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PUC Proposes New Rules Concerning Mercantile Customers, Including Return To SSO, Retail Supplier Fees
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The PUC of Ohio has issued proposed new rules relating to mercantile customers, with the rules generally implementing and tracking recent law changes under HB 15
PUCO proposes new OAC 4901:1-10-36 and 4901:1-21-21, relating to an expedited return of a mercantile customer to the Standard Service Offer from retail supplier service, with the draft rules listed below
One provision not explicitly set by statute is the notice that a retail supplier would be required to give to a mercantile customer if the supplier initiates an expedited return of the customer to SSO
As noted below, the draft rule provides that a retail supplier "should" provide 7 calendar days' notice to the mercantile customer
prior to submitting an expedited drop to SSO for a mercantile customer, unless the customer and supplier agreed to a different time period in their agreement
The proposed rules include the following:
4901:1-10-36 - Expedited Return of Mercantile Customers to Standard Service Offer.
(A) Upon receiving a certified request from a CRES [competitive retail electric service] provider under a service agreement that
explicitly authorizes an expedited return to an electric utility's standard service offer,
voluntarily entered into by a mercantile customer, the electric utility will complete the
request within three (3) business days, regardless of billing cycle.
(B) If the certified request does not comply with the requirements set forth in section 4901:1-21-
21 of the Administrative Code [new section below], the electric utility may process the return to the standard
offer pursuant to 4901:1-10-29(H).
(C) The electric utility cannot be held liable for any disputes arising from the expedited return to
the utility's standard service offer, provided the utility acts in accordance with these rules.
The electric utility will refer any mercantile customer complaint concerning this process
to the PUCO call center.
(D) The utility may recover the administrative costs of processing requests under (B) through
reasonable fees assessed to the CRES provider as set forth in the electric utility's tariff and
approved by the Commission.
4901:1-21-21 - Certified request for return of mercantile customer to the standard service offer.
(A) For purposes of this rule, "certified request" means a request from a CRES supplier to an
EDU for the expedited return to the EDU's standard service offer of a mercantile customer
under a voluntary service agreement with the CRES supplier that explicitly authorizes the
expedited return of the mercantile customer to the EDU's standard service offer, as
authorized under section 4928.105 of the Revised Code.
(B) A CRES supplier should provide seven (7) calendar days' notice to the mercantile customer
prior to submitting a certified request to an EDU, unless a different timeframe is agreed to
between the parties in the voluntary service agreement that explicitly authorizes the
expedited return.
(C) The certified request form is available on the Commission's website.
The draft new rules also provide that an EDC cannot disallow mercantile customer self-power systems from providing electric
generation service to one or more mercantile customers in the EDC's service territory.
Case 25-741-EL-ORD
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November 19, 2025
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Copyright 2025 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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