As one of the many Baltimore Gas and Electric PeakRewards customers who had air conditioning turned off on the afternoon of July 22 for a few hours, I disagree with op-ed writer William Yeatman that I was a helpless victim of the government ("Blame government, not BGE, for turning off the AC," Aug. 9).

Of my own free will, I signed up for PeakRewards and I have received approximately $60 per summer for the past three years. This was the first time that I was inconvenienced. I really doubt that anyone in the "heat-sensitive population" would have signed up for this program and it is thus unlikely that they were affected.

If the $60 annual rebate is not sufficient incentive for consumers, I don't think a complex variable pricing structure would be any greater incentive. I prefer to have my elected officials providing a needed watch dog function to the utility industry for this important service.

Patreena Parsons, Baltimore