Maryland Lowers Its Electric Bill

Feeling sticker shock after seeing your first summer electricity bill? You aren’t alone. Even the state of Maryland feels the pain. But the state has more leverage than you and I. Enough leverage to trigger a bidding war for lower rates.
    At the center of it all is a reverse auction. In a typical auction, prices rise for the seller’s benefit. In a reverse auction, prices drop in a bidding war, benefitting buyers.
    “Electricity suppliers bid until the lowest electricity supply rates in the market were revealed,” said Department of General Services Secretary Ellington Churchill.
    Maryland was able to attract competitive energy suppliers by “pooling the state’s future electricity demand,” Gov. Larry Hogan said.
    The result? The lowest electricity supply rates in state history for state buildings. Don’t you wish you’d got that rate?
    The low rates are also locked in longer. The electricity supply rate of as low as 3.8 cents per kilowatt-hour for four years is nearly 40 percent lower than the state’s previous rate of 6.1 cents per kWh for the past three years.
    The move is expected to save Maryland taxpayers $25 million through 2021.