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PSC Staff Proposes That Retail Suppliers Refer, To Utility, Any Customers Who Ask Not To Be Contacted, For Inclusion On New Do Not Transfer List
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Retail electric and natural gas suppliers in Maryland would be required to refer, to the utility, for inclusion on new Do Not Transfer (Or Market) lists, any individual who informs the supplier, or the supplier's contracted representative, that the individual does not wish to be contacted by the supplier
The Do Not Transfer list, required under SB1, reflects customers who indicate to the utility the customer's desire to remain on SOS or sales service indefinitely, and the customer's desire to not receive directed marketing from retail suppliers. A single list will cover both circumstances (e.g., a customer can't opt-out of direct marketing but still be able to switch retail suppliers without having to first undergo the process of being removed from the Do Not Transfer list)
The Do Not Transfer list will be applicable to residential customers only. Suppliers will be prohibited from enrolling customers who appear on the Do Not Transfer list, and will be prohibited from providing directed marketing to customers on the Do Not Transfer list
In a report on implementing the Do Not Transfer list process, Staff proposes that utilities alone place customers on the Do Not Transfer list, but that retail suppliers be obligated to refer relevant customers to the utility for inclusion on the list, including for customers who do not specifically request to be included on the Do Not Transfer list
Specifically, Staff recommends that retail suppliers -- or any contracted representative of the supplier -- shall be obligated to refer a customer to the utility for the customer to be added to the Do Not Transfer list, with a specific explanation and direction discussed below, when a customer either:
(1) informs a supplier (or their rep) that the customer wishes to stop being contacted by the supplier, or
(2) expresses a desire to be added to the Do Not Transfer list
Staff said that suppliers should refer customers to the utility for inclusion on the Do Not Transfer list under this broader set of circumstances since customers may not be aware of the specific name of the list, its purpose, or that the list even exists
Additionally, Staff recommends that, in response to a customer (or prospective customer) expressing either of the above-cited conditions, the supplier (or their rep) shall explain to the customer that inclusion on the Do Not Transfer list would result in the customer no longer receiving directed marketing from any supplier, and would result in the customer remaining on default service until the customer asks to be removed from the list (except in cases where the customer is currently on retail supply, in which case the customer would continue with the supplier until the end of the customer's contract, though the customer could seek to terminate service separate from the Do Not Transfer list process)
Staff said that suppliers should be required to provide this explanation because simply providing the customer with a referral to contact the utility may confuse customers or leave customers with no understanding of why the customer is being told to call the utility
In referring the above-described customers to the utility for inclusion on the Do Not Transfer list, Staff said that suppliers (or their reps) should provide customers with the utility's customer service phone number
Staff does not recommend that suppliers themselves place customers on the utilities' Do Not Transfer lists because customers may make such requests to a supplier that is not currently serving the customer (such as a customer requesting inclusion on the list in response to the receipt of marketing from a supplier). Placing a customer on the Do Not Transfer list will require the entry of sensitive customer-specific information, including the customer's account number, and Staff said that retail suppliers who are not serving the customer should not be in possession of such sensitive information
Staff proposes that the Do Not Transfer lists, which shall also serve as a Do Not Market list, shall include the customer's name, the customer's service address, and the customer's billing address. Staff recommends that the lists shall exclude customer phone numbers and email addresses
Staff proposes that the Do Not Transfer lists shall be updated daily under an automated process. Until such time as an automated process is implemented, Staff proposes that utilities be obligated to update the lists on a weekly basis, if not more frequently
The Do Not Transfer lists would be made available to retail suppliers via an online portal via spreadsheet or similar format
As previously reported, BGE proposed to cease providing customer lists to retail suppliers as part of implementing the Do Not Transfer list.
Staff said that BGE's offering of customer lists to suppliers is currently required under BGE's coordination tariff, and the cessation of such offering would require a tariff change. Until such time as BGE seeks to change its tariff to remove the offering of ECLs to retail suppliers, Staff said that BGE's proposal need not be addressed at this time
Supplier Average Price Reporting
Staff's report also addresses the obligations of billing entities with respect to various usage and price reporting under SB1
Most notably, under the price reporting, billing entities for residential customers must report (among other data) the average residential rate of the entity (supplier), and the variance between such average and the default service rate
For dual billing or supplier consolidated billing customers, Staff recommends that the retail suppliers shall be responsible for reporting this residential billing data (by service area), including the supplier's average rate and a comparison to the default service rate
Specifically, Staff said that retail suppliers engaged in dual billing or SCB should be required to report the data, broken out by service area, that is required under PUA § 7-
510(g)(2) (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii), and (viii) for electricity, and § 7-604.2(e)(2) (ii), (iii), (iv), (v),
(vi), (vii), and (viii) for gas. This data is limited to residential customers. A comparison of rates for non-residential customers, which is required for utilities under SB1 (under ix-xi), is not proposed to apply to retail suppliers, under Staff's proposal
In reporting the price data, suppliers shall use the total billed cost, over the total usage, in calculating the average rate (i.e., including any non-volumetric charges), with the rate expressed as $/kWh or $/therm. The average rate data filed by suppliers shall include only dual bill and SCB customers, and shall exclude UCB customers, Staff proposed
As noted above, the supplier reports shall include a comparison to the "average" (SB1's language) default service rate. Staff noted that utilities' default service rates are posted online for use by suppliers in such comparison
Addressing confidentiality concerns from suppliers, Staff said that SB1 does not require that such data be filed "publicly", without further addressing if confidential protection will be afforded to the submitted data
Staff's report notes the approximate amount of dual billed residential customers as follows (the reporting date varies slightly by utility, but generally the data is from August to September 2024):
BGE Electric: 120
BGE Gas: 10
Pepco: 10
Delmarva: 26
Potomac Edison: 142
WGL: 104
Retail suppliers would not be responsible for reporting any such price or usage data for utility consolidated billing customers, since utilities have supply rate data for these UCB customers. The utilities would be responsible for reporting this data for UCB customers.
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Staff Proposes Price Reporting, SOS Comparison Obligation For Retail Suppliers
December 6, 2024
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Copyright 2024 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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