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Excerpts from the Maryland Public Service Commission’s POR Order:

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“In this Order, the Commission implements PUA §7-510(d), which states that as of January 1, 2025 “a residential electricity supplier may not sell to an electric company, and an electric company may not purchase from the electricity supplier, accounts receivable.” Based upon the record developed over the course of this proceeding, dual billing is the only feasible interim methodology until utilities can implement a non-Purchase of Receivable (“POR”) Utility Consolidated Billing (“UCB”) mechanism. Based upon this prohibition by the General Assembly, the Commission has no alternative but to direct suppliers to enroll all new customers after January 1, 2025, under dual billing. 

The Commission interprets a “renewal” under the statute to include any change in term or price after January 1, 2025. The Commission also determines that all variable price or term contracts shall end no later than February 28, 2025. Fixed term and fixed price contracts will no longer be billed by way of POR UCB after December 31, 2025. The Commission developed these “dates certain” to gradually phase out existing contracts while setting deadlines that would allow many of those contracts to expire under their own terms.

Going forward, suppliers and utilities shall negotiate in good faith as to whether the post-POR future in Maryland utility billing will be Utility Consolidated Billing, Supplier Consolidated Billing (“SCB”) or Dual Billing.” {***}

{***} “COMMISSION DECISION 

1. Phasing Out of POR UCB 

Retail suppliers shall enroll all new residential choice contracts through dual billing on or after January 1, 2025. The Commission appreciates the various input it has received from the parties. In Order No. 91303, the Commission stated that “a requirement to maintain two separate systems is inefficient and creates additional complications.”59 However, based upon the record developed over the course of this proceeding, dual billing is the only feasible interim methodology until utilities can implement a non-POR UCB. 

The Commission does not agree with the retail suppliers that it has the authority to extend POR UCB beyond January 1, 2025, without qualification. The Commission therefore orders that retail suppliers enroll all new residential choice contracts through dual billing on or after January 1, 2025, until a non-POR residential UCB method is implemented, or suppliers opt to continue with dual billing or implement supplier consolidated billing. Suppliers that are unable to utilize dual billing shall return their current supply customers to Standard Offer Service (“SOS”) and default gas commodity service until the utilities can implement a non-POR residential UCB method. In the interim, the Commission waives COMAR 20.53.05.03 and 20.59.05.01 to allow utilities and suppliers to implement dual billing.60

Residential Choice contracts in existence on January 1, 2025 shall “renew”, pursuant to SB 1, upon any change to the contract’s term or price, and all supply contracts subject to variable (i.e. non-fixed) pricing or variable terms or automatic month-to-month renewals shall be returned to SOS or default commodity service no later than February 28, 2025, unless the customer makes alternative arrangements.61 

The Commission agrees with Staff and OPC and determines that any month-to month contract that automatically renews every 30 days constitutes a “renewal” under SB 1. 62 Therefore, any such monthly contract in existence on January 1, 2025, shall be enrolled in dual billing upon expiration of the following monthly cycle. Similarly, contracts in existence on January 1, 2025, that contain variable pricing- whether with a monthly term or an “open-ended” term that either party may terminate at will or with notice – shall “renew” pursuant to SB 1 upon a change in the contract’s price or the expiration of the notice period after January 1, 2025, whichever comes first. The Commission understands that most of the existing supply contracts will shift to dual billing or SOS/default commodity price before the end of January under the definition of “renewal” that the Commission adopts. However, this broad interpretation of when a contract “renews” has significant support in case law63 and furthers the General Assembly’s purpose of extending SB 1’s consumer protection provisions as soon as possible, subject only to protecting existing contracts and renewals within a reasonable fashion. The Commission further determines that all residential choice POR UCB contracts with variable price/terms shall revert to dual billing no later than February 28, 2025. This allows most of the contracts in existence on January 1, 2025, to proceed until the natural end of the contract’s term or its “renewal” as defined above. After February 28, 2025, the only residential supply contracts subject to POR UCB are contracts that contain both a fixed price and a fixed term. 

The Suppliers shall provide 30-days’ notice to their customers, if possible, informing them that they will be billed either through dual billing or returned to SOS or default commodity price no later than their contract’s renewal date or February 28, 2025, depending upon the contract terms for renewal or price change.

The remaining fixed-term and fixed price contracts shall be grandfathered pursuant to SB 1 until December 31, 2025, at which time all POR Utility Consolidated Billing shall end. 

On December 31, 2025, all remaining fixed price and fixed term contracts shall no longer be billed through POR UCB. The Commission expects that few fixed price contracts contain terms longer than a year, so this deadline allows most fixed price/term contracts to expire naturally based on the term of the contract. The Commission also accepts Staff’s recommendation and directs suppliers to submit quarterly reports, beginning in January, that identify both the commodity type and contractual end-date for each residential customer.64 Suppliers shall submit these quarterly reports into the Commission’s PC 65 docket.” {***}

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IT IS THEREFORE, this 30th day of December, in the year of Two Thousand Twenty-Four, by the Public Service Commission of Maryland, ORDERED: 

1. that retail suppliers shall enroll all new residential choice contracts on or after January 1, 2025, through dual billing; 
2. that utilities shall maintain existing residential POR UCB for contracts entered into or renewed on or before December 31, 2024, until such time as there is a change in price or term of the residential choice contract; 
3. that upon a change in price or term, a supplier shall move a customer to dual billing or SOS or default commodity price unless the customer makes alternative arrangements (such as Supplier Consolidated Billing);
4. that utilities and suppliers shall negotiate in good faith regarding future billing services agreements involving residential non-POR Utility Consolidated Billing arrangements, dual billing or Supplier Consolidated Billing; and 
5. that all fixed-price/fixed-term POR UCB residential choice contracts shall end on December 31, 2025.

Read entire order at link below.

Order no. 91463 – POR Pursuant to SB1
https://webpscxb.psc.state.md.us/DMS/commissionorders.
PC 65 (07/23/2024)
(SB1 – Accounts Receivable Related to Residential Electric and Gas Supply)