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On June 24, 2026 the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) issued an order denying the application for rehearing filed by the Retail Energy Supply Association (RESA) in the rulemaking pertaining to competitive retail service suppliers in Ohio, as required by substitute house bill Number 15.

In its request for rehearing RESA asserted that the Entry on Rehearing that the customer-signed verification requirement adopted in Ohio Adm.Code 4901:1-29-06(E), the natural gas rule, is inconsistent with the rule adopted in Ohio Adm.Code 4901:1-21-06(E), the electric rule. According to RESA, the rule adopted in Ohio Adm.Code 4901:1-21-06(E) clearly indicates that the customer-signed verification requirement applies only to enrollment obtained by direct solicitation of residential and small commercial customers.

RESA argued that the natural gas rule did not explicitly clarify that it applies only to residential and small commercial customers enrolled through direct solicitation, meaning the customer-signed verification requirement applies to all natural gas customers. RESA argued that this inconsistency is likely to create confusion and contends adopting inconsistent rules is not supported by Ohio law or Commission precedent. Therefore, RESA requested that the customer-signed verification requirement in Ohio Adm.Code 4901:1-29-06(E)(1) be revised to apply only to residential and small commercial customer direct solicitation.

{¶ 10} “The Commission finds that RESA’s assignment of error is unpersuasive and should be denied. . . . . “The Commission regulates retail natural gas suppliers who enroll and serve residential and non-mercantile (i.e. small commercial) customers, meaning the Commission does not need to explicitly state that the customer-signed verification requirement for the natural gas rule applies to residential and small commercial customers because it inherently applies only to those customers. Additionally, a reading of Ohio Adm.Code 4901:1-29-06(E)(1) reinforces the above analysis that this provision inherently only applies to residential and small commercial customers, considering it explicitly refers to situations involving “enrollment” through “direct solicitation,” which are terms defined in Ohio Adm.Code 4901:1-29-01(K) to refer, in pertinent part, to solicitations conducted by a “retail natural gas supplier.” Ohio Adm.Code 4901:1-29-01(K). These facts render RESA’s amendment request unnecessary. We also note that, although other provisions within Ohio Adm.Code 4901:1-29-06(E) specifically reference the terms “residential” and “small commercial” customers when setting forth certain requirements, in context of the Ohio Adm.Code 4901:1-29-06(E)(1), as demonstrated above, it is a distinction without a difference. See Ohio Adm.Code 4901:1-29-06(E)(7).”