WHY YOU MAY SEE FEWER OFFERS

Senate Bill 1 of the 2024 Maryland General Assembly session enacted major reforms in the retail energy supply marketplace in an effort to strengthen oversight of this industry and provide greater protections for consumers. As a result of these changes, some retail suppliers have made the business decision to no longer offer supply to residential customers. 

These reforms include:

  • Price caps on residential electric and residential gas retail supply contracts entered into, or renewed, on or after January 1, 2025. These price caps are based on the trailing 12-month average residential Standard Offer Service (SOS) rates for electricity and the trailing 12-month average residential Default Gas Commodity rates. The trailing 12-month average rates for each utility are required to be posted on each utility’s website.  
  • Contract Length – a contract between a retail gas or electric supplier and a residential customer may not exceed a 12 month term. 
  • Do Not Transfer List – customers can ask their utility to place their accounts on a ‘Do Not Transfer’ list which means that suppliers cannot market to or enroll these customers.
  • Salesperson Education, Training and Licensure – persons selling electric or gas supply in Maryland must complete an education course and pass an exam in order to become licensed.
  • Company License Renewals – the license of a retail energy supply company will now be up for renewal every three years, so that the Commission can review the company’s performance, including complaint history and other compliance matters.
  • Green Power pricing – suppliers cannot charge customers more than the Commission-approved price for power supply marketed as clean, green, eco-friendly, environmentally friendly or responsible, carbon-free, renewable, 100% renewable, 100% wind, solar, hydro or emission-free, or similar claims. [Order No. 91464 in Case No. 9757, December 30, 2024]
    • The Commission has directed retail electricity suppliers in each service territory that offer green power to residential customers to do so at a price not exceeding the service territory’s most recent 12-month average SOS rate, along with the 2023 Tier 2 REC price, including the green power premium factor and green product premium as calculated by the Commission’s Technical Staff. 
    • The Commission retains the discretion to approve a supplier’s offer to provide green power at a higher cost than the price cap mentioned above.
    • Suppliers must also make certain disclosures to customers and include specific language in marketing materials. 
    • The Commission will determine the green power price cap every year.
  • Purchase of receivables
    • The Commission issued Order No. 91463 on December 30, 2024. This order implements the provision of SB1 which states that as of January 1, 2025 “a residential electricity supplier may not sell to an electric company, and an electric company may not purchase from the electricity supplier, accounts receivable.” This was known as the purchase of receivables (POR) under which utilities would pay suppliers what they were owed from customers.
    • In its order, the Commission determined that what is known as dual billing is the only feasible way suppliers can bill for their services until suppliers and utilities work out a new billing mechanism. This means residential energy choice customers will receive separate bills: one from their utility for distribution of energy and one from their supplier for the energy itself. 
    • The Commission is taking under advisement the implementation of items related to supplier consolidated billing, where a supplier issues a single bill to a retail customer. 

Customers should contact the Commission’s Consumer Affairs Division regarding disputes or complaints regarding retail energy supply. ‘File a Utility or Supplier Complaint’ or call (410) 767-8028 during business hours. Available offers can be found on mdelectricchoice.com or mdgaschoice.com