Enter your zip code to instantly compare Maryland electricity rates and energy plans.
By Thad Warren
This section highlights the average Maryland electricity rates for residential and commercial customers.
For businesses of all sizes – from small businesses to enterprise-level, the Maryland deregulated market has enabled competition. Today, every business has the ability to compare energy plans from top energy suppliers and shop for the best rate available.
In most cases, businesses will be able to effectively manage and/or reduce their monthly electricity costs by switching energy plans and providers every year.
The Maryland Public Service Commission, known as PSC, is an independent administrative agency within the state government which regulates public utilities. In other states, this agency is usually called a Public Utility Commission.
The PSC affects every household and business in Maryland. The PSC regulates providers of all types of utility services, including electric and natural gas companies, local and long-distance telephone companies, water and wastewater companies, and rail and trucking companies. The PSC was created to assure Maryland residents receive adequate, safe, and reliable public utility services – at a fair price.
Utilities are the entities in charge of the operation and maintenance of the energy infrastructure, like wires and towers. The local utilities in Maryland are BGE, Pepco, Delmarva, Potamac Edison, Choptank, and SMECO. Each utility is responsible for transporting electricity from the generators to residential homes and businesses in their specific region of Maryland.
Energy providers in Maryland, including AEP, Constellation, and Direct Energy are the competitive energy providers. Each energy provider buys energy from the wholesale market (the generators) and then re-sells it to consumers (homeowners, renters, and businesses).
In most cases, the energy consumer – the homeowner, renter, or business – signs a contract with an energy provider for a specific energy plan. The basic energy plan details the rate class, the energy rate per kWh, the contract term length (6, 12, 24, 36 months), and other contract terms like the cancellation fee policy.
Maryland is home to over 581,712 small businesses in a wide variety of industries and categories. Small businesses also make up 99.5% of the total businesses in Maryland with the remaining .5% being large or enterprise level companies.
As of the latest SUSB census, Maryland small businesses employed over 1 million people representing 50.2% of the total employees in Maryland.
