The Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) is an independent administrative agency within the state government

Government of Maryland

The government of Maryland is conducted according to the Maryland Constitution. The United States is a federation; consequently, the government of Maryland, like the other 49 state governments, has exclusive authority over matters that lie entirely within the state's borders, except as limited by...

 which regulates public utilities

Public utility

A public utility is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service . Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and regulation ranging from local community-based groups to state-wide government monopolies...

 and certain taxi cab and other passenger services in Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

. Similar to other state Public Utilities Commission

Public Utilities Commission

A Utilities commission, Utility Regulatory Commission , Public Utilities Commission or Public Service Commission is a governing body that regulates the rates and services of a public utility...

s, the Maryland PSC regulates and sets tariff

Tariff (disambiguation)

A tariff is a tax on imported or exported goods.A tariff may also refer to:* Tariff, a schedule of prices for the sale or rental of a product or service* Tariff , in British criminal law, a minimum prison sentence...

 rates for natural gas

Natural gas

Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

, electricity distribution

Electricity distribution

File:Electricity grid simple- North America.svg|thumb|380px|right|Simplified diagram of AC electricity distribution from generation stations to consumers...

, local telephone

Telephone

The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...

, water

Drinking water

Drinking water or potable water is water pure enough to be consumed or used with low risk of immediate or long term harm. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard, even though only a very small proportion is actually...

, and sewage disposal

Sewage treatment

Sewage treatment, or domestic wastewater treatment, is the process of removing contaminants from wastewater and household sewage, both runoff and domestic. It includes physical, chemical, and biological processes to remove physical, chemical and biological contaminants...

 companies. The PSC also sets the tariff rates for pilot services

Maritime pilot

A pilot is a mariner who guides ships through dangerous or congested waters, such as harbours or river mouths. With the exception of the Panama Canal, the pilot is only an advisor, as the captain remains in legal, overriding command of the vessel....

 for vessels and privately owned toll bridge

Toll bridge

A toll bridge is a bridge over which traffic may pass upon payment of a toll, or fee.- History :The practice of collecting tolls on bridges probably harks back to the days of ferry crossings where people paid a fee to be ferried across stretches of water. As boats became impractical to carry large...

s, approves the construction of electric generating plants

Power station

A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....

 and overhead transmission lines

Electric power transmission

Electric-power transmission is the bulk transfer of electrical energy, from generating power plants to Electrical substations located near demand centers...

 with a voltage above 69 kV, and licenses retail natural gas and electricity suppliers. The PSC offices are located in Baltimore in the William Donald Schaefer Building

William Donald Schaefer Building

The William Donald Schaefer Building, also known as the William Donald Schaefer Tower or simply the Donald Schaefer Building, is a skyscraper in Baltimore, Maryland. The building rises 37 floors and in height, and stands as the third-tallest building in the city...

.

Public Service Commission Commissioners

The five PSC commissioners serving staggered terms are appointed by the Governor

Governor of Maryland

The Governor of Maryland heads the executive branch of the government of Maryland, and he is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state, and he has a broad range of appointive powers in both the State and local governments,...

 and approved by the Maryland General Assembly

Maryland General Assembly

The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is a bicameral body. The upper chamber, the Maryland State Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamber, the Maryland House of Delegates, has 141 representatives...

. By statute the commissioners must be representative of the state's regions and demographics. The current commissioners are Douglas R. M. Nazarian (chairman), Harold D. Williams, Lawrence Brenner, Kelly Speakes-Backman, and W. Kevin Hughes.

Agency operations

The PSC enforces the state statutes in the Public Utility Companies article of the Annotated Code of Maryland

Annotated Code of Maryland

The Annotated Code of Maryland, published by The Michie Company, is the official codification of the statutory laws of Maryland. It is organized, by subject matter, in two sets of volumes...

. Hearings on matters subject to the jurisdiction of the PSC are conducted before the Commission or by its hearing examiner

Administrative law judge

An administrative law judge in the United States is an official who presides at an administrative trial-type hearing to resolve a dispute between a government agency and someone affected by a decision of that agency. The ALJ is usually the initial trier of fact and decision maker...

s. The PSC has an independent division hearing examiners which issue proposed orders, which may be appealed to the Commission. Most hearings are held in the PSC offices in Maryland, but state statutes require public hearings for some subject matter to be held in the county or municipality affected by the proceeding. Final orders are issued by the Commission and are subject to judicial review

Judicial review

Judicial review is the doctrine under which legislative and executive actions are subject to review by the judiciary. Specific courts with judicial review power must annul the acts of the state when it finds them incompatible with a higher authority...

 in the state circuit courts. The PSC publishes a selection of its orders each year along with its annual report to the Maryland General Assembly

Maryland General Assembly

The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is a bicameral body. The upper chamber, the Maryland State Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamber, the Maryland House of Delegates, has 141 representatives...

 in its own case reporter

Law report

Law reports or reporters are series of books that contain judicial opinions from a selection of case law decided by courts. When a particular judicial opinion is referenced, the law report series in which the opinion is printed will determine the case citation format.The term reporter was...

.

History

Supported by a plank in the Maryland Democratic Party

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 state electoral platform

Party platform

A party platform, or platform sometimes also referred to as a manifesto, is a list of the actions which a political party, individual candidate, or other organization supports in order to appeal to the general public for the purpose of having said peoples' candidates voted into political office or...

 to enact a regulatory utility law and by Governor Austin Crothers

Austin Lane Crothers

Austin Lane Crothers , a member of the United States Democratic Party, was the 46th Governor of Maryland in the United States from 1908 to 1912.-Early life and career:...

, the PSC was established in 1910. The initial purpose of the PSC was to fix the rates of steam railroads, street railways, ferries, toll bridges, and gas, electric, heating, water, telegraph, telephone, and water utilities.

A series of complaints were filed in 1911 challenging conditions faced by African-Americans on steam boats regulated by the PSC due to the segregated

Racial segregation

Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...

 facilities provided under the recently enacted Maryland Jim Crow laws. The PSC dismissed the complaints, although it occasionally required upgrades to facilities consistent with the "separate but equal

Separate but equal

Separate but equal was a legal doctrine in United States constitutional law that justified systems of segregation. Under this doctrine, services, facilities and public accommodations were allowed to be separated by race, on the condition that the quality of each group's public facilities was to...

" requirements of that time.

In 1999, legislation titled the Electric Customer Choice and Competition Act of 1999

Maryland Electric Deregulation

Maryland Electric Deregulation is the result of a bill passed in 1999 by the Maryland General Assembly. This bill changed the entire face of the Maryland utility industry.The past several years have seen a flurry of changes in the energy industry in Maryland...

 was enacted to restructure the electric industry and electric generation was deregulated

Deregulation

Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or...

.

Electric generating plants

Although the PSC, as a result of the 1999 deregulation of the state electric industry, no longer regulates the cost of electricity generated in plants located in Maryland, it still is responsible for the approval of electric generating plants and transmission lines and for the approval of certain modifications. An entity planning to construct or modify a generation plant or transmission line must receive a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) from the PSC. An application for a CPCN must first be filed with the PSC and is then reviewed before a PSC Hearing Examiner in a formal adjudicatory process, which includes an opportunity for public participation. Since the PSC is an independent commission, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Power Plant Research Program (PPRP) is responsible for the coordination of the State agencies' review. This coordinated review process allows the State to examine potential impacts upon its natural and cultural resources, environment and economy and typically culminates in a set of recommended licensing conditions. In addition, the PSC Staff and a State agency charged with protecting the interests of electricity ratepayers, the Office of People's Council (OPC), intervenes in the case and can present their arguments and opinions. Upon completion of the adjudicatory and public hearings, the PSC will issue a proposed order. After a period which an appeal can be made to the full commission, a final order is released either granting or denying the application. Certain small generating plants, including most emergency generators, are approved using an abbreviated process.

Although there are approximately 40 generating plants that provide power for customers in the state, Maryland imported about 35% of its electricity from neighboring states in 2008.

Electric Generating Stations in Maryland Larger Than 50 MW

Station	Operator	Location	Capacity (MW)
Brandon Shores Brandon Shores Generating Station The Brandon Shores Generating Station is an electric generating station located on Fort Smallwood Drive north of Orchard Beach in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, near Glen Burnie, and is operated by the Constellation Power Source Generation subsidiary of Constellation Energy Group...	Constellation Energy Constellation Energy Constellation Energy, headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, is an energy producer, trader, and distributor. The company operates over 35 power plants in 11 states under its operating company Constellation Commodities Group and/or Constellation Generation Group...	Orchard Beach Orchard Beach, Maryland Orchard Beach is an unincorporated community in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States....	1370
Charles P. Crane Charles P. Crane Generating Station The Charles P. Crane Generating Station is a coal-fired electric generating station located on the Carroll Island Road in Bowleys Quarters, Maryland, east of Baltimore. The power plant is operated by the Constellation Power Source Generation subsidiary of Constellation Energy Group...	Constellation Energy	Bowleys Quarters Bowleys Quarters, Maryland Bowleys Quarters is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, with a population of 6,314 in 2000.-History:...	416
Calvert Cliffs Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant The Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant located on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay near Lusby, Calvert County, Maryland.-Overview:...	Constellation Energy	Lusby Lusby, Maryland Lusby is a place in Calvert County, Maryland, United States. The population was officially 1,666 at the 2000 census, although residents of the Chesapeake Ranch Estates-Drum Point community also use the Lusby zip code designation, making Lusby in fact a much larger community...	1829
Chalk Point Chalk Point Generating Station The Chalk Point Generating Station is a 2,647-MWe electricity-generating plant owned by GenOn which is located near the tiny incorporated town of Eagle Harbor, Maryland, United States, on the Patuxent River.-Individual Units:...	GenOn Energy Mirant Mirant Corporation, an Atlanta-based energy company, produces and sells electricity in the United States. The company was spun off from its former parent, Southern Company, on April 2, 2001...	Eagle Harbor Eagle Harbor, Maryland Eagle Harbor is a very tiny incorporated town in the far extreme southeast corner of Prince George's County, Maryland, United States and near the rural community of Aquasco. The population was 55 at the 2000 census...	2647
Conowingo Conowingo Dam The Conowingo Dam is a large hydroelectric dam in the Lower Susquehanna River. The dam, one of the largest non-federal hydroelectric dams in the US, is classified as a medium height, masonry gravity type dam...	Exelon Corporation Exelon Exelon Corporation is an electricity generating and distributing company headquartered in the Chase Tower in the Chicago Loop area of Chicago. It was created in October, 2000 by the merger of PECO Energy Company and Unicom, of Philadelphia and Chicago respectively. Unicom owned Commonwealth Edison...	Conowingo Conowingo, Maryland Conowingo is a small community in western Cecil County, Maryland, USA.Conowingo is a Susquehannock word for "at the rapids".Conowingo was originally located on the eastern bank of the Susquehanna River at the confluence of the Conowingo Creek with the river...	507
Criterion Wind Project Criterion Wind Project The Criterion Wind Project is a wind farm located on Backbone Mountain east of Oakland, Maryland, United States. The project has a rated capacity of 70 MW and uses 28 Liberty Wind Turbines manufactured by Clipper Windpower. Each of the wind turbines is about 415 feet tall...	Constellation Energy	Oakland Oakland, Maryland Oakland is a town in the west-central part of Garrett County, Maryland, United States. With a population of 1,925 according to United States Census 2010 figures, it is the most populated community in Garrett County...	70
Dickerson Dickerson Generating Station The Dickerson Generating Station is a 853 MW electric generating plant owned by GenOn , located approximately two miles west of Dickerson, Maryland.-Description:...	GenOn Energy	Dickerson Dickerson, Maryland Dickerson is an unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located on Maryland Route 28, between Sugarloaf Mountain and the Potomac River. It is a community situated near the town of Poolesville, Maryland. Dickerson is .-History of Dickerson:...	930
Easton	Easton Utilities	Easton Easton, Maryland Easton, founded 1710, is a town within the Easton District of Talbot County, Maryland, United States. The population was 11,708 at the 2000 census, and 14,677 according to current July 2008 census estimates. It is the county seat of Talbot County. The primary ZIP Code is 21601, and the...	72
Gould Street Gould Street Generating Station The Gould Street Generating Station is a 100 MW electric generating plant operated by Constellation Energy that is located on Gould Street in south Baltimore, Maryland. The plant is adjacent to an elevated section of freeway I-95 and is south of the Riverside neighborhood and west of the Locust...	Constellation Energy	Baltimore Baltimore Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...	103
Herbert A. Wagner Herbert A. Wagner Generating Station The Herbert A. Wagner Generating Station is an electric generating station, located on Fort Smallwood Road north of Orchard Beach in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, just east of Glen Burnie, and is operated by the Constellation Power Source Generation subsidiary of Constellation Energy Group. The H. A...	Constellation Energy	Orchard Beach	1058
Luke Mill	NewPage Corporation NewPage Corporation NewPage Corporation, based in Miamisburg, Ohio, is a leading producer of coated paper in North America.The company produces coated papers in sheets and rolls with many finishes and weights to offer design flexibility for a wide array of end uses...	Luke Luke, Maryland Luke is a town in Allegany County, Maryland, United States located along the Georges Creek Valley. Known originally as West Piedmont, the town is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 80 at the 2000 census....	65
Montgomery County Resource Recovery Facility Dickerson Generating Station The Dickerson Generating Station is a 853 MW electric generating plant owned by GenOn , located approximately two miles west of Dickerson, Maryland.-Description:...	Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Auth.	Dickerson Dickerson, Maryland Dickerson is an unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located on Maryland Route 28, between Sugarloaf Mountain and the Potomac River. It is a community situated near the town of Poolesville, Maryland. Dickerson is .-History of Dickerson:...	68
Morgantown Morgantown Generating Station The Morgantown Generating Station is a 1,477 MW electric generating plant owned by GenOn , located in the unincorporated town of Newburg, Maryland, near Morgantown, on the Potomac River...	GenOn Energy	Morgantown Morgantown, Maryland Morgantown is an unincorporated community in Charles County, Maryland. It lies south of the Governor Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge on the Potomac River at Lower Cedar Point. It is known for the Mirant Morgantown Generating Station smokestacks. In 2007, a controversial coal barge loading facility...	1548
Notch Cliff	Constellation Energy	Glen Arm Glen Arm, Maryland Glen Arm is an unincorporated community in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States.Ravenshurst was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978....	144
Panda Brandywine	Panda Energy Panda Energy International Panda Energy International, Inc. is an American privately held company that constructs, maintains and operates environmentally friendly power plants, with the name of the company a reference to the endangered Giant Panda. The company is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It is a division of The Panda...	Brandywine Brandywine, Maryland Brandywine is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, although the postal delivery area includes part of Charles County as well near Malcolm....	289
Perryman	Constellation Energy	Perryman Perryman, Maryland Perryman is a census-designated place in Harford County, Maryland, United States. The population was 2,461 at the 2000 census.-History:St...	404
Philadelphia Road	Constellation Energy	Baltimore County	83
R. Paul Smith	Allegheny Energy Supply Allegheny Energy Allegheny Energy is an electric utility headquartered in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. It owns and operates electric generation facilities and delivers electric services to customers in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, and Virginia...	Williamsport Williamsport, Maryland Williamsport is a town in Washington County, Maryland, United States. The population was 1,868 at the 2000 census and 2,278 as of July 2008.-Geography: Williamsport is located at ....	109
Riverside Riverside Generating Station The Riverside Generating Station is a 261 MW electric generating station operated by Constellation Energy that is located at 4000 Broening Highway in Dundalk, Maryland...	Constellation Energy	Dundalk Dundalk, Maryland -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 62,306 people, 24,772 households, and 16,968 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 4,689.5 people per square mile . There were 26,385 housing units at an average density of 1,985.9 per square mile...	257
Rock Springs	Old Dominion Electric Cooperative Old Dominion Electric Cooperative Old Dominion Electric Cooperative is an electric generation and transmission cooperative headquartered in Glen Allen, Virginia. ODEC provides wholesale power to its 11 member electric cooperatives in Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. Through these member cooperatives, ODEC provided over 11 million...	Rock Springs	773
Sparrows Point	Severstal Severstal OAO Severstal Russian: Северсталь, "Northern Steel") is a Russian company mainly operating in the steel and mining industry, centred in the northern city of Cherepovets. Severstal is listed on the RTS and LSE. As of 2009, it is the largest steel company in Russia according to The Metal Bulletin....	Sparrows Point	120
Vienna	NRG Energy NRG Energy NRG Energy, Inc. is an American energy company headquartered in West Windsor Township, New Jersey, near Princeton.-Electrical Power Generation Operations:...	Vienna Vienna, Maryland Vienna is a town in Dorchester County, Maryland, United States. The population was 280 at the 2000 census.-History:Vienna was founded in 1706. It thrived on trade, shipbuilding and tobacco farming. Throughout the next century, the British would raid the town repeatedly, and also during the War of...	183
Warrior Run Warrior Run Generating Station Warrior Run Generating Station, owned by the AES Corporation, is a 205 megawatt cogeneration plant located south of Cumberland, Maryland, at 11600 Mexico Farms Road...	AES Corporation AES Corporation AES Corporation is a Fortune 500 company that generates and distributes electrical power. The company was founded on January 28, 1981, as Applied Energy Services by Roger Sant from the US Federal Energy Administration and Dennis Bakke from the Office of Management and Budget. AES Corporation is...	Cumberland Cumberland, Maryland Cumberland is a city in the far western, Appalachian portion of Maryland, United States. It is the county seat of Allegany County, and the primary city of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 20,859, and the metropolitan area had a...	229
Westport	Constellation Energy	Baltimore	122
Wheelabrator Baltimore Refuse Energy Systems	Waste Management, Inc Waste Management, Inc Waste Management, Inc. is a waste management, comprehensive waste, and environmental services company in North America. Founded in 1894, the company is headquartered in Suite 4000 at the First City Tower in Downtown Houston, Texas, in the United States.... .	Baltimore	65

Base load coal and nuclear generating plants generate the greater portion of electricity in Maryland. Coal-fired plants producing 39.3% of the state's electric generation in 2008 with nuclear plants generating 13.8%, oil and gas plants 41.2%, and hydroelectric plants and other renewables providing the remainder. In a 2010 report the PSC reported that 70% of the electric generating capacity in the state came from plants that were over thirty years old.