As was mentioned by Senator Pugh at the NEM National Restructuring Conference last week, the Maryland legislature passed SB244 on consumer education initiatives on electric energy choice. SB244 directs the Commission to establish a consumer education section on its website that includes a description of customer choice, how to shop, types of competitive electric supply options available, and current SOS prices. The website shall also include fact sheets with common questions about choice and required supplier disclosures. The website shall include a list of suppliers with "open offers to supply electricity in a customer's service area." Suppliers are to provide on at least a montly basis, detailed information on the "open offer" via a secure portal to the website. The Commission is also charged with developing public service announcements and reporting to the legislature on its efforts to educate consumers. The Commission is required to convene a workgroup by July 1, 2011, for the purpose of developing recommendations to implement these consumer education initiatives. The full text of SB244 is available on the NEM Website.

NEM filed comments on Columbia's "Rulemaking 35/COMAR 20.59 Compliance Plan, Costs of Compliance and Analysis of Alternatives for the Choice Program." In the filing, Columbia provided five options for “complying” with the Commission’s gas choice regulations. Staff recommended that the utility implement Option B of the choices presented by which, “Columbia implements all COMAR 20.59 regulations with Purchase of Receivables and any other requirements as a result of any order issued by the Commission and recovers those implementation costs through a Rider charged to all customers who are eligible to participate in Columbia’s mass market Choice program.” NEM concurred with the recommendation of Staff that Columbia should be directed to implement Option B. NEM argued that none of the other options offered by Columbia represent anywhere near as much of a bona fide opportunity to support mass market choice in the service territory, which Columbia acknowledges has heretofore garnered only limited participation. Columbia’s preferred Option E to eliminate the choice program for residential customers, after many years notice of the RM35 rulemaking and implementation process, is inappropriate and unwarranted and should be rejected. The full text of NEM's Comments is available on the NEM Website.

The Board has proposed readoption of its energy competition rules with certain amendments. The proposal is subsequent to a Staff technical conference and the informal collection of stakeholder comments last year. The energy competition rules pertain to energy anti-slamming (sign up requirements, recordkeeping, complaints); affiliate relations; public utility holding company standards; energy licensing and registration (initial and renewal application requirements and fees); government energy aggregation programs; and retail choice consumer protection (advertising and marketing standards, customer contracts and billing). Comments on the rule readoption are due July 1, 2011. The full text of the Proposed Readoption of Energy Competition Rules is available on the NEM Website.