Maryland Electric Supplier Enrollment: What to Have Ready

Switching your electric supplier in Maryland is not like ordering a new utility connection. You are choosing who sells you generation (the electrons themselves), while your local electric company continues to deliver power over its wires and, in many cases, still prints the bill. Enrollment means signing a supply contract with a licensed retail supplier and authorizing a market switch—not replacing your utility.

That distinction sounds administrative, but it drives everything you should have on hand before you click “enroll” or sign a door-to-door agreement. The checklist below is built for Maryland households and small businesses in Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE), Pepco Maryland, Delmarva Power & Light, Potomac Edison, and SMECO territory—and it still helps readers in regulated states understand what supplier choice would require if it existed where they live.

Maryland electric choice in plain English

Maryland restructured retail electricity years ago so customers could shop among competitive suppliers instead of taking only the utility’s default generation product. Industry press still describes a robust competitive market when many supplier offers price below the utility’s benchmark—RESA’s consultant estimated Maryland consumers could have saved more than $39 million in October 2023 alone, with 179 offers below the price to compare (PTC) in that month, including about $19 million in potential savings in the BGE area and $13 million at Pepco-MD (¹).

At the same time, national data show how many Maryland customers already buy supply separately from full bundled utility service. In 2024, Maryland logged about 59.0 million MWh of total retail sales, split between roughly 32.0 million MWh of full service provider sales and 27.1 million MWh sold by energy-only providers—with an average retail price of 15.04¢/kWh (²). The energy-only slice is the footprint of competitive supply: households and businesses buying generation from one entity while another handles delivery.

Nationally, the U.S. Energy Information Administration explains the mechanics this way: “In some states, electric utility customers can buy electricity directly from a power marketer, and a local utility delivers it.” No matter who generates the power, local electric utilities operate the distribution system that connects homes and businesses to the grid (³). Maryland fits that model.

Your utility’s default generation product is Standard Offer Service (SOS)—auction-based default supply whose price moves on a schedule. Competitive suppliers must beat or beat the value of that benchmark for your situation, not just beat a teaser rate on a flyer.

What you are actually enrolling in

Think of three layers:

1. Delivery (regulated utility) – poles, wires, outages, metering, and regulated distribution charges.
2. Supply (competitive supplier or SOS) – the generation price and contract terms you are shopping.
3. Billing platform – consolidated utility billing with purchase-of-receivables (POR) history, or dual billing where supplier and utility bill separately.

WattKarma’s consumer education hub summarizes the consumer-facing split cleanly: “Understand who charges you for what — and how deregulation gives you the power to choose” between energy suppliers and utility companies (⁴). Before enrollment, confirm you are signing a supply agreement, not confusing delivery charges with supplier charges.

How Maryland differs from Texas or Ohio (quick compass)

• Texas (competitive generation, many REPs): The Public Utility Commission of Texas tells residents a switch completes within seven business days with no service lapse, and you may cancel within three business days after receiving ERCOT confirmation (⁵). Texas shopping is REP-centric with standardized Electricity Facts Labels.
• Ohio (competitive retail electric service): The same supplier-vs-utility logic applies, but forms and default service labels differ.
• Maryland: SOS is the benchmark, SB 1 reshaped residential offers after 2025, and billing mechanics (POR vs dual billing) matter as much as ¢/kWh. Enrollment readiness here means SOS math, PSC license checks, and contract dates—not just a ZIP code search.

What to gather before you shop or sign

1. A recent utility bill (PDF or paper)

You need:

• Service address and utility account number (only share with a supplier after you decide to enroll—not during casual marketing calls).
• kWh usage for the last 12 months (or as far back as you have), because Maryland pricing is usage-sensitive and tiered offers punish low-use months.
• Current supply charge and delivery charge broken out. WattKarma’s bill primer advises customers to learn usage, charges, and fees line by line (⁴).
• Your utility territory (BGE, Pepco-MD, Delmarva, Potomac Edison, SMECO). Supplier rates are territory-specific.

2. Your SOS / price-to-compare anchor

Compare any offer against the utility SOS price that applies to your class and season—not last year’s bookmark. RESA’s 2023 analysis used PTC comparisons; Maryland utilities now also publish average rates charged by each retail supplier, which can be dramatically higher than SOS. In December 2024, Pepco’s supplier-specific residential averages ranged from 4¢/kWh below the average default service rate to 11¢/kWh above; 14 of 50+ residential suppliers at Pepco averaged below SOS, while two averaged at least 10¢/kWh above SOS, and Delmarva saw at least one supplier 16¢/kWh above SOS (⁶).

Have the SOS figure, your usage, and a spreadsheet-ready comparison before verbal yeses.

3. Identity and authorization basics

Suppliers enroll the named utility customer or authorized representative. Have:

• Government ID matching the bill name
• Business documents if enrolling commercial accounts (trade name, tax ID, signatory authority)
• Proof you are not in an active contract with a steep early-termination fee (ETF) unless savings cover the penalty

4. Contract preference notes (fixed vs variable, term length, green power)

WattKarma’s marketplace education contrasts fixed vs variable rates and warns that variable pricing can surprise you when markets move (⁴). Write down:

• Desired term (note: residential plans may not exceed 12 months under Maryland’s SB 1 reforms) (⁷)
• Whether you want 100% renewable or partial green products (priced differently under SB 1)
• Whether you can tolerate dual billing if consolidated billing is unavailable for your account type

5. A cooling-off mindset

Even when state rules provide rescission windows, treat enrollment like a mortgage signature: WattKarma’s contract-mistakes guide stresses that “the fine print matters” before you sign an energy contract (⁴).

Maryland rules that now shape every residential offer (SB 1)

Governor Wes Moore signed SB 1, Maryland’s retail energy market reform bill, in May 2024. Core provisions that change what “ready to enroll” means for households include (⁷; ⁸):

• Residential price cap: Non-green offers must be priced no higher than the trailing 12-month average of the utility’s SOS rate in your territory as of the agreement date.
• Term cap: Residential plans may not exceed 12 months.
• Purchase of receivables (POR): SB 1 ends POR for residential receivables, pushing the market toward dual billing for many new or renewed contracts while grandfathered consolidated billing unwinds.
• Sales licensing: From July 1, 2025, individuals selling residential supply must hold a PSC energy salesperson license tied to a licensed supplier; energy vendors (sales contractors) must also be licensed. Suppliers may not pay commission or incentive compensation tied to customer enrollment.
• Effective date for price limits: January 1, 2025 for contracts entered into or renewed on/after that date (⁹).

Advocates asked the PSC to warn customers that long-term contracts signed before January 1, 2025 could run past the date when SB 1’s pricing restrictions and protections apply—MEAC requested immediate public notice because suppliers were still pitching multi-year deals whose terms extend well past the effective date (⁹). If you enrolled years ago, read your expiration and renewal clause before assuming SB 1 caps protect you.

Billing mechanics you should understand before authorizing a switch

By January 1, 2026, Maryland utilities reported how retail suppliers complied with the end of residential utility consolidated billing (UCB) with POR. Suppliers had to drop customers to default service or move them to dual billing or supplier consolidated billing (SCB). BGE, Pepco, Delmarva, and SMECO reported supplier compliance; Potomac Edison manually dropped 278 residential accounts when suppliers missed deadlines (¹⁰). Enrollment today may mean a different bill format than your neighbor had five years ago—ask explicitly.

Vetting suppliers, licenses, and contract fine print

Confirm PSC licensing

Maryland requires retail suppliers to operate under Public Service Commission (PSC) licensing. In October 2025, the PSC set conditions for license renewals and relinquishments, noting Maryland’s “supplier” license category includes brokers, marketers, and aggregators in addition to load-serving entities (¹¹). Before enrollment:

• Ask for the company legal name and license number.
• Match the name on the contract to the PSC record (do not pay a similarly named marketer).
• Avoid sharing your utility account number until you choose to contract—high-pressure sales remain a common complaint category nationwide.

Read the supply contract like a prosumer

Your contract should state:

PSC Staff and suppliers spent 2024–2025 litigating how variable-rate contracts without expiration dates interact with SB 1’s “new and renewed” language—customers should not assume a month-to-month offer is exempt from price caps (¹⁴).

Compare supplier averages, not only teaser rates

Because Maryland now publishes supplier-specific average residential rates, use them as a reality check: a flyer quoting 11¢/kWh means little if that supplier’s December 2024 average ran 10¢/kWh above SOS (⁶).

Enrollment, switching, and what shows up on your bill

Exact switch calendars vary by utility IT systems, but the flow is consistent:

1. Choose a licensed supplier and sign a supply contract (online, phone, or in person with a licensed salesperson after July 1, 2025).
2. Supplier submits an enrollment transaction to your utility; the utility processes the supplier switch.
3. Billing shifts on the utility’s next cycle—or moves to dual billing per SB 1 timelines.
4. Delivery service never stops; outages still go to your utility.

If you are switching from another supplier rather than SOS, check ETFs on your current contract before authorizing a new enrollment.

Texas shoppers get explicit statewide timing (seven business days to switch, three business days to cancel) (⁵). Maryland’s post-SB 1 world is more complicated because billing reform and POR sunset can determine whether a switch is economically viable for suppliers—not just whether the utility can process it.

Small-business enrollment: what is different

Maryland’s retail market remains active for many commercial and industrial (C&I) accounts even when residential offers disappear. Catalyst Power, for example, announced C&I retail electric service in Maryland starting with BGE, with Pepco and Delmarva service slated later in 2024 (¹⁵).

Business enrollments should add:

• Load profile (peak demand, load factor, multiple meters)
• Tax status and site list for multi-location deals
• Broker or consultant disclosures if a third party shops on your behalf (still verify the underlying supplier license)

SB 1’s residential price caps and POR ban do not apply the same way to C&I contracts, but licensing and SOS benchmarking still matter.

If you cannot find offers—or you need help paying the utility

By June 2025, Maryland PSC Staff told commissioners the state had “no residential supply market at this point”—retail suppliers “are not making any new offers,” and Staff fielded complaints from residents who could not find offers online or were dropped when suppliers exited (¹⁶). If you cannot enroll because offers are gone:

• Stay on SOS until comparably priced contracts return.
• Document any supplier drop to ensure you land on default service, not a gap.
• Watch PSC proceedings on POR discount rates—RESA warned that high discount proposals could force cancellation of grandfathered fixed contracts below SOS, pushing those customers onto higher default rates (¹⁶).

If your challenge is affordability, not supplier choice, federal programs may help with heating, cooling, and weatherization through LIHEAP and WAP (¹⁷). Those programs do not replace supplier enrollment, but they can stabilize the delivery bill you will keep no matter who sells supply.

Bottom line checklist

Before you enroll with a Maryland retail electric supplier, have ready:

• 12 months of kWh usage and a marked-up utility bill
• SOS / PTC for your utility and customer class
• PSC license verification for the supplier (and salesperson, post-2025)
• Written contract showing price type, term ≤12 months (residential), fees, renewal rules, and billing method
• Comparison to supplier average rates, not only marketing copy
• Awareness of SB 1 timing if you signed before January 1, 2025
• Plan B if no residential offers are posted—a situation Maryland regulators openly acknowledged in 2025

Supplier enrollment is a financial contract executed through a regulated market switch—not a casual rate quote. In Maryland’s current era, being “ready” means you can defend the math, the license, and the billing change before you authorize the switch—not after the first high bill arrives.