The Maryland Public Service Commission is investigating a number of retail energy suppliers following a record-high number of consumer complaints about questionable practices.

Tori Leonard, communications director of the Public Service Commission, the agency that regulates electric and gas utilities and looks after ratepayers’ interests, confirmed that the commission officially launched the enforcement action on Feb. 1 “to investigate and, if necessary, prosecute retail energy suppliers who are failing to abide by the state’s laws and regulations” and, if necessary, “revoke supplier licenses.”

“More potential enforcement actions are in the pipeline as [the] Consumer Affairs Division continues to issue ‘cease and desist’ letters to suppliers on, for example, misleading marketing materials,” Leonard said, adding that “some retail suppliers target their marketing to low-income, elderly customers, etc., particularly with variable rate offers.”

Maryland enacted the Electric Customer Choice and Competition Act in 1999 and moved to fully deregulate its energy market. Also known as “retail choice,” the arrangement allowed third-party suppliers to purchase energy from the wholesale market and sell it to businesses and residents at a different rate for profit.

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