(a)
- (1) On or before July 1, 2025, each investor-owned electric company shall file with the Commission one or more time-of-use tariffs for appropriate customer classes, to be made available to customers on an opt-in basis.
- (2) Each time-of-use tariff shall establish a sufficient price discount for off-peak hours compared to peak hours, as determined by the market or an investor-owned electric company's cost of service, to encourage customers to adjust electricity use to off-peak hours.
(b)
(1)
- (i) An investor-owned electric company shall propose with each tariff or tariffs required under subsection (a) of this section a reasonable enrollment target to try to achieve by January 1, 2028.
- (ii) The investor-owned electric company shall attempt to achieve the enrollment target through a combination of marketing, customer education, and other means to communicate the benefits and risks of time-of-use rates.
(2)
- (i) The Commission may require an investor-owned electric company to automatically enroll in a time-of-use tariff customers that receive an incentive from the investor-owned electric company as part of a beneficial electrification program.
- (ii) The Commission shall require an investor-owned electric company to provide to customers that are automatically enrolled in a time-of-use tariff in accordance with subparagraph (i) of this paragraph notice and an opportunity to opt out of the time-of-use tariff.
(c) On or before July 1, 2026, each investor-owned electric company shall submit a report to the Commission evaluating:
- (1) the potential to avoid or defer electric distribution system capital projects through the use of time-of-use rates, demand-response and demand-side programs, and renewable on-site generating systems; and
- (2) the merits and feasibility of transitioning all customers to a time-of-use tariff on an opt-out basis.
(d) In accordance with § 2-1257 of the State Government Article, on or before December 31, 2027, the Commission shall submit a report to the General Assembly on:
- (1) the impacts of opt-in time-of-use tariffs on the electric distribution system;
- (2) the timeline, feasibility, and merits of transitioning all customers to a time-of-use tariff on an opt-out basis; and
- (3) whether a full transition to time-of-use rates is justified.
- (e) An investor-owned electric company may recover all reasonable and prudent costs, including marketing costs, to achieve its proposed enrollment targets and execute its responsibilities in accordance with this section.
- (f) For good cause shown, the Commission may delay for a reasonable period of time the deadline for an investor-owned electric company to comply with the provisions of this section.
(g)
- (1) A municipal electric utility or electric cooperative may file with the Commission one or more time-of-use tariffs in the same manner as an investor-owned electric company under this section.
- (2) If a municipal electric utility or electric cooperative elects to file with the Commission a time-of-use tariff under this section, the provisions of this section that apply to an investor-owned electric company shall also apply to the municipal electric utility or electric cooperative.
Added by Acts 2024, c. 475, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2024; Acts 2024, c. 476, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2024.