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<chapter num="01" heading="General Provisions" title_num="20" subtitle_num="51">
  <regulation prefix="Regulation" num=".01" heading="Scope.">
    <text>Except for an electric company providing standard offer service as defined in Public Utilities Article, §7-501, Annotated Code of Maryland, or a municipal electric utility serving customers solely in its distribution territory, this subtitle applies to all electricity suppliers.</text>
  </regulation>
  <regulation prefix="Regulation" num=".02" heading="Definitions.">
    <paragraph num="A.">
      <text>In this subtitle, the following terms have the meanings indicated.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="B.">
      <text>Terms Defined.</text>
      <paragraph num="(1)">
        <text>“Administrator” means the person appointed as administrator for a qualified offshore wind project under COMAR 20.61.06.09.</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(1-1)">
        <text>“Affiliate” means a person that directly or indirectly, or through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, is under common control with, or has any economic interest in another person.</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(2)">
        <text>Aggregator.</text>
        <paragraph num="(a)">
          <text>“Aggregator” means an entity or an individual that acts on behalf of a customer to purchase electricity.</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(b)">
          <text>“Aggregator” does not include:</text>
          <paragraph num="(i)">
            <text>An entity or individual that purchases electricity for its own use or for the use of its subsidiaries or affiliates;</text>
          </paragraph>
          <paragraph num="(ii)">
            <text>A municipal electric utility serving only in its distribution territory; or</text>
          </paragraph>
          <paragraph num="(iii)">
            <text>A combination of governmental units that purchases electricity for use by the governmental units.</text>
          </paragraph>
        </paragraph>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(3)">
        <text>“Applicant” means a person applying for an electricity supplier license.</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(4)">
        <text>“Application” means a written request for an electricity supplier license.</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(5)">
        <text>“Broker” means an entity or individual that acts as an agent or intermediary in the sale and purchase of electricity but does not take title to electricity.</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(6)">
        <text>“Commission” means the Public Service Commission of Maryland.</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(7)">
        <text>“Competitive billing service” means the:</text>
        <paragraph num="(a)">
          <text>Invoicing for electricity supply or electricity supply services to a retail customer; and</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(b)">
          <text>Processing of payment for electricity supply or electricity supply services to a retail customer.</text>
        </paragraph>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(8)">
        <text>“Contract for energy assistance households” means a residential retail energy supply contract that meets the legal requirements of Public Utilities Article, §4-308, Annotated Code of Maryland, and any other applicable requirements in the Public Utilities Article in connection with a supplier’s supply service for customers who are part of an energy assistance household.</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(9)">
        <text>“Debt service coverage” means a ratio of cash flow dedicated to pay a specific debt to the total amount of debt payments required to be made.</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(10)">
        <text>Electric Company.</text>
        <paragraph num="(a)">
          <text>“Electric company” means a person that physically transmits or distributes electricity in the State to a retail electric customer.</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(b)">
          <text>“Electric company” does not include:</text>
          <paragraph num="(i)">
            <text>An owner/operator that holds ownership in and manages the internal distribution system serving a building and supplies electricity and electricity supply services solely to occupants of the building for use by occupants;</text>
          </paragraph>
          <paragraph num="(ii)">
            <text>A lessee/operator that holds a leasehold interest in and manages the internal distribution system serving a building and supplies electricity and electricity supply services solely to occupants of the building for use by occupants;</text>
          </paragraph>
          <paragraph num="(iii)">
            <text>Any person that generates on-site generated electricity; or</text>
          </paragraph>
          <paragraph num="(iv)">
            <text>A person that transmits or distributes electricity within a site owned by the person or person's affiliate that is incidental to a primary landlord-tenant relationship.</text>
          </paragraph>
        </paragraph>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(11)">
        <text>Electricity Supplier.</text>
        <paragraph num="(a)">
          <text>“Electricity supplier” means a licensed person that:</text>
          <paragraph num="(i)">
            <text>Sells electricity, electricity supply services, competitive billing services, or competitive metering services; or</text>
          </paragraph>
          <paragraph num="(ii)">
            <text>Purchases, brokers, arranges, or markets electricity or electricity supply services for sale to a retail electric customer.</text>
          </paragraph>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(b)">
          <text>“Electricity supplier” includes an electric company, an aggregator, a broker, and a marketer of electricity, including by means of supplier-consolidated billing.</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(c)">
          <text>“Electricity supplier” does not include:</text>
          <paragraph num="(i)">
            <text>An owner/operator that holds ownership in and manages the internal distribution system serving a building, and supplies electricity and electricity supply services solely to occupants of the building for use by the occupants;</text>
          </paragraph>
          <paragraph num="(ii)">
            <text>A lessee/operator that holds a leasehold interest in and manages the internal distribution system serving a building, and supplies electricity and electricity supply services solely to occupants of the building for use by the occupants; or</text>
          </paragraph>
          <paragraph num="(iii)">
            <text>A person that generates on-site generated electricity.</text>
          </paragraph>
        </paragraph>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(12)">
        <text>“Electricity supply services” means the retail procurement of:</text>
        <paragraph num="(a)">
          <text>An electricity supplier;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(b)">
          <text>Metering, billing, including supplier-consolidated billing under Subtitle 53 of this title or meter data management services; or</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(c)">
          <text>Other competitive services traditionally provided by an electric company.</text>
        </paragraph>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(13)">
        <text>“Energy assistance household” means that the Office of Home Energy Programs found that the service address or household associated with the utility account qualified for an electric assistance program during the current or previous fiscal year. For a utility that provides both gas and electric service, an energy assistance household means that the Office of Home Energy Programs found that the service address or household associated with the utility account qualified for an electric or gas assistance program during the current or previous fiscal year.</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(14)">
        <text>“Energy assistance program” means the following programs administered by the Maryland Office of Home Energy Programs by which a customer receives financial assistance paying their electricity utility bills, which includes but is not necessarily limited to:</text>
        <paragraph num="(a)">
          <text>The Maryland Energy Assistance Program;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(b)">
          <text>The Electric Universal Service Program; and</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(c)">
          <text>The Arrearage Retirement Assistance Program.</text>
        </paragraph>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(15)">
        <text>“Fiscal year” means the 12-month period that begins on July 1 of a calendar year and ends June 30 of the next calendar year.</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(16)">
        <text>“Independent system operator” means an entity authorized by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to control a regional transmission grid.</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(17)">
        <text>“License” means the authority granted by the Commission to a person to do business as an electricity supplier.</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(18)">
        <text>“Marketer” means a person that purchases and takes title to electricity as an intermediary for sale to a customer.</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(19)">
        <text>“Negative stockholders' equity” means total assets are less than the sum of total liabilities, preferred stock, and intangibles.</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(20)">
        <text>“Net income” means sales less costs incurred from operations.</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(21)">
        <text>“Person” means an individual, receiver, trustee, guardian, personal representative, fiduciary, representative of any kind, partnership, firm, association, corporation, or other entity.</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(22)">
        <text>“Positive current working capital” means current assets exceed current liabilities.</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(23)">
        <text>“Positive stockholders' equity” means total assets exceed the sum of total liabilities, preferred stock, and intangibles.</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(24)">
        <text>“Regional transmission operator” means a person that performs the same transmission system coordination functions as an independent system operator.</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(25)">
        <text>Retail Electric Customer.</text>
        <paragraph num="(a)">
          <text>“Retail electric customer” means a purchaser of electricity for end use in the State.</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(b)">
          <text>“Retail electric customer” does not include:</text>
          <paragraph num="(i)">
            <text>An occupant of a building in which the owner/operator or lessee/operator manages the internal distribution system serving the building and supplies electricity and electricity supply services solely to occupants of the building for use by the occupants; and</text>
          </paragraph>
          <paragraph num="(ii)">
            <text>A person that generates on-site generated electricity, to the extent the on-site generated electricity is consumed by that person or its tenants.</text>
          </paragraph>
        </paragraph>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(26)">
        <text>“Standard offer service” has the meaning stated in Public Utilities Article, §7-501, Annotated Code of Maryland.</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(27)">
        <text>“Supplier-consolidated billing (SCB)” means a form of competitive billing service in which a gas or electricity supplier is authorized by the Commission to render a bill to a retail gas or electric customer that includes both the supplier charges and the gas or electric company’s regulated charges.</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(28)">
        <text>“System transmission operator” means a person that performs the same transmission system coordination functions as an independent system operator.</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
  </regulation>
  <annotations>
    <annotation type="Authority">Public Utilities Article, §§2-113, 2-121, 4-308, and 7-507, Annotated Code of Maryland</annotation>
    <annotation type="History" subtype="Administrative History">Effective date: September 1, 2003 (30:17 Md. R. 1204)</annotation>
    <annotation type="History" subtype="Administrative History">Regulation .02B amended effective April 11, 2005 (32:7 Md. R. 684); September 15, 2014 (41:18 Md. R. 1010); March 7, 2022 (49:5 Md. R. 366); July 10, 2023 (50:13 Md. R. 513)</annotation>
  </annotations>
</chapter>