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PUC Staff Clarifies Envisioned Minimum Stay Requirement, Applicability To Shopping Customers
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Staff of the Maine PUC, in answers provided in conjunction with a PUC consultant, have answered further questions concerning straw proposals for the implementation of time of use rates, including TOU default service rates.
Among other things, Staff has clarified the minimum stay previously proposed concerning TOU service (see background in ECM's story here
Specifically, Staff says that the minimum stay under a relevant straw proposal would apply to shopping customers who choose a competitive electricity provider (CEP) as well as standard offer supply customers, but would only apply once an active choice is made by the customer
Staff said, "the 12-month stay requirement will only apply after an initial active choice. For example, if a customer is defaulted to a TOU SOS rate, they are free to opt-out and receive either a flat SOS rate or a CEP rate at any time. However, once they make this election, they will be required to stay for 12 months."
Staff confirmed that, under the relevant straw proposal, if a minimum stay is triggered, the utilities shall reject a CEP enrollment if the customer has not fulfilled the 12-month period on standard offer TOU
Staff further confirmed that, for standard offer TOU, the utilities under a straw proposal would continue to procure non-TOU flat pricing from full requirements wholesale suppliers for the entire standard offer load, with retail customers charged a TOU standard offer rate (the default SOS plan), with an option for the customer to affirmatively select a non-TOU flat rate standard offer rate option. The various default service retail rates (TOU vs flat) would be determined administratively by the PUC based on the flat wholesale bids. The TOU rates for on- and off-peak periods would be set at levels intended to recover the same amount of revenue as the flat SOS rate based on assumed levels of usage, Staff said
Wholesale suppliers would remain responsible for load and price risk associated with the full requirements default service product
Staff did propose that, "the TOU rate may be adjusted on a periodic basis to ensure that the TOU rates recover sufficient revenue to minimize imbalances between what the T&D utility pays the SOS Supplier and what it bills in supply revenue to customers"
However, Staff also said that, for purposes of the utilities developing cost estimates for implementation of the straw proposals, this TOU adjustment would only occur annually
Concerning default service reconciliations, Staff said that the utilities would carry a balance for any amount under or over the flat SOS rate paid to wholesale suppliers, which may result from the revenues under TOU pricing diverging from the wholesale costs.
Notably, Staff said that the reconciliation would accrue over a year, and generally would only be reflected in default service rates in the next annual SOS period, though an interim adjustment could be implemented by the PUC for "significant" imbalances
"The underage or overage would accrue carrying charges over the course of the year and would be recovered the subsequent year through an adder to the supply rate," Staff said
The adder would be designed to recover any imbalance over a full year, Staff said
Staff also said, "The Commission, at its discretion, may allow interim adjustments to address significant over- or under-recovery of SOS Supplier receivables."
The PUC also set an updated interim schedule for the PUC's consideration of TOU rates, with the PUC setting the deadline for the costs/benefit analyses to be developed by the utilities as October 20, 2026, meaning that consideration of TOU default service rates will extend beyond such date.
Docket 2025-00176
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Addresses Timeline For Reconciliation Of SOS Rates
June 10, 2026
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Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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