1. A. A supplier may charge a customer a deposit for supplier-consolidated billing subject to the following:

   1. (1) A supplier may request a maximum of 4 months of supply charges for a deposit related to commodity service;
   2. (2) A supplier is not required to apply its deposit from §A(1) of this regulation or the interest accrued thereon to any utility charges held by the supplier;
   3. (3) Any interest earned on deposits held by a supplier shall be returned to the customer if the deposit is not used for collection purposes;
   4. (4) Unclaimed deposits, with accrued interest, shall be credited to an appropriate account, or shall otherwise be disposed of in accordance with State law;
   5. (5) A supplier shall return a customer’s excess deposit to the customer once the customer has no financial obligation to the supplier; and
   6. (6) A supplier shall retain records of deposits for a minimum of 3 years.

2. B. If a utility holds a customer’s deposit at the time of enrollment in supplier-consolidated billing, the utility shall:

   1. (1) Refund within 60 days the commodity portion of the deposit to the customer after applying the deposit to any outstanding utility charges;
   2. (2) Continue to follow all existing deposit requirements under COMAR 20.30.01 and COMAR 20.30.02 for any portion of the deposit retained; and
   3. (3) Count payments made by a customer in full and on time to the supplier toward the customer’s good payment record under COMAR 20.30.01.05B and C and COMAR 20.30.02.05B and C.

3. C. Deposits for Customers Returning to Utility Billing from Supplier-Consolidated Billing.

   1. (1) A utility may request a deposit for supply charges from a customer when a customer switches or is dropped from supplier-consolidated billing in accordance with existing deposit requirements under COMAR 20.30.01 and COMAR 20.30.02.
   2. (2) A utility shall consider a customer’s payment record when determining whether to assess a customer’s deposit under COMAR 20.30.01 and COMAR 20.30.02.

Authority: Public Utilities Article, §§2-113, 2-121, 5-101, 7-507, 7-603, 7-604(b), and 7-606, Annotated Code of Maryland

Effective date: March 14, 2016 (43:5 Md. R. 387)

Chapter revised effective March 11, 2019 (46:5 Md. R. 310)

Regulations .01—.07 recodified to be under COMAR 20.59.10, Supplier-Agent Relations effective March 7, 2022 (49:5 Md. R. 367)

Regulations .01—.09 adopted under new chapter, Supplier-Consolidated Billing Customer Protections effective March 7, 2022 (49:5 Md. R. 367)