In this subtitle, “consumer” and “customer” each means a retail gas customer.

The General Assembly finds and declares that the purpose of this subtitle is to: clarify existing law regarding the provision of competitive retail gas supply and gas supply services in the State; require the Commission to license gas suppliers, energy salespersons, and energy vendors; authorize the Commission to adopt complaint procedures; establish certain requirements relating to the competitiveness of retail gas supply and gas supply services markets; and establish standards for the protection of consumers.

The Commission shall license gas suppliers, energy salespersons, and energy vendors and shall have the same authority as the Commission has under §§ 7–317, 7–318, and 7–507 of this title for electricity suppliers, energy salespersons, and energy vendors, including the authority to: deny, revoke, suspend, or refuse to renew a license; impose a moratorium, civil penalty, or other remedy; or order a refund for or credit to a customer. The Commission shall adopt licensing requirements and procedures for gas suppliers, energy salespersons, and energy vendors that protect consumers, the public interest, and the collection of all State and local taxes, consistent with the requirements for electricity suppliers under Subtitle 5 of this title and energy salespersons and energy vendors under Subtitle 3 of this title.

Subject to subsection (b)(5) of this section, for just cause on the Commission’s own investigation or on complaint of the Office of People’s Counsel, the Attorney General, or an affected party, the Commission may: deny a license to, or revoke, suspend, or refuse to renew the license of, a gas supplier, an energy salesperson, or an energy vendor; impose a civil penalty or other remedy; order a refund or credit to a customer; or impose a moratorium on adding or soliciting additional customers by the gas supplier, energy salesperson, or an energy vendor. A civil penalty may be imposed in addition to the Commission’s decision to deny, revoke, suspend, or refuse to renew a license or impose a moratorium. Just cause includes: intentionally providing false information to the Commission; switching, or causing to be switched, the gas supply for a customer without first obtaining the customer’s permission; failing to provide gas for its customers; committing fraud or engaging in deceptive practices; failing to maintain financial integrity; violating a Commission regulation or order; failing to pay, collect, remit, or calculate accurately applicable State or local taxes; violating a provision of this article or any other applicable consumer protection law of the State; conviction of a felony by the licensee or principal of the licensee or any crime involving fraud, theft, or deceit; denial, suspension, or revocation of or refusal to renew a license by any State or federal authority; and commission of any of the acts described in items (i) through (x) of this paragraph by a person that is an affiliate of the licensee or that is under common control with the licensee. A gas supplier, an energy vendor, or any other person, except for an energy salesperson, selling or offering to sell gas in the State in violation of this section or § 7–603 of this subtitle, after notice and an opportunity for a hearing, is subject to: a civil penalty of not more than $25,000 for the violation; license denial, revocation, or suspension or refusal to renew the license; or both. An energy salesperson selling or offering to sell gas in the State in violation of this section or § 7–603 of this subtitle, after notice and an opportunity for a hearing, is subject to license denial, revocation, or suspension or refusal to renew the license. Each day or part of a day a violation continues is a separate violation. Each customer to whom gas is sold or offered in violation of this section is a separate violation. The Commission shall determine the amount of any civil penalty after considering: the number of previous violations of any provision of this division by the gas supplier, energy vendor, or other person; the gravity of the current violation; the good faith of the gas supplier, energy vendor, or other person charged in attempting to achieve compliance after notification of the violation; and any other matter that the Commission considers appropriate and relevant. The Commission may not impose a civil penalty on an individual energy salesperson in accordance with this subsection. In connection with a consumer complaint or Commission investigation under this section or § 7–603 of this subtitle, a gas supplier, an energy salesperson, an energy vendor, and any other person selling or offering to sell gas in the State shall provide to the Commission access to any accounts, books, papers, and documents that the Commission considers necessary to resolve the matter at issue. The Commission may order the gas supplier, energy salesperson, an energy vendor, or other person to cease adding or soliciting additional customers or to cease serving customers in the State.

On or before July 1, 2001, the Commission shall adopt consumer protection orders or regulations for gas suppliers, energy salespersons, and energy vendors that: protect consumers from discriminatory, unfair, deceptive, and anticompetitive acts and practices in the marketing, selling, or distributing of natural gas; provide for contracting, enrollment, and billing practices and procedures; and the Commission considers necessary to protect the consumer. In adopting orders and regulations under this section, unless the Commission determines that the circumstances do not require consistency, the Commission shall: provide customers with protections consistent with applicable protections provided to retail electric customers; and impose appropriate requirements on gas suppliers, energy salespersons, and energy vendors that are consistent with applicable requirements imposed on electricity suppliers, energy salespersons, and energy vendors.

The Commission shall establish a customer choice shopping website that allows a customer to sort natural gas suppliers that have open offers to supply natural gas to residential customers in the customer’s service area. The website shall include: a list of all natural gas suppliers that have open offers to supply natural gas to residential customers in a customer’s service area, sortable by: cost of service; cost of natural gas per therm; rate structure; duration of the contract; cancellation fee; and any other aspect of service that the Commission considers necessary; a way to compare natural gas suppliers based on the sortable items specified under item (1) of this subsection; a link to the website of each natural gas supplier with an open offer to supply natural gas to residential customers; a link to a complaint process that provides access for the customer to protect the customer’s rights and make use of consumer protections through the Commission; and fact sheets on the process for comparing offers from natural gas suppliers on the website, including relevant contract terms, requirements, limitations, and fees. To ensure the currency and accuracy of information required under subsection (b) of this section, the Commission shall maintain a secure portal on its website to receive information about offers to supply natural gas from natural gas suppliers. At least once a month, each natural gas supplier with an open offer to supply natural gas shall submit detailed information about the offer to the Commission through a secure portal maintained by the Commission on the Commission’s website for this purpose. The Commission shall recover the cost of complying with this section in accordance with § 2–110 of this article.

In this section, “default gas commodity service” means the supply of retail gas commodity service by a customer’s gas company. This subsection applies to residential gas supply other than default gas commodity service provided by a gas company. A gas supplier that supplies gas to residential retail gas customers: may offer gas service only at a price that does not exceed the trailing 12–month average of the gas company’s default gas commodity service in the gas company’s service territory as of the date of the agreement with the customer; may offer residential gas supply only for a term not to exceed 12 months at a time and may automatically renew the term only if the gas supplier provides notice to the customer 90 days before and 30 days before renewal; subject to paragraph (3) of this subsection, may not offer a variable rate other than a rate that adjusts for seasonal variation not more than twice in a single year; and may not pay a commission or other incentive–based compensation to an energy salesperson for enrolling customers. Paragraph (2)(iii) of this subsection does not prohibit the offer and use of rates that differ based on the total number of therms used by a customer in any billing period. A gas supplier that supplies gas to residential retail gas customers may not sell to a gas company, and a gas company may not purchase from the gas supplier, accounts receivable. A gas company and a gas supplier that supplies gas to residential retail gas customers shall establish a mechanism for a customer whose account number or customer choice identification number has been compromised to receive a replacement account number or customer choice identification number on request, subject to verification in a manner approved by the Commission. Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, as approved by the Commission by regulation or order, each gas company and each gas supplier that supplies gas to residential retail gas customers shall allow a customer to indicate the customer’s intention to remain on default gas commodity service indefinitely and not to receive directed marketing contacts from gas suppliers through the implementation of a “do not transfer” list onto which the customer may request to be placed. A gas supplier that supplies gas to residential retail gas customers may contact a customer on a “do not transfer” list until the gas supply agreement entered into between the gas supplier and the customer expires. In this subsection, “billing entity” means a gas company, a licensed gas supplier, or any other entity that is responsible for issuing a gas bill to a residential customer. On or before the 15th day of each month, each billing entity shall submit a report to the Commission on customer choice in its service territory for the preceding month, including: the total therms distributed to customers purchasing gas from a third–party gas supplier; the total supply cost charged to customers purchasing gas from a third–party gas supplier; the total cost that customers specified in item (ii) of this paragraph would have paid under default gas commodity service; the net third–party total cost compared to the net default gas commodity service cost; the total third–party average rate; the default gas commodity service average rate; the difference between the total third–party average rate and the default gas commodity service average rate; the third–party average residential rates broken out by supplier and the variance between each of these rates and the default gas commodity service average rate; the third–party average general service nondemand rates broken out by supplier and the variance between each of these third–party rates and the default gas commodity service average rate; the third–party average general service demand rates broken out by supplier and the variance between each of these third–party rates and the default gas commodity service average rate; the third–party average large power demand rates broken out by supplier and the variance between each of these third–party rates and the default gas commodity service average rate; and other pertinent information the Commission considers appropriate. The Commission shall, by regulation or order, adopt procedures to carry out this section.

This subtitle may not be construed to: affect the authority of the Division of Consumer Protection of the Office of the Attorney General to enforce violations of Titles 13 and 14 of the Commercial Law Article or any other applicable State law or regulation in connection with the activities of gas suppliers, energy salespersons, or energy vendors; or exempt gas companies, gas suppliers, energy salespersons, and energy vendors from otherwise applicable State or federal consumer protection and antitrust laws. The Commission shall consult with the Consumer Protection Division of the Office of the Attorney General before adopting regulations designed to protect consumers of gas supply and gas supply services. The People’s Counsel has the same authority in licensing, complaint, and dispute resolution proceedings as the People’s Counsel has under Subtitle 5 of this title and Title 2 of this article. In connection with a consumer complaint or Commission investigation under this subtitle, a gas supplier, an energy salesperson, or an energy vendor shall provide to the Commission access to any accounts, books, papers, and documents that the Commission considers necessary to resolve a matter in dispute.

The Commission may adopt regulations or adopt orders to implement this subtitle that it considers necessary and in the public interest.

This subtitle may be referred to as the “Natural Gas Supplier Licensing and Consumer Protection Act of 2000”.