The Energy Markets Podcast EMP S3E4: Maryland PSC Chairman Jason Stanek discusses the 'maximum enforcement' campaign he's ordered to crack down on what he called 'fly-by-night' energy suppliers
Jason Stanek, the lame duck chairman of the Maryland Public Service Commission, is riding out the remainder of his term in office with a "maximum enforcement" campaign to crack down on retail suppliers "that engage in deceit, confusion, and trickery in order to close the deal." January saw the second-highest number of consumer complaints received, and February is shaping up to set a record for the month, he said, promising the PSC will use "expedited procedures to, if necessary, eject suppliers from the market."
He discusses how he's lost faith in retail competition in electricity. "I am not the cheerleader of retail choice that I once was," he notes, adding, "I can tell you that there's an appetite amongst a lot of state legislators who would say that after 23 years since we've been restructured, this experiment has not gone according to plan and perhaps we just call it a day." But he said he's not ready to give up yet. "We eject the bad actors, then we could rehabilitate it. Focus on the value, focus on products, focus on innovation."
Stanek concedes the state's market structure could be improved, but he called himself an implementer of policy. If retail suppliers want a better market structure then they should to go to Annapolis and advocate for change, he said. But "structural change is a heavy lift" and utilities are "well-entrenched" in state capitals, he noted.
Calling Maryland a "progressive state" with community solar, utility solar and electric vehicles mandates, he cautioned against folding too many clean-energy mandates into utility customer's rates. "We have to remember that, at the end of the day, whether the customer takes their commodity from the utility or the supplier, costs are going up. And all of these programs cannot be borne on the backs of utility ratepayers."
Stanek looks forward to the remainder of his five-year term, which ends June 30. "I am not recusing myself on any active cases just yet. I still have another four-and-a-half months on the job," he said. "Between now and June 30th my sole focus is on making sure that my work at this agency gets done. And then after June 30th I'll begin to consider what comes next."