Too many Maryland residents just don't know they can shop around for cheaper electricity suppliers, and state regulators should do more to advertise options, lawmakers said Thursday.

As someone who is now actively pushing such choice, I can say I wholeheartedly agree with the above statement -- on both the residential and commercial side. What's more, this is likely the case in a lot of states where energy markets are deregulated (like Maryland), and residential and commercial accounts can take advantage of this choice to lower their rates.

In fact -- and unfortunately -- there's a lot of people out there who think this whole "utility choice" idea is a scam perpetrated by shady characters who twirl their handlebar mustaches and say "nyeahh" out loud an awful lot.

Well, I hope it is more obvious now than ever that "utility choice" is real, and can be used to your advantage. It can be done for both electricity and natural gas, too. What's not as obvious, but I can guarantee, is that we here at EA are not shady characters. Heck, none of us even have mustaches to twirl.

Here's proof that all of this does work. From the article:

Although Maryland residents have had the option to choose electricity suppliers for years, only about 72,000 people in a state of more than 5 million have exercised the option, (Delegate Dereck Davis, D-Prince George's County) said, largely because of a lack of awareness.

"The word is slowly starting to get out there, but more importantly for anyone who is complaining about a high electric bill or for anyone who wants clean energy, there's something out there for everyone," Davis said.

Davis, who switched his electric provider to Washington Gas Energy Services (EA's residential supplier), said residents can save 10 to 13 percent on their electric bills by shopping around.

We here at EA offer both standard and "green" electricity for people who find themselves in the last paragraph above ... and c'mon, who among us isn't in that last paragraph? If you're interested, click on over to our residential or commercial pages (or both, if you're a business owner who also pays utility bills at home) to lower your rates and lock them in for 1, 2 or 3 years.

By the way, there is some controversy in Annapolis about who should pay to make Marylanders aware that they can choose. Some say the state should cough up the dough, while others say that those in the industry (like us) should do so. I can tell you that we're doing everything we can through our sales efforts and via our Energized Choice initiative and Web site.

UPDATE: Other sources on this story -

Frederick News-Post

Baltimore Sun