During a rulemaking session last week, Maryland PSC Chairman Jason Stanek said that his rate from a retail supplier was recently 12 cents per kWh, or almost 70% higher than the SOS rate

Discussing the shopping process, Stanek said, "I keep going back to the fact that I believe consumers bear some responsibility. I shared with Commissioner Richard this morning my utility bill from Pepco, and I just switched from one retail choice supplier to another and, as of this month, right before I changed, I was paying 70% more, I was paying 12 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is 5 cents above my SOS rate, which I estimate is probably $60 or $70 more a month for me in commodity charges. And I would like to think I'm a little more sophisticated than the average member of the public in choosing retail choice. But then that is a decision that I made, when I signed up with retail choice supplier 'A', they provided me with some benefits that I took, and I went in knowing that I was signing up for a variable rate that could change from month to month."

The Pepco SOS rate is about 7.4 cents per kWh. Other than being a variable rate, Stanek did not describe the nature of the product.

"I've since changed suppliers," Stanek said

"Regardless, I knew the details going in, so the fact that it went from 10 to 12 or perhaps higher is on me, and that was a choice I made, and a value proposition that I calculated, to take that risk, that gamble. And I'm sure there were times when that commodity charge was well below the SOS rate," Stanek said

Stanek did not name the supplier but described the supplier as a, "very large, sophisticated retail supplier."

Stanek said that while he could have looked up the supplier's next month rate through whatever means the supplier elected to provide such information in advance, he usually learned of the rate change on his Pepco consolidated bill

Tags:
Maryland   Variable rates  

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