The Commission initiated a review of Standard Offer Service (SOS) in the District in 2013. The proceeding was suspended during the Commission's review of the Exelon-Pepco merger, and then resumed in 2016. The Commission rejected the recommendations of the competitive supply community, including NEM, to move from the current wholesale SOS model to a retail model where suppliers directly serve customers. The Commission rejected program models utilized in other retail choice jurisdictions and said the evidence of consumer benefit of such a change was lacking.

The Commission determined that the Administrative Charge components should remain unchanged with the exception of the adder. The adder recovers Pepco's incremental costs to conduct SOS bidding, charge offs due to uncollectible expenses, collection to provide cash working capital, the margin and true-ups to adjust for past over or under collections. The Commission decided to eliminate the adder beginning with SOS rates effective in the June 1, 2018, to May 31, 2019, service year. It reasoned the adder was no longer needed to serve its original purpose of ensuring that competitive suppliers are not placed at a competitive disadvantage.

The Commission determined to retain the current three year SOS contract structure. The Commission also decided to retain the twelve month minimum stay provision applicable to commercial customers that leave SOS for competitive supply and then subsequently return to SOS. The Commission reasoned the three billing cycle grace period was adequate to allow these customers to select another supplier.

Finally, the Commission directed Pepco to file a detailed description of the procedures utilized to avoid potential conflicts of interest or the conferral of other competitive advantages to Exelon Generating Company when bidding in the SOS auction.

The full text of the Order is available on the NEM Website.

The Commission issued an Order responding to a request from Liberty Power regarding its ZEC compliance obligation for the compliance period April 1, 2017, through March 31, 2018. Because the ZEC payment obligation is calculated based on sales from April 2015 to March 2016, there is a mismatch between actual load served during the compliance period. This can result in a significant overpayment of ZEC obligations (subject to true-up). The Commission granted relief specific to Liberty based on its demonstration of a substantial difference in load served.

With respect to other LSEs the Commission found, "at this time, the Commission is providing relief to only Liberty for a material change in its load due to the administrative burden of recalculating every LSEs' ZEC obligation and the potential marketplace confusion that could result from changes in customers' bills. Staff is, however, required to consult with NYSERDA following the completion of the first ZEC reconciliation period to see if any programmatic changes in calculating LSE loads for future compliance periods are warranted. Upon consultation with NYSERDA, if programmatic changes are needed, Staff will propose those changes to the Commission prior to the next ZEC reconciliation period."

The full text of the Order is available on the NEM Website.

The Commission is seeking additional comments on its regulations on utility billing practices for residential utility service. Of relevance for competitive suppliers, the Commission is requesting comment on a new proposal regarding third-party notification of supplier switching. The rules currently permit a third-party to receive copies of collection notices so the third party may assist with the matter, such as in the case of an adult child receiving notice related to an elderly parent's utility account. The notices are informational in nature only.

The Commission is proposing to expand the notice mechanism to include notice of supplier switching. Specifically, it would include the supplier switch confirmation notice that is sent by the utility anytime a customer has enrolled with a competitive supplier. The Commission also proposes to revise the notification enrollment form related to this change. The Commission reasoned, "We think this will assist those individuals concerned about a customer's ability to participate effectively in the competitive market and will provide these individuals with the opportunity to intervene and assist the customer if needed." Comments on the proposal are due forty five days after publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. The full text of the Order Seeking Additional Comments is available on the NEM Website.