Who Decides, and How You Can Be Heard, Part 5

Written by Chris Esters

THE DISPATCH — CIVIC EDUCATION

SPECIAL SERIES · 5 PARTS · ONE STORY

FOLLOW THE MONEY

Who Pays for Your Power in Queen Anne's County

Series: Follow the Money, Part 5 of 5

  1. 1 Who Is on Your Bill?
  2. 2 The Power Auction Nobody Told You About
  3. 3 Who Gets Paid for the Wires?
  4. 4 What This Looks Like on the Shore
  5. 5 Who Decides, and How You Can Be Heard (you are here)

Decisions about your power bill happen in a few rooms. Here is who is in them and how to get a seat.

You have followed the money for four parts. Now the last question: who decides, and where can a regular person speak?

The answer is better than you might think. Some rooms are open to you, and comments are free. Some are closed, and we will say which.

FIRST: WHO HAS THE PEN?

Think of your power bill as a recipe with several cooks. One cook sets the local wires part. Another sets the big wires part. Another runs the auction. Another writes the kitchen rules. You can talk to some cooks directly. For the rest, you talk to the people who talk to them.

WHO DECIDES WHAT

Three groups matter most.

1. Maryland's Public Service Commission (PSC) sets local wires rates. It has five commissioners. The governor appoints them to staggered five-year terms. Kumar Barve is chair.[1] Some commissioners worked in the industry earlier. One was a lawyer for BGE. Another was a lawyer at the Edison Electric Institute, a utility trade group. That is career history, not a finding of wrongdoing.[1] What it means: the PSC is the room where a regular person is most welcome. You can comment online or by mail, with the case number. There is no phone option.[2]

2. FERC sets the big wires rates and oversees PJM. FERC has five members. The President picks them and the Senate confirms them. No more than three can be from one party.[3] News reports show three Republicans and two Democrats, with Laura Swett as chair.[4][5] FERC is deciding both Maryland complaints from Part 3, the bonus and the data center line costs.[6][7] It also set up talks on how PJM is governed, which began September 1. PJM members and stakeholders may take part. The talks are private. The public may comment if reforms are filed.[8] What it means: FERC is far away, but its cases take comments from anyone.

3. Maryland's lawmakers write the rules the PSC follows. The Utility RELIEF Act became law on May 12, 2026. It limits executive pay passed to customers and sets rates from actual past costs, among other changes.[9][10] On April 13, the House passed it 105 to 27. Delegates Steve Arentz, Jeff Ghrist, and Jay Jacobs of District 36 voted no.[11] The Senate's final vote that day was 35 to 11. District 36's Senator Stephen Hershey voted no.[12] We did not find their reasons. What it means: lawmakers can change the rules again. The 2027 session runs January 13 to April 12.[13] District 36 is on the November 3 ballot.

Where does PJM fit? PJM runs the auction from Part 2. FERC regulates PJM.[14] The governance talks are about who gets a say at PJM.

WHAT SUPPORTERS OF THE CURRENT SYSTEM SAY

The PSC says it "continues to pursue ways to ensure the cost of electricity delivered to Maryland's ratepayers is just and reasonable." It joined the complaint at FERC.[15] Regulators have cut utility asks, as the Pepco case showed.[16] Maryland's members of Congress asked FERC to act on OPC's complaint.[17]

WHAT CRITICS SAY

The state's consumer office, OPC, is the advocate for home customers, so this is an advocate's view. It says PJM's rules put costs on Maryland for projects driven by data centers elsewhere.[18] Maryland's agencies say the transmission bonus pays utilities for something state law now requires.[6]

The series in four lines. (1) Your bill has pieces, and different rooms set each one. (2) The standby premium jumped, and you pay it every year. (3) Two late power lines keep old plants on the payroll, and we found no deadline or penalty. (4) The same flat dollars take the biggest share from lower-income homes.

Our analysis: across the series, customers are not promised three things. A price that comes back down once it jumps. A deadline for the fix, with a cost if it is missed. A refund when the wait costs them money. We found none of the three in the record. Each one is a question you can put to the rooms above.

Our reading: follow the money, then follow the decision. The auction in Part 2 is run by PJM and watched by FERC. The wires in Part 3 are decided by the PSC and FERC. The bill help in Part 4 is funded by lawmakers. The doors open to you are the PSC, FERC, and your vote.

Our view: Good Trouble Circle believes a company with a guaranteed profit should be held to a higher standard. We believe the cost of data center growth should fall on the data centers, not on families already stretched. We believe companies that build and profit from power lines should meet deadlines, or repay customers for the wait. We believe the people who pay the bills deserve a seat where the costs are set. That is an opinion, and you are free to weigh it yourself.

WHAT WE DON'T KNOW YET

We did not find public hearing dates for BGE's case. We do not know when FERC will rule on either Maryland complaint, what PJM reforms will be proposed, or if Delmarva will file a new Maryland case. We did not find why District 36's lawmakers voted as they did.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

  1. Vote. Early voting runs October 22 to 29, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Election Day is November 3. Check your registration at voterservices.elections.maryland.gov.[19]
  2. Comment at the PSC. Any open case on its comment page takes comments. Use the online form and include the case number, or mail it to the Chief Clerk.[2]
  3. Comment at FERC. Say what you want: lower profit rates, deadlines for late lines, and data centers paying their share. Use the Quick Comment form. The bonus case is Docket EL26-87, and OPC's data center cost case is Docket EL26-63.[20][7]
  4. Call your lawmakers before January. Find them with the state's lookup tool. Ask what they will do to keep bills down, to require deadlines and customer credits when power lines run late, and to press FERC and PJM on data center costs.[21]
  5. Share this series with one neighbor. More voices at the PSC and FERC is how this changes.
Comment at the Maryland PSC

Follow the Money, Part 5 of 5. The series wrap-up: That is the series. Thank you for following the money with us. If one part helped you, send it to a neighbor.

Sources

Primary sources are government or company documents. Secondary or advocacy sources are labeled.

  1. Maryland PSC, Commissioners page (primary). psc.maryland.gov
  2. Maryland PSC, How to file a public comment (primary). psc.maryland.gov
  3. Congressional Research Service, FERC: Authorities and Membership, R48349 (primary). everycrsreport.com
  4. Utility Dive, Senate confirms Swett and LaCerte to FERC, Oct. 2025 (news report). utilitydive.com
  5. Utility Dive, Biden taps 3 for FERC seats (Chang, Rosner, See) (news report). utilitydive.com
  6. Maryland Energy Administration, OPC and Maryland PSC, Section 206 complaint on the RTO adder, filed July 2, 2026 (primary filing). opc.maryland.gov
  7. Maryland OPC, complaint against PJM, FERC Docket EL26-63, May 7, 2026 (advocacy filing, posted by PJM). pjm.com
  8. FERC, notice on PJM governance process, Docket AD26-7, Aug. 10, 2026 (primary). ferc.gov
  9. Chaowu.org, summary of the Utility RELIEF Act of 2026 (advocacy summary). chaowu.org
  10. WYPR, Maryland's Utility RELIEF Act becomes law, May 12, 2026 (news report). wypr.org
  11. Maryland General Assembly, House roll call on HB 1532, Apr. 13, 2026 (primary). mgaleg.maryland.gov
  12. Maryland General Assembly, Senate roll call on HB 1532, Apr. 13, 2026 (primary). mgaleg.maryland.gov
  13. Maryland State Archives, Maryland Manual, 2027 session dates (primary). msa.maryland.gov
  14. Maryland OPC, transmission costs report release, Mar. 19, 2026 (advocacy source). content.govdelivery.com
  15. Maryland PSC, release on joining the FERC complaint on transmission fees, July 2026 (primary). psc.maryland.gov
  16. WJLA, on the Pepco rate decision (news report). wjla.com
  17. Maryland congressional delegation, letter to FERC, July 28, 2026, posted by Rep. Hoyer (elected officials). hoyer.house.gov
  18. Maryland OPC, release on its FERC complaint over PJM transmission cost rules, May 7, 2026 (advocacy source). content.govdelivery.com
  19. Maryland State Board of Elections, 2026 general election voting information (primary). elections.maryland.gov
  20. FERC, Quick Comment form (primary). ferconline.ferc.gov
  21. Maryland General Assembly, Find My Representatives (primary). mgaleg.maryland.gov

In Good Trouble!

goodtroublecircle.org

Chris Esters
Next

What This Looks Like on the Shore - Part 4