License Briefs

Stream Energy Receives Gas Supplier License in New State

The Maryland PSC granted Stream Energy Maryland, LLC a natural gas supplier license to serve residential and commercial customers at Baltimore Gas & Electric, Washington Gas Light, Chesapeake Utilities, and Elkton Gas. The application had been first reported by Matters. Stream Energy Maryland, LLC is currently active in the Maryland electric market, serving customers at BGE and Pepco.

Start-up Forgitit, LLC Receives License in New State

The Maryland PSC granted start-up Forgitit, LLC an electric broker license to serve residential customers. In its original application, Forgitit, LLC said that it, "was formed as a software as a service that automates the process of choosing an energy supplier." The service finds the best available supply rate for an electricity customer and automatically enrolls them at that price, Forgitit said. "The customer will then be given access to proprietary benchmarking and energy auditing tools," Forgitit said. There is an annual fee of $29.99 for Forgitit's services, and customers can earn a $10 referral fee for new customers referred to Forgitit.

Zap My Bill Receives License in New State

The Maryland PSC granted Zap My Bill, LLC an electric broker license to serve residential, commercial, and industrial customers in all service areas. The PSC said that based on discussion at the Administrative Meeting with the Commission's Technical Staff and the Office of People's Counsel, the Commission directed Zap My Bill to pay a civil penalty in the amount of $100.
A letter order did not specifically identify the reason for the fine, but the People's Counsel had said in comments that OPC had discovered that Zap My Bill's website, prior to Maryland licensure, "offered a dropdown menu for inquiries from potential customers from a number of states, including Maryland." The inclusion of Maryland was made in anticipation of market entry, and Maryland was removed from the drop down menu after being notified by OPC. Zap My Bill said that despite the inclusion of Maryland in the drop down menu, it had received no inquiries from a Maryland customer, and subsequently had not responded to any inquiries from a Maryland customer, and had no Maryland customers prior to licensure.
Nevertheless, OPC said that, to its understanding, "the Commission has previously considered solicitation of Maryland customers on an applicant's website to be, 'engaging in the business of electricity supplier' in Maryland," and therefore, cannot be performed prior to licensure. OPC had recommended a civil penalty consistent with the PSC's treatment of other brokers engaged in Maryland brokering prior to licensure.

The Legacy Energy Group Seeks Licenses in New States

The Legacy Energy Group, LLC applied for a Maine electric broker license to serve all sizes of non-residential customers at Central Maine Power, Bangor Hydro-Electric, and Maine Public Service. The Legacy Energy Group also said that it had recently applied for a Rhode Island broker license.