Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) was established by State Government under Section 14 of the Electricity Regulatory Commission Act, 1998 (14 of 1998). This Act was replaced by the Electricity Act, 2003 ( 36 of 2003) and under its first proviso of Section 81, State Electricity Regulatory Commission established under Section 14 of the Electricity Regulatory Commission Act,1998, was regarded as the State Commission, for the purposes of the Electricity Act, 2003. Apart from the State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs) at the State level, there is also a Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) at the Central level.

Prior to the advent of Electricity Act 2003 the electricity sector was governed by the Indian Electricity Act, 1910, the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948 and the Electricity Regulatory Commission Act, 1998. Electricity Act, 2003 has replaced all these Acts.

Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) was established on 5th August, 1999 and started working on 12th August, 1999. MERC is a 3-member Commission and one of the 3 members is Chairman. All the 3 Members of the Commission are full time Members and they are appointed by State Government. Chairman is the Chief Executive of the Commission.

Following are the Members of the Commission:
Chairperson Shri Anand B. Kulkarni

Member Shri Mukesh Khullar

Member Shri I M Bohari

Shri Abhijit Deshpande is the Secretary of the Commission.

Establishment
In the beginning only 27 posts were sanctioned and subsequently in the year 2010, additional 39 posts were sanctioned by the State Government on the establishment of the Commission. The entire establishment cost of the Commission is borne by the Commission from its own funds raised mainly through the license fees from the electricity companies. However only Rs. 1.00 lakh is annually sanctioned by the State Government to the Commission through budgetary provision.
The Commission follows Rules made by the State Government for its employees for Leaves, Pay-scales, Gratuity etc. It has made its own Service - Regulations for its staff.

Working of the Commission
While discharging its functions under Electricity Act, 2003, the MERC is required to undertake various activities such as:
1. To make Regulations;
2. To issue Orders on Petitions for :
a) Determination of tariff
b) Grant Licence
c) Review and miscellaneous petition and
3. To prepare Annual Report and Annual Account
While discharging the functions, MERC undertakes consultation with public and Consumer's Representatives by following the procedure as detailed below:
The Commission follows a detailed and transparent process before issuing Regulations. To start with, a Draft of the Regulations to be formulated is prepared and discussed with the Utilities and Authorized Consumers’ Representatives. As per the requirement of the Act, the Draft Regulations then undergo the process of ‘previous publication’. This implies that the Draft Regulations are published for inviting objections/suggestions from the public. It is only after receipt and consideration of the objections/suggestions, the Regulations are finally approved by the Commission and notified in the Government Gazette and placed on the web-site of the Commission.