The Commission issued a Notice of Inquiry on a series of significant retail electric market issues, including the disclosure of variable rate offers; the marketing of “green” or “renewable” offers; possible definitions for “fixed” and “variable” rate offers; and ways to enhance consumer education.

Specific questions raised for comments are as follows:
"Variable Rate Offers
1. What type of disclosure requirements do you believe are necessary for varia-ble rate offers to ensure consumers understand that the rate fluctuates?
2. Should the Commission adopt a requirement that the supplier provide the customer with a formula or method by which the variable rate is determined?
3. Should the Commission adopt a requirement that a residential variable rate has to be tied to a publicly available index/benchmark?
4. Should the Commission adopt additional notice requirements for variable rate changes?
5. Should the Commission require suppliers to set and disclose a maximum rate for each residential variable rate offer?
6. Should sales of variable rate offers be prohibited from implying future savings unless the basis for such implied savings is provided?
7. Should the Commission require suppliers to provide its customers with readily available access to rates, including historical rates and current rates, as well as imminent changes to the rates?

Renewable or “Green” Energy Offers
1. Should the Commission define residential marketing terms such as “green” and “renewable” offers? If so, what should form the basis of such definitions?
2. Should a “% renewable” column be added to the supplier offer matrix found on PlugInIllinois.org? If so, is the addition of such a column dependent on a Commission definition of “renewable energy”?

Defining Fixed and Variable Rates
1. Should the Commission define “fixed” and “variable” rates? If so, how should such definitions impact the supplier offer matrix on PlugInIllinois.org?
2. If you favor a Commission definition of “fixed” and “variable” rates, please provide and explain your proposed definitions.
3. Should the Commission adopt additional customer disclosure requirements for “fixed” offers that contain change-of-law contract clauses?
4. Should the Commission adopt additional customer disclosure requirements for “fixed” offers that contain change-of-supplier-cost contract clauses?
5. Should the Commission adopt additional customer disclosure requirements for “fixed” offers that contain other non-fixed rate components?

Price-To-Compare
1. Should the Commission specify how a supplier has to portray the utility Price-to-Compare?
2. Should the Commission require a uniform method of price comparison based on usage intervals?

Consumer Education
1. Do you recommend changes and/or supplements to the Commission’s retail electric education website, PlugInIllinois.org?
2. Do you propose additional ways to increase traffic to PlugInIllinois.org?
3. Should the Commission Staff create a website and/or document with all laws and regulations relevant to retail electric suppliers in Illinois?
4. Should the Commission Staff hold periodic workshops to discuss existing rules?
5. Should utilities be required to display the supplier logo on a utility-consolidated bill?
6. Should suppliers be required to post their residential offers on PlugInIlli-nois.org?

Cancellation/Rescission
1. Should a customer be entitled to the previous rate if she cancels the contract within a set number of days of being notified of the new rate?
2. Should the Commission change the rescission period for customers with a smart meter? If so, what should the new rescission period be?"

Initial comments are due on November 6th, and reply comments are due November 25th. The full text of the Notice of Inquiry is available on the NEM Website.

The Commission issued an Order to address the disparity in timing in renewal notices for natural gas and electric service for customers receiving both services from the same competitive supplier. In the case when a customer is receiving both electric and natural gas service from the same competitive supplier and the terms for both services expire within 30 days of each other, the supplier may send two contract expiration notices that address both services. The timing of the two notices must comply with the timeframes set forth in the gas regulations — the first at 90 days and the second at 60 days. Suppliers may alternatively choose to provide the customer with four separate notices if they choose (two per the natural gas regulations and two per the electric regulations). The full text of the Order is available on the NEM Website.

The Commission issued an ANOPR pertaining to the interest rate applicable to both over- and under-collections resulting from the reconciliation of the electric utilities actual costs and revenue collected through automatic adjustment clauses for electric default service. Currently, the interest rates applied to utility under- and over-collections are often asymmetrical, resulting in an incentive to underproject or undercollect in order to avoid over collection penalties and to receive an interest rate higher than that which can be found in the market. The Commission proposes to, "establish a symmetrical rate of interest which will be applicable to over and under collections resulting from the reconciliation of DSPs’ costs and revenues resulting from automatic adjustment clauses related to electric default service. The proposed applicable rate of interest on over and under collections would be interest at the prime rate for commercial borrowing in effect on the last day of the month the over or under collection occurred, as reported in the Wall Street Journal. . . . This rate of interest will be computed monthly from the month the over collection or under collection occurs to the effective month that the over collection is refunded to customers or the under collection is collected from customers. Additionally, this rate of interest will apply universally to all over and under collections reconciled through the automatic adjustment clauses related to electric default service." Comments on the ANOPR are due thirty days after its publication in the PA Bulletin. The full text of the ANOPR is available on the NEM Website.