News Stories

The Energy Analysis and Planning (EAP) Division of the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) conducted a meeting with interested stakeholders to discuss pending end of residential purchase of receivables (POR).   Residential POR which will cease to exist after December 31, 2025. Representatives from both suppliers and utilities participated in the staff sponsored workshop addressing the logistical considerations involved in phasing out residential POR in the state of Maryland.

Key Changes:

Per Order 91463, residential POR will no longer be allowed after December 31, 2025.

After that date, the only alternative billing option available for suppliers to bill their existing residential customers is retail supplier dual billing.

For this transition, suppliers must submit EDI or XML transactions for their existing retail choice customers.

Utility Positions on Dual Billing:

• All utilities confirmed they have no internal issues, such as limits on transactions that can be received within a day, that would impede implementing dual billing.  However, utilities emphasized the need to confirm supplier capabilities for dual billing and will need to give Staff their contact information for dual billing testing.
• Utilities ask that suppliers inform them of any large volume changes during the ongoing transition away from POR.

Supplier Requests:

• Suppliers requested ability to transition existing residential POR customers to dual billing

Utility Process Considerations for Winding Down Residential POR:  Unresponsive Suppliers Before Deadline:

• What happens if a supplier takes no action before the 12/31/2025 deadline?
• Currently lack authority under Maryland regulations to cancel accounts automatically.
• Suggested solution: MDPSC should issue an order clarifying the handling of inactive supplier accounts.

Billing Cycle and Deadline Alignment:

• Need to define how the billing cycle affects the 12/31/25 cutoff.
• Example: A bill issued in January 2026 may be for December 2025 usage — does this qualify as POR or post-POR?
• According to Order 91463, fixed price contracts for residential choice must end on 12/31/25, and based on the purchase of receivables payment model it would be impossible to pay suppliers for their customers’ usage in 2025 given the deadline to end POR.

Rebills and Cancels:

• Under current regulations, adjustments are allowed for up to one year (or more) for rebills depending on if there was an underbill or overbill.
• Cancels present a challenge:  If a customer cancels and then restarts service, the previous billing type (e.g., POR) is used for the new account.  This could inadvertently lead to customers being billed under POR in 2026, which would not be permitted.
• MDPSC must issue guidance on how to handle cancels and rebills under the new policy.

If Suppliers Take No Action by 12/31/2025:  Several operational issues may occur:

• Reinstated or closed accounts may default to old POR classification unless the account date is backdated.
• Reinstated accounts must reflect pre-drop status, which could incorrectly define them as POR accounts in 2026.
• Utilities stressed:  Importance of coordinating with suppliers on reinstated accounts.
• Coordination must occur before new bills are issued.

Next Steps:

A homework assignment was distributed and is due by September 19, 2025, to address key questions such as rebills and cancels from the discussion and clarify outstanding points. Responses must be emailed to David Hoppock and Ruthie Herman. The homework assignment is attached here.

Next meeting scheduled for two weeks from September 11, 2025.