Switch Maryland Electric Supplier: Timeline, Fees, and What Changes
Maryland is a choice state for electricity: you can keep Standard Offer Service (SOS)—the utility’s default generation price—or sign with a licensed retail electric supplier for the supply portion of your bill. Your electric distribution utility (for example BGE, Pepco Maryland, or Delmarva Power in Maryland) still owns the wires, reads the meter, and restores outages. Switching suppliers changes who sells you the energy commodity and the contract terms on your bill—not who delivers power.
This guide explains what you are actually changing, how long a switch takes, which fees can appear, and how 2024–2025 market reforms (Senate Bill 1) reset billing and price rules for many residential customers.
What you are switching (and what stays the same)
In restructured states, customers can often choose who generates or supplies their electricity, while the local utility continues delivery (¹). Maryland fits that model: the delivery charge and reliability stay with your utility; the supply charge follows your SOS or supplier contract.
Think of two layers:
- Utility delivery account — Meter, poles, wires, storm response, and regulated distribution rates.
- Generation/supply relationship — SOS by default, or a competitive supplier you select.
If you are moving into a new address, you still need an active utility account at that premise before a supplier enrollment can post. Starting supplier service is not a substitute for opening delivery service when the location has been vacant.
SOS vs retail supplier
- SOS (Standard Offer Service) — Default supply procured for you under Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) oversight; no separate supplier sales contract.
- Retail electric supplier — A competitive company you choose; you agree to its rate type, term, and disclosures. Supply charges typically appear on the consolidated utility bill when utility consolidated billing (UCB) with purchase of receivables (POR) is in place—though that billing arrangement is changing for many homes under new law (covered below).
Industry data cited in Maryland debate put more than 500,000 Marylanders in competitive supply, including nearly 15% of residential customers (²). A later supplier filing described roughly 422,000 residential electric and gas shopping customers statewide (³).
Who can switch in Maryland
Most Maryland homes and small businesses in investor-owned utility territories can shop supply if they are not already locked into a municipal aggregation program or another supply arrangement that limits choice. Your utility territory determines which SOS price and which suppliers are eligible for your address.
Practical check: Use your ZIP and utility name on a comparison site or the supplier’s enrollment flow. Licensed brokers such as ⁴ operate in Maryland (MD PSC #IR-5469) alongside direct supplier websites.
Timeline: from signup to supplier on your bill
Enrollment is quick; billing change follows the utility cycle
For customers enrolling through comparison platforms, online enrollment often takes about two minutes, using a ZIP code and basic account information (⁴). That is only the authorization step.
The supply switch typically takes effect at the start of your next billing cycle—often within one to two weeks, depending on your utility’s meter read schedule (⁴). Maryland’s competitive market does not usually flip supply the same hour you click “enroll”; the utility’s billing system assigns your supplier for the next cycle.
| Phase | What happens | Typical timing |
|---|---|---|
| Compare & contract | You review rate, term, renewable content, and fees | Same day |
| Enrollment submitted | Supplier validates identity and sends switch to utility | Same day |
| Utility processing | Account updated for supply on consolidated or dual bill | Next billing cycle (often 1–2 weeks) |
| First supplier-priced supply | Generation line items reflect new supplier | First bill after switch date |
Power stays on. Switching suppliers does not interrupt delivery; the utility still serves the wires (⁴).
Moving, renewals, and reform-driven dates
- Moving in: Open or transfer utility delivery service first, then enroll a supplier if you want one.
- Contract renewals after Jan. 1, 2025: Under SB 1 implementation, many renewals (including certain price or term changes) trigger new billing and price-cap rules (⁵; ⁶).
- Month-to-month variable contracts: The PSC directed that many variable month-to-month UCB/POR contracts move to dual billing by February 28, 2025, with further limits on grandfathered fixed contracts through December 31, 2025 (⁵).
If you are shopping to beat a rate spike, enroll before your next meter read when possible so you capture the intended cycle.
Fees and charges to watch
Early termination fee (ETF)
If you are in a fixed-term contract with a supplier, leaving early may trigger an early termination fee in your contract. Comparison tools often surface ETFs so you can weigh exit cost against savings (⁴). Maryland’s new price-cap rules apply to contracts entered or renewed on or after January 1, 2025—not necessarily to older long-term deals signed before protections took effect (⁶).
Supplier rate vs “free to compare”
Brokers may be free to customers because suppliers pay a commission; you should still compare the per-kWh price and contract itself (⁴; ⁷).
Deposits and credit checks
Some plans (especially prepaid-style products in other states) use deposits or credit checks. Maryland mass-market offers vary by supplier; read the disclosure before you sign.
No Maryland-specific “switching fee” in the sources reviewed
Unlike some states where utilities charge a discrete switching fee on every move to a supplier, the Maryland stories reviewed here focus on POR, billing mode, and price caps rather than a per-switch utility surcharge. Always read your utility’s tariff and supplier summary for pass-through charges.
When the market itself raises SOS
Even if you do not switch, SOS rates move with procurement and power costs. For example, BGE’s filed Schedule R residential Total SOS Rate was 9.887¢/kWh for October 2022–May 2023, about 27% higher than the prior summer SOS update (⁸). For October 2024–May 2025, BGE’s filed residential Total SOS Rate was 12.118¢/kWh, about 9% higher than the prior summer period (⁹). Shopping compares supplier offers to the SOS price to compare, not a frozen bill.
What changes on your bill after you switch
Line items
You should still see:
- Distribution/delivery charges from your utility
- Supply/generation charges from your SOS or supplier
- Riders, taxes, and fees mandated by regulation
What changes is the supply price, contract structure (fixed vs variable), and possibly how many bills you receive.
Consolidated vs dual billing (important in 2025)
Historically, many Maryland choice customers had one utility bill with supplier charges consolidated (UCB) while the utility used POR to manage supplier credit risk. SB 1 ends POR for residential receivables and the PSC has ordered a transition:
- New enrollments and renewals from January 1, 2025 must use dual billing (separate supplier bill) unless a narrow grandfather applies (⁵).
- Suppliers that cannot dual-bill may have to drop customers to SOS (⁵).
- Grandfathered fixed-price, fixed-term UCB/POR contracts may continue only until December 31, 2025, subject to renewal rules (⁵).
What you will notice: Instead of one consolidated supply line, you may receive a second bill from your supplier while the utility continues delivery charges. Budget autopay accordingly.
Price caps and plan length (SB 1)
Governor Wes Moore signed SB 1, Maryland’s retail market reform bill, in May 2024 (¹⁰). Core residential provisions include:
- SOS-linked price cap (non-green supply): Residential offers (other than defined green power) generally cannot exceed the trailing 12-month average SOS rate for your utility territory as of the contract date (¹⁰).
- Maximum 12-month initial terms for many residential plans (¹⁰).
- Monthly SOS-based cap updates: PSC staff proposed that each trailing average apply to agreements signed in the following month, with utilities filing cap inputs on a set schedule (¹¹).
- Green power faces separate PSC review and cap processes (¹²).
- Sales licensing: Individual energy salesperson licenses and restrictions on commission-only door sales compensation (¹⁰).
Staff also argued that open-ended or perpetual variable contracts are renewed—and capped—when a new price is offered, not grandfathered forever (¹³).
Average supplier rates can be far above SOS
Maryland utilities now post average rates billed by each retail supplier, as SB 1 requires. In December 2024 Pepco Maryland data, supplier averages ranged from 4¢/kWh below to 11¢/kWh above the default service average; two suppliers averaged at least 10¢/kWh above SOS (¹⁴). At Delmarva, one supplier averaged 16¢/kWh above SOS (¹⁴). A low teaser rate on marketing material is not the same as your neighbor’s realized average.
How Maryland fits the national picture
Maryland’s average retail price was 15.04¢/kWh in 2024 summary data, with 59,018,688 MWh of retail sales and 11,718 MW of net summer capacity (¹⁵). Choice is optional, but SOS moves with markets—shopping is a comparison exercise, not a guarantee of savings.
A 2023 consultant report cited by suppliers estimated Maryland consumers could have saved more than $39 million in one month (October 2023) by choosing offers below the price to compare, including about $19 million in BGE territory and $13 million at Pepco Maryland, with 179 offers under the PTC (¹⁶). Savings depend on usage, contract terms, and timing.
Practical checklist before you switch
- Confirm utility territory — BGE, Pepco MD, Delmarva MD, or Potomac Edison determine SOS and supplier lists.
- Locate your price to compare — Utility SOS/supply rate on the bill or PSC materials.
- Read the contract — Term, fixed vs variable, ETF, renewable claims, and post-2025 billing mode.
- Ask about billing — Will you stay on one consolidated bill or move to dual billing after enrollment/renewal?
- Time the switch — Plan for next billing cycle processing (⁴).
- Check grandfather status — Pre-2025 long-term deals may avoid some SB 1 caps until renewal (⁶).
- Keep proof — Save confirmation, rate disclosure, and any verbal promises in writing.
Regulated states vs Maryland choice
In fully regulated states, you may not select a competitive supplier. Maryland allows retail competition alongside regulated delivery (¹). Texas and Ohio use different enrollment and fee rules; Maryland’s 2025 story is heavily about POR, dual billing, and SOS-linked caps—not a single nationwide switch timeline.
Bottom line
Switching your Maryland electric supplier is a regulated change of supply service on top of the same utility delivery account. Expect fast enrollment but a billing-cycle delay before the new supply price appears, with no power interruption. Fees matter most when you break a fixed contract or pick a plan far above SOS. After SB 1, many households will see new price limits, shorter allowed terms, and dual billing unless they are on a narrow grandfathered deal through 2025.
Compare the total contract, not just the headline rate—and re-check SOS when procurement seasons change.