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Large Retail Supplier Seeks Rule Changes To Allow Opt-Out Municipal Aggregation In Current Electric Choice State
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NRG Energy has petitioned the Maine PUC for rule changes to allow opt-out electricity aggregation by municipalities
NRG said that opt-out aggregation was "envisioned" by the electric restructuring statutes at 35-A M.R.S. §§ 3201 and 3202
NRG said, "CCA [community choice aggregation] is authorized under 35-A M.R.S. § 3202, which states that 'all consumers of
electricity have the right to purchase generation services directly from competitive electricity
providers' and 'consumers of electricity may aggregate their purchases of generation service in
any manner they choose. If a public entity serves as an aggregator, it may not require consumers
of electricity within its jurisdiction to purchase generation service from that entity.'"
NRG does not further explicitly discuss why such quoted statutory text supports opt-out aggregation specifically; however, it appears that one potential rationale is that, since the statute's text provides that a public entity may not require a customer to purchase power from the public entity, such language envisions the public entity as possessing opt-out enrollment authority, as, absent such opt-out authority, such text could arguably be read as superfluous if public entities instead had only opt-in authority (as under opt-in there would be no question that a customer would not be compelled to purchase supply from the public entity)
Specifically, NRG's proposed rule changes would allow opt-out enrollment for CCAs formed by, "a municipality, or group of municipalities".
Similar to certain other states, CCAs would need to file an aggregation plan with the PUC, which would be subject to PUC review and approval
NRG's proposed rules state, "An Entity or group of Entities with a Community Choice Aggregation program plan that has been approved by the commission may engage to aggregate the customers within the Entity's or group of Entities' boundaries that do not opt out of the Community Choice Aggregation program or that consent to being included in the Community Choice Aggregation Program."
In terms of authorizing CCAs to conduct opt-out enrollment, NRG's proposed rule language would provide that, "Upon [a CCA] receiving plan approval from the commission, all eligible customers on default service within the Entity's or group of Entities' jurisdiction must be automatically enrolled in the Community Choice Aggregation program unless the customer affirmatively opts out."
However, the rules would not authorize opt-out enrollment into a CCA for net energy billing customers (opt-in would be required)
Other than net energy billing customers, NRG's proposed rules do not appear to exclude any customer type (e.g. large C&I) from opt-out enrollment onto the CCA to the extent such customers are on default service
NRG's proposed rules would only require "at least one written notice via
first-class mail", and one published newspaper notice, to inform customers of the opt-out period, and related details (details on the aggregation program, mechanics of opting-out, etc)
NRG's proposed rules generally do not include any of the more prescriptive requirements applicable in certain other states. For example, while NRG's proposed rule requires the filing of an aggregation plan with the PUC, NRG does not propose specifics concerning the requirements for such plans (of course, such requirements could be developed by PUC order and not rule, as has been the case in certain states)
NRG's proposed rules would explicitly provide that CCAs would be billed under utility consolidated billing
NRG proposes that a CCA customer shall be automatically returned to the Standard Offer default service upon being in arrears for two consecutive billing cycles.
A CCA aggregator "that supplies electricity" would receive the same access to customer data as a retail supplier, under NRG's proposal
NRG noted that bill LD 2112 is currently before the Maine Legislature which would create a CCA program in statute.
"NRG is
supportive of LD 2112 but believes that CCA is already authorized by existing law, and adopting these rules is well
within the Commission’s authority," NRG said
Docket 2025-00176
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February 10, 2026
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Copyright 2026 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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