The Commission scheduled a legislative-style hearing to gather further input on a proposal for implementation of a supplier consolidated billing (SCB) option for customers of competitive retail electricity and natural gas suppliers by June 30, 2019. The hearing will take place on February 20, 2018, beginning at 10AM at the Commission's Baltimore office. NEM previously filed comments in support of the proposal for the implementation of a SCB option. NEM noted that SCB allows competitive suppliers to significantly enhance the nature and quality of the relationship with their customers and also enables competitive suppliers to offer an expanded array of innovative products and services that utility consolidated billing simply does not accommodate. The proposal would ensure that consumer protection is maintained through enhanced supplier qualification requirements. The proposal would also allow suppliers to manage bad debt risk by allowing suppliers to request the utility disconnect a customer for nonpayment and collecting deposits. The full texts of the Notice of Hearing and NEM's Comments are available on the NEM Website.

The Board adopted amendments and new provisions to its regulations pertaining to government energy aggregation programs, anti-slamming and third-party suppliers (TPSs). The new rules became effective December 18, 2017, upon publication in the New Jersey Register.

Among the changes adopted, reflecting state law and a prior Board Order, was the TPS Contract Summary requirement. The TPS Contract Summary must include an explanation of the difference between fixed and variable rates, including an explanation of how weather fluctuations may affect the price of variable rate contracts. The Board has posted the TPS Contract Summary Standardized Format. It also posted the Government Energy Aggregation (GEA) Program Summary Standardized Format.

The full text of the Rulemaking Decision is available on the NEM Website.

Act 40 0f 2017 included a provision requiring that solar renewable energy credits (SRECs) must come from within the state of Pennsylvania. The law is intended to address the problem created by previously allowing SRECs to be purchased from out-of-state, but not allowing SRECs to be sold outside of the state. The Commission has issued a Tentative Implementation Order (TIO) providing its proposed interpretation of the new law. Of particular significance, the TIO would grandfather into future certification compliance those facilities receiving a certification from the AEPS Administrator to generate Tier I SRECs before October 30, 2017. The TIO would also allow any solar facility that is not otherwise AEPS-certified but has entered into a purchase and sale contract for SRECs before October 30, 2017, to obtain Tier I solar photovoltaic share certification by providing proof of the contract to the Commission.

Comments are due thirty days after publication of the TIO in the PA Bulletin. The full texts of Act 40 and the Tentative Implementation Order are available on the NEM Website.