its subsidiaries, Baltimore Gas and Electric
Company (BGE) and Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Inc., have filed a
lawsuit in Federal Court today to affirm BGE's 1999 electric restructuring
agreement, which was approved by the Maryland Public Service Commission and
subsequently upheld by two Maryland courts.
The filing also seeks to prevent the State of Maryland from continuing
with the unconstitutional taking from Constellation Energy shareholders of
$386 million under Senate Bill 1, which was passed during a special session
of the Maryland Legislature in June 2006.
"The sanctity of an agreement is a basic tenet of business and cannot
be selectively and unilaterally changed many years later, particularly
after the other party has fully performed its obligations under the
agreement," said Mayo A. Shattuck III, chairman, president and chief
executive officer of Constellation Energy. "This means a contract is a
contract, and the state must abide by the rule of law. The facts regarding
these issues are very well established. The legality of the 1999 agreement
has been reviewed and upheld as a part of two prior court rulings.
"Additionally, we do not believe it is appropriate that the Maryland
Legislature can limit, as it attempted through Senate Bill 1, Constellation
Energy's ability, or for that matter any Maryland citizen, to seek Federal
Court protection from legislative actions that violate the U.S.
Constitution.
"We take this action reluctantly and only after pursuing alternative
approaches to resolving these disputes," said Shattuck. "The issues at
stake in this matter are vitally important for Maryland's economy and every
company conducting business here now or in the future. We are hoping to
bring these matters to final resolution so our company and the state's
leadership can begin a more productive and positive dialogue related to
energy policy and related investment, and more broadly speaking, the future
of energy in the State of Maryland."
Constellation Energy (http://www.constellation.com), a FORTUNE 125
company with 2007 revenues of $21 billion, is the nation's largest
competitive supplier of electricity to large commercial and industrial
customers and the nation's largest wholesale power seller. Constellation
Energy also manages fuels and energy services on behalf of energy-intensive
industries and utilities. It owns a diversified fleet of 78 generating
units located throughout the United States, totaling approximately 8,700
megawatts of generating capacity. The company delivers electricity and
natural gas through the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE), its
regulated utility in Central Maryland.
SOURCE Constellation Energy
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Related links:
http://www.constellation.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/084087.html /
CONTACT:
Media, Robert L. Gould or Debra Larsson,
+1-410-470-7433; or Investor Contacts, Kevin Hadlock, +1-410
470-3647, or Janet Mosher, +1-410-470-1884, all of Constellation
Energy
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