Md. Code Regs. 20.59.07.14

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 12, June 14, 2024

Section 20.59.07.14 - Energy Assistance Households

A. Utility Obligation to Reject Enrollments.

(1) Beginning on July 1, 2023, an energy assistance household may only be enrolled by a supplier onto a Commission-approved contract for energy assistance households.

(2) Beginning on July 1, 2023, when a utility receives a supplier enrollment the utility shall determine the customer's energy assistance household status and reject the enrollment if the supplier does not have a Commission-approved contract for energy assistance households. When rejecting an enrollment, the utility shall identify the reason for rejecting the enrollment as the customer's energy assistance household status.

(3) The utility shall record the number of rejected enrollments and provide annual reporting to the Commission.

B. Contracts for Energy Assistance Households.

(1) A contract for energy assistance households shall guarantee service at rates at or below the utility's gas commodity price or net purchased gas charge for the term of the contract.

(2) The retail supplier's rate for comparison shall include all commodity charges, including fixed charges divided by the therms consumed.

(3) The retail supplier's rate may not include a downward adjustment to reflect non-energy products or services that the supplier provides or offers to customers, including, but not limited to, gift cards, free or discounted warranties, and discounts for non-energy products.

(4) For billing periods which extend over more than one utility gas commodity price or net purchased gas charge, the rate for comparison shall be:

(a) If the customer does not have an AMI meter, the weighted average of the number of days on each gas commodity price or net purchased gas charge; or

(b) If the customer does have an AMI meter, the gas commodity price or net purchased gas charge applied to the usage on each rate.

C. For contracts signed or renewed on or after July 1, 2023, if a supplier charges a customer in an energy assistance household pursuant to a contract that is not a Commission-approved contract for energy assistance households, the customer is entitled to remedies as defined in §D of this regulation.

D. Customer Remedies.

(1) Refund.

(a) Customer remedies for a violation of §§B and C of this regulation shall be a refund for each billing period where the supplier charged more than the utility gas commodity price or net purchased gas charge.

(b) The refund shall be calculated as the difference between the monies paid during the billing period and the utility gas commodity price or net purchased gas charge.

(c) The refund shall include interest based on the interest rate that is applied to a utility's refund of customer deposits under COMAR 30.01.05.

(2) The refund shall be remitted as follows:

(a) If the charges have been billed by and the receivable purchased by the utility, the refund shall be remitted to the utility by the supplier. The refund shall be applied to the customer's utility account current balance and the excess returned to the customer upon request. If the customer is no longer served by the utility, then the refund shall be returned to the customer.

(b) Upon purchase of any receivable under this section, the utility shall be entitled to collect from the customer, and the customer shall be responsible to pay the utility, the total amount billed less any refund.

(3) A supplier shall have a grace period of 10 business days to update their systems to bill a lower new gas commodity price or net purchased gas charge for contracts for energy assistance households after a utility posts a new gas commodity price or net purchased gas charge.

Md. Code Regs. 20.59.07.14

Regulations .14 adopted effective 50:13 Md. R. 513, eff. 7/10/2023