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Utility Seeks To Include 19-Month Forecast Of Uncollectibles In POR Discount, Socialize Future Remaining Balance Among Retail Suppliers
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Baltimore Gas & Electric has filed with the Maryland PSC updated purchase of receivables discount rates which BGE said are designed to account for the end of residential POR on December 31, 2025, with BGE also filing a proposal on how to address any unrecovered balances under POR
BGE proposes to set the June 1, 2025 residential POR discounts using projected uncollectibles through December 2026 (12 months after the conclusion of residential POR UCB). Late payment revenues are forecasted through December 2025, the end of the residential POR program
BGE also said that its projection of residential purchased receivables for the period June 2025 through December 2025 considers recent downturns in the level of customers shopping
Following December 31, 2025, BGE recommends that there be a final reconciliation performed in two parts: (1) an initial reconciliation could be performed following December 2025 between the forecasted amounts included in the updated POR discount rates and the actual amounts seen, with a recommended timing of a filing by March 31, 2026, and (2) a last, final reconciliation that could be performed and filed following the 12-month period ending December 2026, with a recommended filing date of January 31, 2027.
BGE is recommending that the last reconciliation be filed with enough time following the end of residential POR UCB as of December 31, 2025, so that the uncollectible process followed by BGE can be expected to largely be completed for the purchased receivables.
Notably, BGE also recommends that any retail supplier who served residential customers in 2025 (i.e. BGE purchased residential receivables from the retail supplier during that period) would be included in the final reconciliations (reconciliations would be specific to electric service and gas service).
Amounts to be refunded or charged to retail suppliers in these final reconciliations would be socialized (specific to electric service and gas service) based upon each retail supplier’s relative share of the electric (or gas as applicable) residential receivables purchased over the entirety of calendar year 2025.
"This treatment is reasonable as it balances identification of suppliers who should bear the
uncollectible expense associated with the accounts receivable written off," BGE said
BGE specifically proposes the following discount rates:
Potomac Edison
Potomac Edison's newly proposed POR discounts include late payment revenues and uncollectible expense forecasted through December 2026 for residential POR, as PE said that uncollectibles will likely continue to occur on residential accounts in 2026 and thus forecasted amounts through the end of that period for collection.
At this time, PE is in an over-recovered position on Residential POR. "The Company will provide an informational update to the Commission in January 2026 which will include the current balance for Residential POR. It will then continue to track actual late payment revenues and uncollectible expense for Residential POR during 2026 and provide an informational update in July 2026 with a final update in January 2027," PE said
Consistent with PSC precedent, the PE residential discount is proposed to be zero-ed out and set to 0% as a result of the current over-collection balance
Potomac Edison proposed that, if the final Residential POR deferral balance is in an over-recovered position on December 31, 2026, PE shall use those funds to help offset the costs it has incurred for the development of the Supplier Consolidated Billing (SCB) system, which suppliers are required to pay at a charge of $2.00 per bill once implemented
Potomac Edison proposed that, if the Residential POR deferral balance moves into an under-recovered position during 2026, PE would begin billing suppliers for their uncollectible expense since PE tracks it by supplier. Should PE have an under-recovered balance remaining on December 31, 2026, PE requests authorization to establish a regulatory asset, which it would request recovery for in its next distribution base rate case.
Potomac Edison specifically proposed the following POR discounts:
Washington Gas Light
In Maryland, Washington Gas Light also noted that it will incur future residential write-offs beyond 2025 related to receivables that were purchased from suppliers under the residential POR mechanism prior to its end on Dec. 31, 2025
"With the termination of the POR mechanism, there currently exists no mechanism for the Company to recover the costs to those future write-offs," WGL said
"Over the coming the months, parties and the Commission must address how these costs will be recovered," WGL said
WGL said that it considered "significantly" increasing the residential discount rate effective for the June 2025 billing cycle, compared to its proposed rate described below, in order to recover estimated future write-offs. "[H]owever, such an increase would then further accelerate suppliers leaving the system. This could, in turn, result in larger uncollected bad debt balances than the discount rate calculated herein," WGL said
For residential accounts, the WGL Maryland POR discount is proposed to be set at 4.7382%, up from the current 3.2418%, for meter readings on and after June 30, 2025
For non-residential accounts, the WGL Maryland POR discount is proposed to be set at 0%, versus the current 0.0260%, for meter readings on and after June 30, 2025
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April 30, 2025
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Copyright 2025 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
BGE Electric
Current 6/1/25
Discount Discount
Residential 2.3921% 3.5685%
Type I 0.4623% 0.0406%
Type II 0.0000% 0.0000%
Hourly 0.0000% 0.0000%
BGE Gas
Current 6/1/25
Discount Discount
Residential (Sch. D) 3.3389% 4.0205%
General Service (Sch. C) 0.0000% 0.0000%
Potomac Edison-Maryland
Current 6/1/25
Discount Discount
Residential 4.2722% 0.0000%
Type I 0.0000% 0.0000%
Type II 0.0000% 0.0000%
Hourly 0.0000% 0.0000%
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