§ 7-604.1

Maryland § 7-604.1

• Jurisdiction: Maryland
• Article gpu: Public Utilities
• Title: 7

Text

(a) The Commission shall establish a customer choice shopping website that allows a customer to sort natural gas suppliers that have open offers to supply natural gas to residential customers in the customer’s service area.

(b) The website shall include:

(1) a list of all natural gas suppliers that have open offers to supply natural gas to residential customers in a customer’s service area, sortable by:

(i) cost of service;

(ii) cost of natural gas per therm;

(iii) rate structure;

(iv) duration of the contract;

(v) cancellation fee; and

(vi) any other aspect of service that the Commission considers necessary;

(2) a way to compare natural gas suppliers based on the sortable items specified under item (1) of this subsection;

(3) a link to the website of each natural gas supplier with an open offer to supply natural gas to residential customers;

(4) a link to a complaint process that provides access for the customer to protect the customer’s rights and make use of consumer protections through the Commission; and

(5) fact sheets on the process for comparing offers from natural gas suppliers on the website, including relevant contract terms, requirements, limitations, and fees.

(c) (1) To ensure the currency and accuracy of information required under subsection (b) of this section, the Commission shall maintain a secure portal on its website to receive information about offers to supply natural gas from natural gas suppliers.

(2) At least once a month, each natural gas supplier with an open offer to supply natural gas shall submit detailed information about the offer to the Commission through a secure portal maintained by the Commission on the Commission’s website for this purpose.

(d) The Commission shall recover the cost of complying with this section in accordance with § 2–110 of this article.