This bill, the Electric Customer Choice and Competition Act of 1999,[1] was passed through the Maryland General Assembly with many Democratic and every Republican legislator's support.
The bill was signed into law by Democratic Governor Parris Glendening who was not in favor of deregulation, but was threatened with an override if he opted to veto.
[2] Prior to this legislation, the local electric utility was in charge of procuring and delivering power to the people in their service territory.
[3] According to the Maryland Public Service Commission, Maryland considered deregulating "to put downward pressure on costs, thus providing consumers with the lowest possible prices for electricity, to allow all customers to choose their power supplier, to provide incentives for the creation and development of innovative products and services."
The Maryland General Assembly placed several stipulations in the legislation designed to foster competition and maintain a level playing field between the retail suppliers and the local utilities.
The amount of time that rates would be frozen varied by company and by customer class (residential, commercial, industrial, etc.).