Court Keeps PSC Members on the Job

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The uproar in Maryland over high electricity costs prompted the General Assembly to drop the hammer on the state's Public Service Commission, whose members are appointed by the governor to regulate utilities.

But on Thursday, an appeals court ruled that the General Assembly over-stepped its authority in firing the members of the PSC. The members were fired in June.

The commission's president sued, and the Court of Appeals ruled 6-1 Thursday in his favor.

The judges said they had a "duty to protect all of the branches of government from granting power to -- or seizing power from -- each other."

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