Baltimore, MD — Between tuition, groceries, busing, and everything that comes before Yom Tov, most Baltimore households aren't looking for one more thing to figure out. But there's one bill that can come down without anything changing at home.

Maryland's community solar program lets BGE customers draw their electricity from a local solar farm instead of putting panels on their own roof. BGE stays the utility — same wires, same service, same bill — and the savings appear as a credit on that bill. For Baltimore households, that's 20% off the electric bill.

Lower Your Bill handles the enrollment itself rather than passing names to a third party, and says both sides of the program are frum-run: the company managing the enrollment and the solar farm behind it. The company says it has signed up hundreds of families in the Baltimore community and more than 5,000 customers nationwide.

Enrolling is free and takes about two minutes. There are no enrollment fees and no credit check, and customers can cancel at any time.

"We don't disappear after the paperwork"

Community solar isn't new, and the company says it regularly hears from Baltimore families who signed up years ago through some other company and never saw anything change on their bill — no credit, no follow-up, and nobody left to call.

That, it says, is the reason it keeps the enrollment in-house instead of handing customers off to whoever is buying names that month. There's a person on the other end of the phone, and if a credit isn't showing up on a bill where it should be, it's their job to chase it down until it does. The company says that responsibility is the point — a frum business in a community this size doesn't get to walk away from a family that didn't see what it was promised.

What enrollment involves

Renters and apartment residents qualify as long as the bill is in their name, and households that already have rooftop panels may still be eligible for the rest of their usage. Savings generally begin appearing on the BGE bill within two to three billing cycles. Participation does not affect SNAP, OHEP, HUD, Medicaid, or other benefit programs.

Also available for businesses

The company works with commercial accounts as well — shuls, schools, nursing homes, storefronts, and warehouses — on lower commercial electric and gas rates, commercial community solar, and free energy audits that check how an account is classified on the utility's tariff. According to the company, most audit clients recover thousands of dollars in misclassified charges they'd been paying for years. Businesses can start the same way households do: with one recent bill.

For most families, it's simpler than all of that

One BGE bill, about two minutes, and 20% off. No panels, no equipment, no fee, no credit check, and nothing that changes inside the house. The company says that's the entire offer, and there isn't a second part to it.

Getting started

Enrollment is at lowerurbill.com/enroll. Lower Your Bill can also be reached at info@lowerurbill.com, or by call, text, or WhatsApp at 732-314-5010.