State Fuel Fund Negotiating "Preferred Rate" From Electricity Supplier

The Fuel Fund of Maryland (FFM) is negotiating a "preferred rate" from an electricity supplier in the form of a long-term fixed-price electricity supply contract for its bill assistance clients who complete the Watt Watchers of Maryland program.

Watt Watchers is FFM's behavior-change energy workshop that, "focuses on energy sobriety and empowers bill assistance clients to take control of their energy bill."

Last fiscal year 2,108 low-income Marylanders completed the Watt Watchers program, and FFM said that this number will grow as FFM continues to fully integrate its crisis assistance and affordability programs into one service offering

The Fuel Fund of Maryland's comments were filed in PC 47, which is examining the potential for an opt-in affinity program in the state (see story here).

The Fuel Fund of Maryland, "strongly support[s] the concept of aggregating low-income Marylanders to fully unlock the benefits of a competitive market with the goal of an electricity affordability program as one of the 'tools in the toolbox' needed to significantly reduce the financial burden of low-income Marylanders' energy bills," the Fuel Fund said

"We believe further exploration is needed to determine the best choice architecture for an electricity affordability program. FFM offers that the choice between opt-in, opt-out, and active choosing should ultimately depend on the population to be served by this program, and to the extent it will be developed as a stand-alone program, or as part of a more robust affordability offering. FFM notes that available research ... suggests active choosing may result in higher enrollment than opt-in and opt-out designs," the Fuel Fund said

FFM described active choosing as, " an alternative policy to automatic enrollment [that asks] the chooser to make an active choice."

FFM also supported various market enhancements to ensure a smooth implementation of an opt-in electric affordability program, such as instant connect and contract portability

"[A]n affordability program should explore the opportunity to aggregate natural gas usage in addition to electricity," FFM said

While various assistance agencies may promote an opt-in program, FFM suggested it was appropriate for a larger entity to conduct the program or any RFP, noting, "in most cases current level of staffing could limit those organizations' capacity to educate and enroll their clients in an electric affordability program."