The Maryland Public Service Commission on April 23 deferred action on a staff recommendation to approve Agway Energy Services LLC's request to cancel its electricity and gas supplier licenses after the Office of People's Counsel said the company should be required to maintain its licenses and bonds for three years to cover potential future complaints from former customers.

The commission had placed the item on the administrative consent agenda and the chair initially moved to approve the cancellation. Milan Tuck Mikhail of the Maryland Office of People's Counsel (OPC) told the commission that OPC “disagrees with staff's recommendation to approve Agway's request to relinquish its electric and gas supplier licenses” and recommended the commission require Agway to keep its licenses active and maintain all bonds “for at least the next 3 years to cover liabilities to its former customers.”

Staff had told the commission that Agway had been licensed since September 2017, that it currently reports no customers and that its current load and GATS registrations show no active service. Charles Herbert, appearing for staff, said historical EIA-861 data showed the company had residential customers in 2023–2024 but that “as of now, they have dropped all customers.” Herbert also said the company had two closed complaints (2019 and 2020) and no open complaints.

Why it matters: OPC urged the three-year requirement based on prior commission decisions in similar cases (Great American Power LLC and Tomorrow Energy Corporation) where the commission denied relinquishment because it wanted to preserve jurisdiction to address future complaints. OPC argued that requiring license and bond retention for three years preserves a source of recovery if former customers later bring timely complaints.

What the commission decided: After questions from commissioners about the number of customers (staff said fewer than 10 residential customers across electric and gas in the most recent years) and how long bonds remain in effect (staff said bonds would require 60 days' notice to cancel), the chair moved to reconsider the earlier approval and the commission voted to defer the item to a future meeting. The chair directed staff to prepare a proposed policy addressing license-cancellation requests by suppliers that have or recently had customers.

Discussion highlights and clarifications
- OPC's recommendation: Milan Tuck Mikhail (Office of People's Counsel) asked the commission to require Agway to maintain licenses and bonds for three years so the commission can access bonds if former customers file timely complaints. OPC cited recent precedents in which the commission refused to allow relinquishment without such protections.
- Staff's position: Charles Herbert (staff) said Agway currently has no load in PJM/GATS, had fewer than 10 residential customers in recent EIA-861 filings, and had two closed complaints (2019, 2020). Kevin Mosher (staff) noted that the company would have to provide 60 days' notice to cancel a bond if it chose to do so.
- Commissioners' concerns: Several commissioners said a bright-line policy (for example, a three-year period to retain license and bond after serving residential customers) would ease future decision-making and administrative burden. One commissioner said the three-year window aligns with the statute of limitations for some customer complaints.

Next steps: The commission deferred the item and asked staff to prepare a proposed policy for consideration at a future meeting that would set a clear process and timeline for handling supplier license-cancellation requests when former residential customers may still have claims.

Ending note: The company did not appear at the meeting; staff reported no responsive filing from Agway to OPC's comments as of the meeting.