Who Is on Your Bill?
THE DISPATCH — CIVIC EDUCATION
Your power bill has four parts, and different people decide each one.
Every month, a bill shows up. You look at the number at the bottom, pay it, and maybe sigh.
But that number is a bundle of four costs. Different groups decide each piece. Some answer to voters. Some do not.
That might sound like boring paperwork. It's not. It's about knowing who gets paid when you pay, and who gets to say yes or no to the price.
FIRST: WHAT IS ACTUALLY ON MY ELECTRIC BILL?
Think of your bill like a pizza delivery order. The supply is the pizza. Transmission is the highway the delivery car drives. Distribution is the last stretch: your street, the pole, and the driver who knocks on your door. Taxes and fees are the tax and the tip.
Supply is the electricity itself, counted in kilowatt-hours. One kilowatt-hour is what a 1,000-watt microwave uses in an hour. Your utility buys it through bidding that the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) regulates.[9]
Transmission is the high-voltage lines that cross many states. Their costs follow regional rules under a federal agency called FERC, not a Maryland rate case.[8]
Distribution is the local wires, poles, and meters. The PSC sets this part in public rate cases, where a utility asks for more money and regulators decide how much to allow.[4]
Taxes and fees are state and local charges added on top. One warning: your bill may tuck transmission inside the supply line.[8] It is still a separate cost with its own rules.
WHAT HAPPENED
Two companies serve homes in Queen Anne's County. Delmarva Power delivers to about 210,000 Maryland customers, mostly on the Eastern Shore. A big company called Exelon owns it.[1] Choptank Electric Cooperative serves nine Shore counties, including ours.[2] On Kent Island, the company is Delmarva. We found no town-by-town map, so check the name on your bill.
They run very differently. Delmarva is like a shop with outside owners, and the PSC, a state agency, checks its prices. Choptank is like a food co-op. The customers own it and elect the board, which sets rates after notice and comment, then files them with the PSC for information only.[3]
In 2022, Delmarva asked the PSC for more money for its local wires. After public hearings, the PSC approved about three-fourths of the request, in a deal that included the state's consumer office.[1][4] For a typical home, that adds up to about $8.71 more a month by 2025. That sum is our math.[4] The PSC's list, last updated June 23, 2026, shows no newer Maryland case.[5] Across Maryland, the average home paid 16.60 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2023 and 17.86 cents in 2024.[6]
In 2023, Choptank told members its delivery rates had not changed since 2018, while its power costs were falling. So it proposed a delivery increase and a supply decrease that together would lower a typical bill.[7]
WHAT SUPPORTERS OF THE CURRENT SYSTEM SAY
Supporters say the system has checks. In 2022, the PSC gave Delmarva less than it asked, saying the law requires rates fair to the company and its customers.[4] The Office of People's Counsel (OPC), the state's consumer office, helped reach the deal. Its expert said it managed risk for home customers. Delmarva's expert said it covered the cost of safe, reliable service.[4]
Co-op supporters say Choptank has no stockholders to pay. It says it works "at cost" and returns extra money to members through capital credits.[7]
WHAT CRITICS SAY
Critics say the checks are weakest where costs grow fastest. OPC, an advocate for home customers, says transmission rates for Delmarva, BGE, and Pepco are five to six times higher than in 2010. Those rates are set under regional rules, outside a Maryland rate case.[8]
In 2022, OPC's expert backed the main deal but fought two features. One keeps the company's income steady even when people use less power. The other compares forecast spending to real spending at the end of the plan. He said the company could raise its income by spending more than planned, which brought its risk close to zero. The PSC disagreed and approved both.[4]
Our reading: a higher total could come from the pizza, the highway, or the street. That is why this series takes them one at a time.
WHAT WE DON'T KNOW YET
We found no dollar split of a typical Delmarva bill into the four parts, so we will not guess.
A new Delmarva case may have been filed since the PSC page was updated. A Delaware case does not set Maryland rates.
We have not confirmed how Choptank's board voted in 2023, or its rates today. Statewide averages hide differences, so a Shore home may pay more or less.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
- Read your bill. Find the company name, the supply line, and the delivery line. Then look up your utility's "price to compare" on its website (Delmarva or Choptank), and try the state's rate calculator at MDElectricChoice.com, so you can judge any offer.[9]
- If you are a Delmarva customer, sign up for PSC email updates and bookmark its rate case list.[5] Have a problem with your service? File a complaint with the PSC. Have a question about rates? Call the Office of People's Counsel at 1-800-207-4055 or email opc@maryland.gov.[8]
- If you are a Choptank member, write to rates@choptankelectric.coop before any board vote on rates. Choptank's own policy says it must give 30 days' notice and take written comments at least seven business days before the vote. Members also vote for the board.[3]
Follow the Money, Part 1 of 5. Next in the series: Part 2, "The Power Auction Nobody Told You About." The pizza part of your bill is bought at a giant auction most people never hear about. Its price jumped in a single year. We explain why.
Sources
Primary sources are government or company documents. Secondary or advocacy sources are labeled.
- Maryland Public Service Commission, news release, Aug. 25, 2022 (primary). psc.maryland.gov
- Choptank Electric Cooperative, member magazine, Oct. 2023 (company, self-reported). choptank.mydigitalpublication.com
- Choptank Electric Cooperative, Board Policy No. 360, Ratemaking, Aug. 19, 2020 (company document). choptankelectric.coop
- Maryland PSC, Order No. 90445, Case No. 9681, Dec. 14, 2022 (primary). psc.maryland.gov
- Maryland PSC, Utility Rate Cases list (primary). psc.maryland.gov
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Annual, Table 2.10 (primary). eia.gov
- Choptank Electric Cooperative, letter to members, Oct. 1, 2023 (company document). choptankelectric.coop
- Maryland Office of People's Counsel, news release, Mar. 19, 2026 (state consumer advocate; advocacy source). content.govdelivery.com
- Maryland PSC, Standard Offer Service page (primary). psc.maryland.gov
