State Launching New Retail Electric Shopping Website, Informs Suppliers Of Obligations

The Maryland PSC is set to launch later this month a new electricity shopping website, MD Electric Choice (mdelectricchoice.com)

The PSC currently posts electric supplier rates on a subpage of its website

However, the new site, apart from having its own domain and branding, will allow prospective consumers the ability to more readily compare such offers

Under current regulation, each electricity supplier that is actively seeking residential customers in a service territory shall maintain at least one open offer to supply electricity to residential customers on the Commission's website at all times.

The Commission anticipates that it will deploy its new MD Electric Choice website for public use in late February 2020.

The PSC informed suppliers that each residential electricity supplier must register to use the new secure portal. Current authorized registrations from the Commission's existing portal are not being automatically transferred over to the new secure portal. All residential suppliers who wish to upload current offers must register as new users through the new secure portal.

All registrations and open offer uploads for the new site must be completed no later than Monday, February 24, 2020. After that date and the launch of the Commission's MD Electric Choice shopping website, the public will be able to view and compare the current offers that have been uploaded by suppliers through the secure portal.

The PSC noted that, "The information displayed is solely the responsibility of the Electricity Supplier that entered it. The Public Service Commission will not verify its accuracy and is not responsible for any losses due to any incorrect information."

Additionally, until the new MD Electric Choice shopping website is launched, residential suppliers will need to maintain open residential offers on both the new secure portal and the Commission's existing portal accessible through its website, www.psc.state.md.us under 'Online Services.'

The current rate listing mechanism on the PSC's site will be maintained for non-residential customers. Commercial and Industrial suppliers will continue to upload their current offers using the same method and format established when the enhanced secure portal was initiated in September 2014. That portal will continue to be accessed via the Commission's website, www.psc.state.md.us under 'Online Services.'