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Retail Suppliers Seek Clarification Of End Date For POR; Say Nearly All Of 422,000 Residential Customers Would Be Dropped To SOS If Dual Billing Mandated
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Several retail suppliers said that nearly all residential shopping customers in Maryland would be dropped to default service if the PSC requires an interim use of dual billing in connection with the end of residential purchase of receivables, while the suppliers also sought clarification of the PSC's recent order concerning an end date for residential POR for existing contracts
As first reported by EnergyChoiceMatters.com, the PSC last week suspended the POR provisions of COMAR as they relate to residential receivables, effective January 1, 2025; found that a "date certain" should be established for the end of residential POR; found that it is in the public interest for POR to end for existing residential contracts; and stated that a "temporary allowance" would be made for existing contracts, without further defining such, but while also stating that POR should not be "prolong[ed]" for years
The Retail Energy Supply Association, CleanChoice Energy, and NRG Energy in a joint motion requested that the PSC clarify whether January 1, 2025, the date of the residential POR COMAR suspension, is the "date certain" for the end of residential POR, or whether such "date certain" will be established by further PSC order, such as in response to a forthcoming filing by PSC Staff on SB 1 POR and billing issues which is due on Sept. 13
The retail suppliers further asked the PSC to find that POR should not end for existing residential contracts until the utilities implement a mechanism to allow for utility consolidated billing in a post-SB1 environment
The retail suppliers said that any mandate that suppliers must use dual billing for residential customers until the utilities implement new, non-POR UCB payment processing mechanisms -- which will take 12-18 months at most of the state's utilities per compliance plans -- would disrupt both the market as well as supplier-customer relationships
The retail suppliers alleged that at least 11 active retail suppliers who currently serve a "significant" market share of residential customers in Maryland have, "advised that they cannot implement dual billing by January 1, 2025."
These suppliers would need 9 to 18 months, depending on the supplier, to implement dual billing, the retail suppliers alleged
The retail suppliers alleged that, to the extent the PSC ends residential POR without an alternative that allows for utility consolidated billing (e.g., dual billing is mandated), then, "it is likely that all, or almost all," of the nearly 422,000 current residential electric and gas shopping customers in Maryland will be returned to default service when POR ends
These 422,000 residential shopping customers represent 847 MW of peak demand and 10,389,050 Dth in estimated annual volume, the retail suppliers said
The retail suppliers also noted that SB 1 allows residential POR to continue for a CCA, necessitating multiple utility billing mechanisms irrespective of whether the PSC seeks to streamline utility billing systems by ending POR for existing residential retail supplier contracts in tandem with SB1's prohibition on residential POR for new and renewed contracts
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September 4, 2024
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Copyright 2024 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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