The U.S. Department of Energy has given Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. a little more time to get approval of its amended "smart grid" proposal from state regulators so that the utility can keep a $200 million grant tied to the program.

In a letter to the Maryland Public Service Commission -- which had rejected BGE's earlier proposal in June -- the energy department said it will not make a decision on whether to divert the federal stimulus grant to another program until Aug. 16, instead of the initial July 30 deadline.

Last week, the PSC held hearings on BGE's revised proposal that modified how the utility would recover startup and upgrade costs to deploy technology that would let customers track their electricity use.

hanah.cho@baltsun.com

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