This chapter applies to Montgomery County when seeking to form a Community Choice Aggregator (CCA) in Maryland. A county seeking to form a CCA shall submit an Aggregation Plan for Commission approval. A county shall include the following in its Aggregation Plan: A description of the following: The CCA’s service territory, including: Electric company service territories; and Differences between electric company service territories, if applicable; The customers to be served; and The resolution process for errors in CCA enrollments or customer SOS selection; The proposed CCA transition schedule, including: Date by which the CCA will complete procurement of supply to meet initial CCA load; Date by which the electric companies in the county will send updated eligible customer lists to the CCA, per COMAR 20.63.03.03B; Date by which the CCA will have mailed the CCA opt-out notice to all residential and small commercial electric customers in the county; The schedule for residential and small commercial electric customers to respond to the opt-out notice prior to a customer being deemed to have given permission to participate in the CCA; Estimated schedule for submitting initial CCA enrollments to each electric company; and Date on which CCA begins providing initial electric supply service to customers; Details of the circumstances and processes for participating in the aggregation activities of a CCA, including: Circumstances and processes by which customers are automatically enrolled in CCA Basic Service; Explanation of how the CCA intends to inform customers that SOS and retail supply will continue to be available; Processes to permit a customer to decline to participate in the CCA; Processes to permit a customer to select SOS or a retail supply contract; The circumstances and processes by which a CCA will determine that a customer has opted out of CCA Basic Service; Processes by which a customer can affirmatively select CCA Basic Service; Processes by which a customer can affirmatively select CCA Optional Services; and Explanation of how the county intends to inform customers about the availability of Seamless Moves; The circumstances and processes by which the CCA will provide notices to customers, including: The draft notice or notices; The purpose of the notice; and Actions taken by CCA in response to the customer’s response to the notice; A description of the organizational structure of the CCA, including: Governance policies, including: The roles of government personnel; The roles of elected officials; and The roles of other personnel; Reporting relationships within the CCA organizational structure; County government entity accountable for all CCA policies and procedures; and The authority and responsibility of entities within the CCA organizational structure; A description of the operations of the CCA, including: Each function that will be performed by the CCA; The entities responsible and accountable for these functions, including how these entities, whether internal or external, were selected; and The internal oversight of the CCA; A description of the funding and budget of the CCA, including: The anticipated sources of CCA revenues; The anticipated CCA operating expenses; The anticipated CCA capital costs; and A projected initial operating budget for the CCA’s first year of operation; A description of the purchasing plan designed to save ratepayers money, including: The proposed plan for procuring supply, including anticipated use of Requests for Proposals and competitive bidding; Supplier evaluation criteria, including: Price; Performance capabilities; Creditworthiness; and Operational capabilities; Measures that provide financial assurance associated with the supplier’s commitments; Anticipated time frame of initial procurement and subsequent procurement frequency; Differentiation of procurement by electric company service territory, if applicable; Long-term power purchasing agreements and asset investment, including: Means by which counterparties would be evaluated; Method of financing; and Key terms and conditions; Purchasing plan monitoring and oversight; Measures to mitigate price volatility for customers; The role of renewable content in procurement evaluation; The role of price in procurement evaluation; Description of the potential impact on price that energy sourced from renewable resources may have; Description of procedures designed to ensure power is procured to serve entire projected load; Explanation of how the purchasing plan is designed to save CCA participants money; and Commission review of proposed changes to the approved procurement plan; A description of the processes the CCA shall use for entering into and terminating agreements with other entities, including the process for entering and terminating contracts with retail suppliers, electric generation, and electric storage facilities; A proposal for reporting to the Commission regarding the CCA’s procurement, including: A proposed schedule for the reporting; and What information the reporting will provide; A description of the rate setting process and costs to participants, including: Initial and anticipated service offering; Description of differentiation of rates and service options by electric company, if applicable; Description of seasonal, time-of-use, or tiered rates, if applicable; Description of demand response and energy efficiency components, if applicable; and Description of cost true-up mechanisms; Description of the frequency of rate updates, including: Potential causes for changes in rates; How customers will be notified of rate changes; How the Commission will be notified of rate changes; and Duration of time between a notice of a rate change and the time the rate change becomes effective; Recovery of non-commodity costs; Customer education for initial and future service offerings; Commission notification and review of proposed changes to service offerings; Customer deposit requirements; Late payment charge requirements; and The methodology for establishing the rate for CCA Basic Service, including: Prevailing market prices; Ongoing purchases; and Operating costs; An analysis of historical and forecast trends in electricity prices, as described in COMAR 20.63.13; A statement of the rights and responsibilities of electric customers participating in the CCA and eligible CCA electric customers not currently participating in the CCA, including: Proposed terms and conditions of CCA customer participation, including; Explanation of customer participation in the CCA; The right to opt-out of participation; The right to request SOS; The right to enter into and retain retail supply contracts; The right to request CCA participation; CCA optional service; All processes for customer participation and opt-out; Billing of CCA customers, including use of utility consolidated billing and billing for optional services, if applicable; Payment rules and regulations, including late fees, if applicable; Dispute resolution processes; Application of existing electric company regulations and terms and conditions of service; Notice of changes in rates or prices; How customers will be notified of rates or price changes; Duration of time between notice of a rate change and the time a rate change become effective; Contact information including a CCA website containing the terms and conditions of CCA participation; When customers should contact their electric company; and When customers should contact the CCA; Commission review of proposed changes of the terms and conditions of CCA participation, including an explanation of how county residents and small businesses will be made aware of approved changes to the terms and conditions of CCA participation; A draft Customer Rights and Responsibilities Pamphlet to be provided to county residents and small commercial electric customers; A draft Frequently Asked Questions and Key Definitions to be provided to county residents and small commercial electric customers, including: Common terms and definitions; Statement that the electric company’s terms and conditions are unchanged by the customer’s enrollment in the CCA; and The means by which the Frequently Asked Questions and Key Definitions may be made available to county residents and small commercial electric customers; A description of the CCA’s data security mechanisms and data privacy policies to be provided to county residents and small commercial electric customers; A statement of Universal Electricity Access, Reliability, and Equitable Treatment of all residential and small commercial electric customers; and An explanation of how the rights and responsibilities of participating electric customers contained in this section will be provided to county residents and small commercial electric customers; The contingency plan for terminating the Aggregation Program, including: The conditions and timing of planned termination of the CCA, if any; A description of the notices the CCA will provide to the Commission, electric companies in the county and CCA customers in the event of full or partial termination, including; Timing of notices to customers, electric companies, and the Commission; and Information to be contained in the notices; The processes for transferring customers from the CCA to SOS service; and The processes for winding down the CCA; A proposed CCA cybersecurity plan, as described in COMAR 20.63.16.03; Commission notification and review of changes to an approved Aggregation Plan; A statement of the purpose of the CCA, including the goals sought to be achieved; The proposed process for comprehensive and effective CCA outreach and education, including: Messaging; Means of communication; and Budget; and The process by which the CCA will accept and record customer decisions to opt out of CCA participation. A county may not act upon any portion of the Aggregation Plan until the Aggregation Plan has been approved by the Commission. Filing Schedule and Requirements. A county, when initiating a process to form a CCA, shall file with the Commission the following: A notice of intent to form a CCA; A copy of the County’s Aggregation Plan; A draft local law forming the CCA; Proposed terms of service; Proposed categories of charges; Proposed categories of fees; and Proposed costs unrelated to actual cost of the electricity supply. A county may not initiate a process to form a CCA unless the county has: Met the preliminary requirements in §B of this regulation; Committed to CCA formation on or after December 31, 2023; and Received from the Commission approval of a petition to initiate a process to form a CCA. Preliminary Requirements. A county may not initiate a process to form a CCA unless it has, at least 60 days prior, performed the following: Developed an Aggregation Plan consistent with Regulation .02 of this chapter; Filed with the Commission a petition for approval of the county’s intention to initiate a process to form a CCA and Included in its petition proof of the following: Provision of a written notice of the Aggregation Plan to each residential and small commercial electric customer in the county using a list provided by each electric company serving the county’s residents and businesses; Publication of a fair summary of the Aggregation Plan in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the county; and Publication, on the county’s website, of the full text of the Aggregation Plan; Aggregation Plan Discovery Requests. A county, after filing the petition with the Commission described in §B(2) of this regulation, shall make reasonable efforts to respond within 10 business days to information requests, including data requests, sent to the county regarding the County’s Aggregation Plan unless the Commission imposes a different deadline. A county shall respond to requests made by the Commission’s technical staff, Maryland Peoples’ Counsel, electric companies serving Montgomery County customers, Apartment and Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington, and other parties to which the Commission has granted discovery rights. Objections to discovery and discovery responses shall be made within 3 business days unless otherwise directed by the Commission. Approval of an Aggregation Plan. A county may not begin providing CCA service to its residential and small commercial customers until after the following has occurred: The Commission has approved the County’s Aggregation Plan. The county has enacted a local law that provides that the county shall act as a CCA. Approval of Aggregation Plan Changes. A CCA may not implement material changes to the approved Aggregation Plan without Commission approval. A CCA shall notify the Commission of any non-material change to the approved Aggregation Plan every 6 months. All changes to CCA Basic and Optional Services may not be considered material changes. Public Utilities Article, §§1–101(b), (f), and (k), 7–306(f)(5) and (h), 7–306.2(d)(3), 7–507(a), 7–510(f) and 7–510.3, Annotated Code of Maryland Effective date: February 5, 2024 (51:2 Md. R. 76)