Baltimore's natural gas leaks costing first responders and taxpayers millions

BALTIMORE -- A new study sheds light on the significant challenges and costs of natural gas leaks in Baltimore.

The study shows that gas leaks sometimes lead to explosions and pose a big financial burden on the city's first responders and taxpayers.

PSE Healthy Energy shared a study that spans 15 years of data which underscores the growing problem of gas leaks.

"What we found is that every three minutes, nationwide, a fire department responds to an uncombusted gas leak," said Sebastian Rowland, a scientist with PSE Healthy Energy.  "These responses are posing a burden on fire departments. We're also seeing nationwide, fire departments are spending half a billion dollars responding to these uncombusted gas leaks."

Taking away emergency resources

Advocates say gas leaks take the resources of first responders and personnel away from other urgent needs of the community.

Furthermore, they say gas leaks are happening more frequently because of severely aging pipes beneath Baltimore's grounds, causing a significant spike in your BGE bill.

"In 2018, in Baltimore, the fire department responded to 570 combusted gas leaks, nearly 1% of all their responses," Rowland said. "We estimated, at a total, these responses cost their department nearly $3 million."

"Because we know how dangerous gas leaks can be, we've seen a lot of explosions in Baltimore City," added Emily Scarr, the Director of Maryland Public Interest Research Group (PIRG).

Previous explosions

Explosions like one in Pigtown in 2022 , or the one from a few years ago in 2020 in Northwest Baltimore , from a small leak of gas, created big problem for everyone involved.

Advocates say the solution is switching away from natural gas and instead using more electricity, a pivot point toward the future.

"It's not happening overnight," Scarr said. "It's going to be a long-term transition in the future and all this proceeding is making sure we have a smart plan that protects the safety of our gas system, protects ratepayers and makes sure we're spending money in a cost-effective way for the future of our energy system."