Public Service Commission budget increases; lawmakers press enforcement, consumer protections amid 'slamming' and wind project uncertainty

The Public Service Commission’s fiscal 2025 allowance totals $27,900,000, Samuel Quist of the Department of Legislative Services told the Public Safety, Transportation, and Environment Subcommittee, an increase of about $1.8 million (6.9%) from FY2024. Quist said 77% of the PSC budget covers personnel and that the FY2025 request includes $1,000,000 in new contractual services tied to chapter 95 of 2023, the statute directing PSC and PJM work related to offshore wind transmission and procurement.

Quist highlighted utility price and arrearage data the commission reports, noting Maryland’s average electricity price in November 2023 was 17.4¢ per kilowatt hour versus a U.S. average of 16.2¢. He said utility terminations have risen since pandemic moratoria ended, peaking at 19,228 terminations in August 2023. Quist also summarized complaint and enforcement activity against third‑party retail energy suppliers (446 complaints in calendar 2022) and noted PSC enforcement since 2010 has led to more than $2.5 million in civil penalties and ordered refunds in multiple cases; a January 11, 2024 settlement assessed a $150,000 civil penalty and $400,000 in customer refunds.

PSC Chair Fred Hoover told senators he supports maximum enforcement of bad actors in the retail supply market and has directed staff to scrutinize applicants’ out‑of‑state complaint histories when considering new suppliers. Hoover described potential licensing and relicensing reforms—licensing individual employees, requiring periodic renewals and increasing bond levels—to make enforcement more effective, but said some tools raise tradeoffs (for example, revoking a license could strand customers if a supplier simply leaves the market). He also said PSC is seeking statutory changes to raise the assessment cap so the commission can fund enhanced enforcement staff (some FY2025 enhancement requests were denied by DBM over concerns about the statutory cap).

Legislators pressed Hoover about banning or restricting door‑to‑door solicitation and about whether PSC can bar companies with repeat violations from adding new customers. Hoover said the commission can order restitution, move customers back to standard offer service, and potentially remove customers, and that some remedies (including license revocation or limiting new customer acquisition) are legally available though they can have unintended consequences if a company disappears and customers lose the ability to recover refunds.

On offshore wind, Quist said earlier PSC approvals covered projects proposed by US Wind and Skipjack (owned by Ørsted). He reported Ørsted announced on January 25, 2024 it would withdraw from state funding agreements tied to previously approved offshore renewable energy credit mechanisms, while indicating it may still pursue federal permitting and alternate financing. Quist said other projects remain in federal permitting and could reach final approvals in 2024 with initial generation possible in 2025.

Why it matters: The PSC budget request includes personnel and contractor funding tied to new statutory duties (offshore wind and community solar). Lawmakers focused on consumer protection—especially third‑party supplier misconduct known as 'slamming'—and how statutory and budgetary tools (bonds, licensing, assessment caps) can be used to hold bad actors accountable without further harming customers.

What’s next: PSC said it will continue open proceedings on termination policy, strengthen enforcement under its 'maximum enforcement' initiative and work with sponsors and the legislature on statutory changes (including a potential cap increase) to provide funding and authority needed for more robust enforcement.