Maryland PSC Excludes Early Termination Fees from POR

The Maryland PSC this afternoon ordered that early termination fees shall not be included in any receivables purchased by the utility under POR.

The PSC's order from the bench at today's administrative meeting was not specifically directed at electric or gas service, but would apparently apply to both services.

The prohibition on including termination fees in POR is prospective, effective with meter readings on July 22 and thereafter.

The Commission ruled that early termination fees are not commodity charges, and thus may not be included in purchased receivables which are limited to commodity charges.

The PSC said that early termination fees may still be charged by suppliers, but that utilities are not required to bill for the fees on utility consolidated bills.

The supplier coordination working group is free to address the issue of including the early termination fees on utility consolidated bills, with such fees excluded from POR, and to bring proposals to the Commission. Utilities have said that current billing systems cannot separate POR and non-POR charges, and thus system changes would be required. Commissioners indicated that any such costs would likely be recovered from suppliers.

As early termination fees will not be included in POR, non-payment of such fees will not result in disconnection of service.

The Commission did not see a need to address Staff's argument that receivables purchased by the utility shall only include charges billed on a per kilowatt-hour basis (see 7/7). Staff clarified that its statement was not meant as seeking to eliminate the ability of suppliers to bill commodity charges on a basis other than per kilowatt-hour (such as per kW fees for capacity, flat fees for administrative costs, etc.)