The Commission issued a First Notice Order in the electric marketing standards case. The First Notice Order would provide for:

1) a ten calendar day customer right of rescision from the date the electric utility processes the enrollment request;
2) the manner for disclosing variable and fixed price products;
3) the mailing of a Uniform Disclosure Statement to the customer within three business days;
4) a limitation on hours for door-to-door solicitation to 10am to 6pm;
5) a limitation on the definition of a “green” or “renewable” product to one that includes power and energy purchased entirely separate and apart from existing renewable portfolio standards;
6) a cap on early termination fees of $50 for the term of the contract. Any contract containing an early termination fee must also provide the customer the opportunity to contact the supplier to terminate the contract without any termination fee or penalty within ten business days after the date of the first bill issued to the customer; and
7) a prohibition on a retail electric supplier from marketing power and energy service to residential customers using a similar name (where any part of the retail electric supplier's name contains any part of the utility name) or logo to that of an existing electric utility affiliated in Illinois.

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

The Office of Retail Market Development (ORMD) filed its 2011 Annual Report on Retail Electric Competition with the Commission, legislature and Governor. The Report details supplier activity and migration levels achieved in 2010. It discusses important regulatory proceedings that are on-going or to be commenced including the marketing standards case and standards for utility referral programs. It also notes Commission efforts to implement the PlugInIllinois.org website and the supplier offer comparison matrix. As in previous years, ORMD's recommendation on legislative change to facilitate competition is the elimination of the twenty four month minimum stay requirement. Alternatively, ORMD recommends providing a two month grace period during which a customer would be able to choose a different retail electric supplier, which is addressed in HB3038. The full text of the 2011 Annual Report is available on the NEM Website.

The Commission is reconsidering its Eligible Customer List (ECL) Order following the appeals of consumer groups that argued that the Order violated consumers’ right to privacy by: 1) preventing consumers from restricting the release of all of their customer information (or otherwise requiring them to identify themselves as victims of domestic violence); and 2) constructing the ECL as an opt-out program. NEM filed comments supporting the provision of ECLs to marketers as a means to reduce costs of doing business and thereby enable marketers to make more competitive energy products available in the marketplace. NEM recommended that the ECL be an opt-out program and that all consumers have the option to either restrict disclosure of none or all of their customer information. By simplifying the option to restrict disclosure, and in a manner that does not require a victim of domestic violence to identify themselves as such, it will better ensure the protection of consumer privacy. The full text of NEM's Comments is available on the NEM Website.

The Commission issued a Secretarial Letter to provide guidance on the presentation of tax information on residential electric bills. The Commission explained that:
"• EGSs are not required to place 'a statement of the dollar amount of total State taxes' for the current billing period charge on a separate supplier bill or to provide this information to EDCs for inclusion on an EDC consolidated bill. The requirement is applicable only to EDCs. However, an EGS must include this information for the EDC when the EGS is issuing a SCB.
• EGS-PA State Sales Tax must be included on a customer’s bill only when applicable. In general, electricity purchased solely for residential use is exempt from PA state sales tax. However, electricity purchased for use in an office or business within a home is subject to sales tax.
• An EGS must include GRT on a customer’s bill, regardless of whether the bill is a separate one rendered at the customer’s request, a SCB, or an EDC consolidated bill. However, GRT does not need to be a line item on the bill, and the amount may be estimated.
• Because the billing systems of some EDCs cannot accommodate the inclusion of EGS GRT information, the PUC has granted a temporarily waiver of Section 56.15(4) for affected EGSs. The EDCs shall provide a list of the affected EGSs to OCMO within 10 days after the issue date of this letter. OCMO/CHARGE is directed to explore interim and permanent solutions to remedy this situation."

The full text of the Secretarial Letter is available on the NEM Website.