Chapter 06. Nonresidential Customer Protection
Regulation .01 Scope.LinkCopy Citation
This chapter applies to supplier services to nonresidential customers.
Regulation .02 Enrollment.LinkCopy Citation
A.
A supplier may not enroll a customer without the customer's consent.
B.
A customer's choice of gas supplier is the gas supplier with the first enrollment of the customer received by the utility during any given month.
Regulation .03 Termination.LinkCopy Citation
A.
Except as provided under §§B and C of this regulation, a gas company may not terminate service for failure of a customer to pay supplier charges.
B.
If a utility purchases the receivables of a supplier under COMAR 20.59.05.03, the purchased supplier receivables become utility charges for the purpose of termination of service.
C.
If a utility purchases arrearages attributable to a utility as described in COMAR 20.59.05.10D from a supplier providing supplier-consolidated billing services, the purchased arrearages become utility charges for the purpose of termination of service under COMAR 20.31.
Regulation .04 Contract Requirements.LinkCopy Citation
A.
Only a person licensed under COMAR 20.54 as a supplier may execute a gas supply contract with a customer.
B.
A supplier contract shall contain all material terms and conditions.
Regulation .05 Notice of Enrollment.LinkCopy Citation
A.
Form and Presentation.
(1)
A supplier and the utility shall provide written notice of enrollment to a customer entering into a service agreement with the supplier on the next business day following the supplier's receipt of the utility's enrollment response.
(2)
If a customer's billing method changes, the notice of enrollment shall contain a statement that the customer's previous billing providers may still bill the customer for unpaid charges.
(3)
A supplier's presentation of a signed copy of the customer's contract at any time before enrollment shall constitute sufficient written notice of enrollment to the customer.
B.
Enrollment Notice Content.
(1)
A gas supplier shall provide notice of enrollment of a customer to a utility in a format consistent with the Commission-accepted gas utility supplier coordination agreement.
(2)
Notice of enrollment under §B(1) of this regulation shall include the following:
(a)
Customer account name;
(b)
Customer service address;
(c)
Billing name;
(d)
Billing address;
(e)
Utility name;
(f)
Utility account number;
(g)
Supplier name;
(h)
Supplier identifier;
(i)
Commodity provided;
(j)
Effective date of the enrollment; and
(k)
Whether the customer will receive supplier-consolidated billing service.
Regulation .06 Cancellation of Supply Service.LinkCopy Citation
A.
Except as provided under §D of this regulation or in a tariff regarding supplier default, a utility may remove a customer from supplier services only if directed by a supplier, subject to applicable bankruptcy law.
B.
A supplier shall process a customer's request to cancel supply services not later than the end of the second utility business day after the customer's cancellation request.
C.
A supplier shall notify the customer's utility of a drop by electronic transaction within the time period specified in §B of this regulation.
D.
Customer Cancellation.
(1)
After the third utility business day following a customer request for a supplier to cancel supply service, the customer may contact the utility to verify that the cancellation request submitted by the supplier has been processed by the utility.
(2)
If a customer's cancellation request has not been processed by the customer's utility, and the customer requests cancellation of supplier service, the utility shall process a cancellation.
E.
Supplier-Consolidated Billing — Nonpaying Customer.
(1)
A supplier providing supplier-consolidated billing services shall provide a nonpaying customer a minimum of 3 days notice before cancellation of the customer's contract.
(2)
A supplier's notice to a nonpaying customer under §E(1) of this regulation shall include:
(a)
The total amount due;
(b)
The date by which the payment is due to the supplier;
(c)
The date on or after which the supplier will transmit the drop request to the utility if payment is not received;
(d)
Notice that the customer may still receive gas supply from the supplier until the end of the current month or the next month after the customer is dropped; and
(e)
The telephone number at which the supplier representatives who handle payment arrangements, payment plans, and customer complaints may be reached.
F.
A customer may designate a third party to receive a notice of drop for nonpayment as required in §E(2) of this regulation on the customer's behalf.
Regulation .07 Rescission Period.LinkCopy Citation
A supplier is not required to offer a contract rescission period except where required by law.
Chapter annotations
Authority: Public Utilities Article, §§2-113, 2-121, 5-101, 7-507, 7-511, and 7-601—7-606, Annotated Code of Maryland
History: Effective date:
History: Regulations.01—.07 adopted as an emergency provision effective July 16, 2009 (36:17 Md. R. 1311); adopted permanently effective October 5, 2009 (36:20 Md. R. 1532)
History: Regulation .03A amended effective March 7, 2022 (49:5 Md. R. 367)
History: Regulation .03C adopted effective March 7, 2022 (49:5 Md. R. 367)
History: Regulation .05 amended effective March 7, 2022 (49:5 Md. R. 367)
History: Regulation .06E repealed effective March 11, 2019 (46:5 Md. R. 310)
History: Regulation .06E, F adopted effective March 7, 2022 (49:5 Md. R. 367)
History: Regulation .07 amended effective March 11, 2019 (46:5 Md. R. 310)