The Commission has initiated a rulemaking to consider electric consumer protections denominated "Obligations of Retail Electric Suppliers" and also the modification of internet enrollment rules. The proposal stems from Staff-led workshops of interested stakeholders and incorporates a Staff report on same. The proposed rules would apply to marketer service to residential and small commercial electric customers. It would require, in addition to the customer sales contract, the use of a Uniform Disclosure Statement. The proposed rules also pertain to door-to-door solicitation, telemarketing, inbound enrollment calls, direct mail, online marketing, sales agent training, supplier record retention, and requirements for contract rescission, imposition of early termination fees, and operation of contract renewals. The full text of the Proposed Rulemaking is available on the NEM Website.

This week, WGL filed a revision to its RM35 compliance filing in which it changed its election from offering consolidated billing with pro rata payments to a POR program. In the filing, WGL reported it could implement a POR program by February 2011. WGL's filing sets forth a POR discount rate calculation methodology. WGL's discount rate would be computed as the sum of the following components: bad debt expense; information technology implementation costs; incremental collection costs; a risk factor that WGL estimated in Year One to be .25%; and a reconciliation factor. The full texts of WGL's Revised Filing and NEM's Statement in Support are available on the NEM Website.

On the electric side, the Commission has deferred consideration of BGE and Allegheny's proposed POR plans. BGE was directed to file a proposed discount rate by January 15, 2010, including supporting data. BGE's plan will be considered at the Commission's February 17, 2010, Administrative meeting. Allegheny's plan is now scheduled to be considered at the January 13, 2010, Administrative Meeting.

The Commission announced the expansion of the role of its Office of Competitive Market Oversight (OCMO), currently charged with overseeing the development and functioning of the competitive retail natural gas supply market, to now also serve as the Commission’s electric retail choice ombudsman. OCMO will be responsible for responding to questions from electric generation suppliers (EGSs), monitoring competitive market complaints and facilitating informal dispute resolution between the default service provider (DSP) and EGSs. The Commission also announced that the OCMO will hold periodic conference calls or meetings to identify and resolve issues that may be hindering the development or proper functioning of the electric retail market, the first of which will be held December 18, 2009, at 9AM. Dial-in 1-866-618-6746 and passcode 6060145. The full text of the Secretarial Letter is available on the NEM Website.