Maryland Public Utility Companies Section 7-510

      (a)      (1)      Subject to subsection (b) of this section, the phased implementation of customer choice shall be implemented as follows:

                  (i)      on July 1, 2000, one-third of the residential class in the State of each electric company shall have the opportunity for customer choice;

                  (ii)      on January 1, 2001, the entire industrial class and the entire commercial class in the State of each electric company shall have the opportunity for customer choice;

                  (iii)      on July 1, 2001, two-thirds of the residential class in the State of each electric company shall have the opportunity for customer choice;

                  (iv)      on July 1, 2002, all customers of each electric company shall have the opportunity for customer choice; and

                  (v)      by July 1, 2003, under a separate schedule adopted by the Commission, all customers of each electric cooperative shall have the opportunity for customer choice.

            (2)      (i)      In accordance with this paragraph, the Commission may adopt a separate schedule for municipal electric utilities for the implementation of customer choice.

                  (ii)      A municipal electric utility may not be required to make its service territory available for customer choice unless it elects to do so.

                  (iii)      If a municipal electric utility elects to allow customer choice, the municipal electric utility shall file a proposed plan and schedule with the Commission.

                  (iv)      The Commission may approve each municipal electric utility plan and schedule after considering the features that distinguish the municipal electric utility from other electric companies.

                  (v)      Nothing in this subtitle may be construed to require the functional, operational, structural, or legal separation of the regulated and nonregulated operations of the municipal electric utility.

            (3)      On or before October 1, 2003, each municipal electric utility shall report, subject to § 2-1246 of the State Government Article, to the General Assembly on the status of the opportunity for customer choice in its service territory, including:

                  (i)      if the service territory of the municipal electric utility is available for customer choice, its experience, through July 1, 2003, with the transition to customer choice; or

                  (ii)      if the service territory of the municipal electric utility is not available for customer choice as of July 1, 2003, its proposed intention to make customer choice available in the future.

            (4)      If a municipal electric utility serves customers outside its distribution territory, electricity suppliers licensed under § 7-507 of this subtitle may serve the customers in the distribution territory of the municipal electric utility.

      (b)      For good cause shown and if the Commission finds the action to be in the public interest, the Commission may:

            (1)      accelerate or delay the initial implementation date of July 1, 2000 by up to 3 months; or

            (2)      accelerate any of the other implementation dates and phase-in percentages in subsection (a) of this section.

      (c)      (1)      Beginning on the initial implementation date, an electric company's obligation to provide electricity supply and electricity supply service is stated by this subsection.

            (2)      Electricity supply purchased from a customer's electric company is known as standard offer service. A customer is considered to have chosen the standard offer service if the customer:

                  (i)      is not allowed to choose an electricity supplier under the phase in of customer choice in subsection (a) of this section;

                  (ii)      contracts for electricity with an electricity supplier and it is not delivered;

                  (iii)      cannot arrange for electricity from an electricity supplier;

                  (iv)      does not choose an electricity supplier;

                  (v)      chooses the standard offer service; or

                  (vi)      has been denied service or referred to the standard offer service by an electricity supplier in accordance with § 7-507(e)(6) of this subtitle.

            (3)      Any obligation of an electric company to provide standard offer service shall cease on July 1, 2003, except that:

                  (i)      electric cooperatives and municipal electric utilities may choose to continue providing standard offer service in their respective distribution territories, and may cease offering that service after notifying the Commission at least 12 months in advance; and

                  (ii)      1.      if the Commission finds that the electricity supply market is not competitive or that no acceptable competitive proposal has been received to supply electricity to those customers described under paragraph (2) of this subsection, the Commission shall extend the obligation to provide standard offer service to residential and small commercial customers at a market price that permits recovery of the verifiable, prudently incurred costs to procure or produce the electricity plus a reasonable return.

                        2.      The Commission shall reexamine the finding made under this subparagraph at least annually.

            (4)      On or before July 1, 2001, the Commission shall adopt regulations or issue orders to establish procedures for the competitive selection of electricity suppliers, including an affiliate of an electric company, to provide standard offer service to customers of electric companies under paragraph (2) of this subsection, except for customers of electric cooperatives and municipal electric utilities. Unless delayed by the Commission, the competitive selection shall take effect no later than July 1, 2003.

            (5)      An electric company may procure the electricity needed to meet its standard offer service electricity supply obligation from any electricity supplier, including an affiliate of the electric company.

      (d)      Notwithstanding the dates set forth in this section or any other law, customer choice may not commence until legislation is enacted by the General Assembly to restructure Maryland taxes to address the State and local tax implications of restructuring the electric utility industry.

      (e)      The Commission shall, by regulation or order, adopt procedures to implement this section, including the allocation of any unused opportunity for customer choice among customer classes.

      (f)      A county or municipal corporation may not act as an aggregator unless the Commission determines there is not sufficient competition within the boundaries of the county or municipal corporation.