BGE Home, an unregulated company owned by Baltimore Gas & Electric parent Constellation Energy, has begun selling electricity for the first time to Central Maryland homes. BGE Home has offered residential deals on natural gas for years. Now the company is seizing on declining wholesale electricity prices to offer households a lower cost per kilowatt-hour than what BGE is charging, BGE Home officials said. BGE Home joins Washington Gas Energy Services and Dominion Retail in marketing alternative electricity deals locally. BGE Home's two-year price of 10.25 cents per kilowatt-hour for generation and transmission is more than a penny less than what BGE will be charging between now and June. However, BGE's default price should decline in the next year or two to reflect lower overall energy costs.

- Jay Hancock