Chapter 04. Transfers of Service
Regulation .01 Scope.LinkCopy Citation
This chapter applies to customers switching from competitive supply service to another supplier or SOS.
Regulation .02 Supplier Enrollment and Drops.LinkCopy Citation
A.
A supplier may enroll or drop a customer by sending the appropriate electronic enrollment or drop transaction to the utility.
B.
Effective Dates. A utility shall process an electronic enrollment or drop from a supplier to be effective within 3 business days after receipt of the electronic transaction.
C.
The utility shall drop a customer from its current supplier when another supplier enrolls the customer.
D.
A utility shall assign a customer who has been dropped by a supplier and not enrolled by another supplier to SOS.
E.
A utility may not be required to process more than two enrollments and two drops per customer per bill cycle.
F.
A supplier may not require that a customer provide it with advance notice, written or otherwise, before the customer switches to another supplier or to SOS.
G.
A utility shall reject a customer's enrollment into supplier-consolidated billing if, at the time of switch, the customer:
(1)
Has a regulated electric utility arrearage older than 30 days;
(2)
Is on a payment arrangement plan with the utility; or
(3)
Has applied for or is receiving funds from the Office of Home Energy Programs, including but not limited to, payments authorized as part of the Electric Universal Service Program or Maryland Energy Assistance Program or enrolled into the Utility Service Protection Program.
H.
Beginning July 1, 2023, a utility shall reject a customer’s enrollment with a supplier if, at the time of the enrollment:
(1)
The customer is an energy assistance household; and
(2)
The supplier does not have a Commission-approved contract for energy assistance households.
I.
The supplier shall inform the customer within 2 weeks if a customer’s enrollment is rejected for the reasons specified in §G or H of this regulation.
J.
Customer Who Starts to Receive Energy Assistance While on Supplier-Consolidated Billing.
(1)
The utility shall provide a supplier 3 business days notice if a supplier's customer on supplier-consolidated billing receives a Maryland Energy Assistance Program or Electric Universal Service Program grant.
(2)
The utility shall drop a customer from supplier-consolidated billing to SOS after sending the supplier notice under this regulation if the supplier continues to provide the customer supplier-consolidated billing service after 3 business days.
(3)
A supplier may change a customer's billing method adhering to COMAR 20.53.05.08 within 3 business days of receipt of the utility notice provided in §I(1) of this regulation, provided that the supplier issues the notices required by COMAR 20.53.05.08B after the change in billing method.
K.
For Contracts Signed on or After July 1, 2023 with a Customer Who Starts to Receive Energy Assistance While Receiving Service from an Electric Supplier.
(1)
When a utility determines that a supplier’s existing customer is newly identified as an energy assistance household, the utility shall within 3 business days provide the supplier notice of that determination.
(2)
Upon receipt of the notice required under §K(1) of this regulation, the retail supplier shall, within 5 business days:
(a)
Terminate the contract and return the customer to SOS;
(b)
If provided for under the existing contract, begin providing service under a Commission-approved contract for low-income customers; or
(c)
Obtain the customer’s consent to receive service under a Commission-approved contract for low-income customers.
(3)
The supplier shall charge the customer the supplier’s current contract rate or SOS rate, whichever is lower, for the time between the supplier’s receipt of the notice in §K(1) of this regulation and the date the customer either is dropped to SOS or begins receiving service under a contract for energy assistance households.
Regulation .03 Transaction Error Handling.LinkCopy Citation
A.
This regulation applies to enrollment or drop transaction errors that are identified not later than 2 business days after the transaction is initiated by a supplier.
B.
A supplier shall notify a utility of a drop error or enrollment error by an electronic cancel transaction not later than 2 business days after the enrollment or drop is initiated by the supplier.
C.
A utility shall process an electronic cancel transaction under §B of this regulation consistent with Commission approved procedures for processing enrollment-related and drop-related transactions.
D.
On receipt of an electronic cancel transaction under this regulation, a utility shall return the customer to the customer's enrollment state before the erroneous transaction.
(1)
If the erroneous transaction is identified by the incumbent supplier, the incumbent supplier shall, upon verifiable consent of the customer, cancel the pending enrollment by notifying the utility by an electronic cancel transaction within 24 hours of the customer's consent.
(2)
Initiation of the electronic cancel transaction by the incumbent supplier without the verifiable customer consent required in §E(1) of this regulation is considered an unauthorized enrollment of the customer with the incumbent supplier.
Regulation .04 Customer Initiated Drops.LinkCopy Citation
A.
Customer Cancellation.
(1)
A customer that wants to cancel a supplier contract shall first attempt to cancel the contract according to the terms of the contract.
(2)
If a customer attempts to cancel a contract by contacting the utility first, the utility shall direct the customer to contact the supplier through the means detailed in the supplier contract, terms and conditions or may direct the customer to contact the supplier through use of contact information on the Commission’s website.
(3)
If a customer’s cancellation request has not been received by the utility from the customer’s supplier, and the customer confirms that more than three days have passed since the customer cancelled the contract with the supplier, the utility shall process a cancellation.
(4)
Customer initiated drops shall be processed in accordance with the provisions of COMAR 20.53.04.02.
B.
A supplier may not include cancellation provisions in its contract for service that would limit or waive this provision.
C.
A customer that initiates a drop with the utility must switch back to SOS as described in Regulation .02 of this chapter.
D.
A customer’s request to cancel service with the current retail supplier under this regulation does not limit cancellation provisions contained in the customer’s service agreement with the supplier.
Chapter annotations
Authority: §§2-113, 2-121, 4-308, 5-101, 7-505, 7-507, 7-511, and 7-603, Annotated Code of Maryland
History: Effective date: July 1, 2005 (31:26 Md. R. 1865)
History: Regulations .01—.03, Consumer Disclosure, repealed and new Regulations .01—.04, Transfers of Service adopted effective June 20, 2008 (35:11 Md. R. 1043)
History: Chapter revised effective March 14, 2016 (43:5 Md. R. 386)
History: Regulation .02 amended effective March 7, 2022 (49:5 Md. R. 367); July 10, 2023 (50:13 Md. R. 513)