The Commission issued an Order deciding issues related to the utilities provision of Standard Offer Service (SOS) for residential and small commercial customers beginning June 1, 2007. The Commission adopted an approach using two procurement seasons per year. The first season will procure SOS contracts starting in June 2007 and the second season will procure SOS contracts starting in October. The procurement is to incorporate laddering of varying contract lengths, not to exceed two years. The long term goal is that not more than 25% of SOS load will be procured in any one procurement. The Commission reasoned that this approach would, "provide competitive suppliers with two distinct marketing opportunities: providing longer-term (i.e., annual) fixed prices to customers that want such prices; or shorter term contracts for customers who prefer lower prices to the price stability offered through SOS."

The Commission defined "small commercial customer" in the Order as "a commercial customer that does not have a metered 30-minute demand that equals or exceeds 25 kW; energy consumption in excess of 6,000 kWh in any two consecutive winter billing months; or a monthly energy consumption that exceeds 7,500 kWh for a single summer billing month." The Commission also authorized the utilities to file proposals for the development of retail time-of-use residential SOS rates. The full text of the Order is available on the NEM Website.

DTE has initiated an investigation into dynamic pricing for basic/default service. This investigation results from a petition filed by DOER. DOER requested that DTE examine basic/default service prices that:

"1) are based on hourly, wholesale prices for large commercial and industrial (C&I) customers (i.e., "real time pricing");
2) are differentiated between on and off-peak consumption for residential, and small and medium C&I customers (i.e., "time of use rates"); or
3) otherwise may be proposed by stakeholders, including hybrids such as critical peak pricing and variable peak pricing."

DOER plans to conduct a study on the costs and benefits of different basic/default service pricing structures and present the results within three months. DTE has requested comments on, "the appropriate scope and procedural conduct of a Department investigation into dynamic pricing including whether an initial phase of the investigation should address real-time pricing for larger C&I customers, with consideration of dynamic pricing for residential and other C&I customers to be undertaken separately in a later investigation." Comments are due November 28, 2006. The full texts of DOER's Filing and DTE's Request for Comments are available on the NEM Website.

Accent Energy had requested that the Commission permit marketers to obtain customer account numbers from utilities on a real-time basis, subject to verification of certain customer information and the obtaining the customer's consent. The request was meant to facilitate customer enrollment at venues where the customer would not have the utility account number readily available, i.e., shopping malls or fairs. NEM supported Accent's request.

The Commission did not adopt Accent's specific request. It ordered an alternative whereby customers would be given real-time remote access to their account numbers. The Commission felt this would ensure consumer privacy was protected. The Commission also stated that, "by allowing customers to identify readily the services ESCOs can offer, and, if the customer so chooses, to complete promptly a sales agreement, this approach would advance our policies favoring retail competition, increased customer choice, and ease of customer switching."

The Commission ordered the utilities to submit plans within 45 days of issuance of the Order as to how to "provide customers with secure, real-time remote access to their distribution utility account number (or Point of Delivery Identification Numberif the distribution utility account number is not used fro enrolling a customer with an ESCO)." The full text of the Order is available on the NEM Website.

The Commission has ordered mandatory ESCO price reporting for residential offerings. The Commission decided that, "ESCOs shall report, by the 5th day of each month, for each generally-available service they were offering to eligible residential customers, the price they would have charged for each service as of the 1st day of that month." The prices will be posted on the Commission's Power Choose site with a disclaimer that the prices are for illustrative purposes. Included in the ESCO submission is to be information on the offers terms and conditions tied to the price, i.e., price offer type, term the price is available, cancellation fees, notice requirements, late payment charges, required deposits, billing options, and payment options. Importantly, ESCOs are permitted to make offerings at prices at variance with those reported in response to emerging market opportunities and changes in market conditions.

The Commission adopted an enforcement mechanism as well. ESCOs that fail to report or that report inaccurate information would be given an opportunity to cure the deficiency. If the ESCO fails to act during the cure period, they would be precluded from enrolling new customers. In the case of flagrant and/or repeat offenders, withdrawal of ESCO eligibility to participate in markets may be appropriate.

ESCO price reporting shall commence December 5, 2006, for prices that were offered and could have been charged as of December 1, 2006. The full text of the Order is available on the NEM Website.