65-407-305 Me. Code R. § 2
All competitive electricity providers must be licensed by the Commission, and third-party sales agents must be registered by the Commission. No entity may contract or offer to contract to provide generation service, enroll customers, provide generation service, or arrange for a contract for the provision of generation service without having obtained a license from, or with respect to third-party agents without being registered with, the Commission. The Commission delegates to the Director of Electric and Gas Utility Industries the authority to license competitive electricity providers and register third-party sales agents.
Upon request by the Commission, applicants, registrants, competitive electricity providers, and third-party sales agents must provide any information the Commission determines is necessary or useful in carrying out its duties and obligations under Title 35-A and this Chapter, including but not limited to the Commission's review of license applications and annual reports, and registering third-party sales agents.
This section is not applicable to transmission and distribution utilities that arrange for standard offer service to their customers pursuant to Chapter 301 of the Commission's rules.
An applicant must include its most recent financial disclosures. If the applicant does not make financial disclosures, it must include the most recent financial disclosures of its corporate parent. If the applicant is a newly formed entity that is not part of another organization, the Commission may accept other documentation to demonstrate financial capability.
An applicant must include additional documentation necessary to demonstrate financial capability sufficient to refund deposits to retail customers in the case of bankruptcy or nonperformance or for any other reason. This provision is not applicable if the applicant will not hold customer deposits.
An applicant must include a description of the industry experience of the applicant, the corporate parent of the applicant or individuals that will be responsible for the provision of service in Maine. For purposes of this provision, industry experience includes involvement with retail or wholesale electricity or natural gas markets in the United States or Canada.
An applicant that will provide generation service in the ISO-NE control area must document that it is either a participant in the ISO-NE electricity market or will conduct transactions through a contractual arrangement with an entity that is a participant in the ISO-NE electricity market. An applicant that will provide generation service in Northern Maine must document that it is either a participant in the market administered by NMISA or will conduct transactions through a contractual arrangement with an entity that is a participant in the market administered by the NMISA.
If applicable, applications must include a demonstration of the ability of the applicant to enter into binding interconnection arrangements with transmission and distribution utilities.
The financial security requirements of this paragraph apply only to applicants that seek a license to provide generation service to residential and small non-residential customers. The requirements of this paragraph do not apply to standard offer service.
An applicant must submit financial security that complies with this paragraph prior to the issuance of a license. The applicant must maintain financial security that complies with this paragraph as long as it is licensed to provide generation service to residential and small non-residential customers and must submit replacement security at least seven days prior to the expiration or cancellation of a previously submitted financial security instrument. Upon termination of a license to provide generation service to residential and small non-residential customers, the financial security instrument must remain in force until the Commission determines that all obligations of the competitive electricity provider have been satisfied.
The initial security amount must be $100,000. The Commission may grant modifications of this amount commensurate with the nature and scope of the business the licensee anticipates conducting in Maine upon submission of information in support of the modification. A request for modification of the initial security amount may be made in conjunction with the filing of the license application. The required security amount will change each year and must equal 10 percent of the licensee's annual revenues from sales of generation services to residential and small non-residential customers in Maine over the prior calendar year, or $1,000,000, whichever is lesser. Annual revenues for purposes of this provision do not include revenues from standard offer service. A licensee must submit a report each year on March 1st, in the Commission's electronic case management system's revenues for financial security project file. The report must contain the licensee's revenues from sales to residential and small non-residential customers during the prior year and provide updated security consistent with the requirements of this provision.
Upon a finding that a licensee has violated a statute or regulation regarding the provision of service to residential or small non-residential customers, the Commission may direct that amounts from the financial security be distributed as follows:
An applicant may satisfy the financial security requirements of this paragraph through an irrevocable letter of credit or cash perfected as security. Financial security documents must be in a form and contain language that is acceptable to the Commission.
Liability of competitive electricity providers for violation of law, Commission orders or Commission rules is not limited by the security requirements of this section.
This paragraph applies to actions against the applicant and associated entities of the applicant. For purposes of this provision, an associated entity is any entity for which the applicant is a control person; any control person of the applicant; any entity under common control with the applicant; or any entity for which a control person of the applicant served as a control person at the time of the conduct that was the basis for the action. A control person is any person who serves as an officer or director of, or who exercises similar authority over, an entity or who possesses, directly or indirectly, voting power over 10% or more of the voting securities of the entity.
An applicant must disclose all civil court or regulatory enforcement proceedings or criminal prosecutions commenced against it or an associated entity within the last six years prior to the date of the license application or currently pending that relate to or arise out of the sale of electricity, the sale of natural gas, the provision of utility services, business fraud, or unfair or deceptive sales practices.
An applicant must disclose the number of customer complaints, by state and customer class, related to the retail sale of electricity or natural gas filed against it at regulatory bodies other than the Commission within the last 12 months prior to the date of the license application.
An applicant must submit evidence of its ability to satisfy the eligible resource portfolio requirement under 35-A M.R.S. §3210, consistent with the provisions of the Commission's portfolio requirement rules, Chapter 311. This provision is not applicable to aggregator and broker license applications.
An applicant must disclose the names and addresses of all affiliated interests engaged in the retail sale of electricity in the United States or Canada. An applicant may submit a copy of its most recent corporate annual report in compliance with this provision if the annual report contains the required information. At the request of the Commission, the applicant must submit further information on the corporate structure of the applicant's parent corporation.
An applicant must submit evidence that the applicant is registered with the State Tax Assessor as a seller of tangible personal property pursuant to Title 36, section 1754- B, together with a statement that the applicant agrees to be responsible for the collection and remission of taxes in accordance with Title 36, Part 3 on all taxable sales of electricity made by the applicant to consumers located in Maine.
An applicant must submit evidence that demonstrates that it has an agent for service of process located in Maine
A third-party sales agent undertaking the retail sale or marketing of electricity on behalf of a competitive electricity provider may not engage in any sales or marketing activity unless the third-party sales agent is registered with, and has obtained a registration number from, the Commission. If an individual person is an employee, representative, or otherwise working on behalf of an entity registered with the Commission as a third-party sales agent, then that person need not individually register with the Commission. Competitive electricity providers must register all proposed third-party sales agents regardless of whether a third-party sales agent is registered by another competitive electricity provider.
An applicant to be a competitive electricity provider in Maine must register its third-party sales agents and provide certain disclosures and acknowledgments. An applicant must obtain a registration form from the Commission's website and file it in the docket designated for it as a competitive electricity provider using the Commission's electronic case management system. The Commission will adopt a specific registration process to administer the disclosures and acknowledgement of third-party sales agents and to issue notices of registration, and delegates adoption of the process to the Director of Electric and Natural Gas Utilities. The applicant's registration of its third-party sales agents must contain the following information:
By obtaining a license, competitive electricity providers agree:
These procedures apply to the application for a competitive electricity provider license before the Commission.
An application for a license must be made on the electronic form provided by the Commission on its website and verified by an officer of the applicant by affidavit.
Each applicant must file its verified application in a docket designated for the competitive electricity provider using the Commission's electronic case management system. An electronic signature is not required.
The applicant must inform the Commission of any material change in the information provided in the application during the pendency of the application process.
Each applicant must pay a fee of $100 to the Commission. Fees collected by the Commission under this provision must be deposited in the Public Utilities Commission Reimbursement Fund. The applicant must mail this fee to the Commission pursuant to the application's instructions.
An applicant must include all documentation necessary to demonstrate compliance with Title 35-A and this Chapter. The Commission will review applications and will issue a license, deny the application, or initiate a formal investigation of the application within 60 calendar days of submission of a complete application. If additional time is required for the initial review, the Administrative Director, the Director of Electric and Natural Gas Industries, the Director of Consumer Assistance and Safety Division, or the Presiding Officer assigned to a proceeding related to this Chapter may extend the review period for an additional 60 calendar days. In the event the Commission initiates a formal investigation, it must provide notice to the applicant.
The Commission will issue a license unless it finds that the applicant has not complied with all applicable licensing requirements of this Chapter, that the applicant does not have the financial and technical capability to conduct its business, or that sufficient reason exists to conclude that issuance of a license is not in the public interest.
The Commission may place reasonable conditions on the issuance of a license, including, but not limited to, the provision of financial security in a form and amount determined by the Commission.
Licenses are valid until revoked by the Commission or abandoned by the applicant.
A license may not be transferred without prior Commission approval. A request for transfer of a license must be in writing accompanied by a completed license application from the transferee. The Commission may order the licensee to notify its customers of the license transfer.
A licensee may not abandon service without providing at least 30 days written notice to the Commission, the licensee's residential and small non-residential customers and the affected transmission and distribution utilities.
Any applicant who knowingly submits misleading, incomplete or inaccurate information may be penalized in accordance with perjury statutes and pursuant to 35-A M.R.S. §3203 and the provisions of this Chapter.
Each competitive electricity provider must file an annual report on or before July 1 of each year for the previous calendar year. Aggregators and brokers must comply only with subparagraphs (c), (d) and (i) of the annual reporting requirement of this subsection. The annual report electronic form must be obtained from the Commission's website and filed in the annual report module of the Commission's electronic case management system. The annual report must contain the following information:
Average prices, revenues. sales and number of customers, in total and for each pricing product, broken out by (i) residential and small non-residential customers; (ii) medium non-residential customers; and (iii) large non-residential customers and by transmission and distribution service territory. The number of customers is to be calculated as of December 31 of the reporting period. Individually negotiated prices may be provided in the aggregate;
The resources used to serve customers in Maine by resource category and percentage of Maine load served by each resource category. For service to customers in the ISO-NE control area, resources must be reported based on Generation Information System certificates contained in a Maine GIS sub-account and the ISO-NE's residual system mix. For service in Northern Maine, resources must be reported based on NAR Certificates. For purposes of this provision, the resources used for service in the ISO-NE control area and Northern Maine must be combined into a single resource mix;
Identification of any enforcement action initiated or concluded against the licensee or an affiliated interest by any federal, state or local government agency in the United States or Canada with respect to actions involving the sale of electricity, the sale of natural gas, the provision of utility services, business fraud, or unfair or deceptive sales practices;
Changes in the licensee's ownership or control;
The information required to be provided annually pursuant to the Commission's information disclosure rule, Chapter 306;
The information required to be provided annually pursuant to the Commission's eligible resource portfolio requirement rule, Chapter 311;
All terms of service documents produced pursuant to Section 4(B)(4) of this Chapter that were in effect during the reporting period with a notation of time period for which each document was in effect;
Information demonstrating compliance with Section 4(A)(7), if applicable;
The information required to be provided upon application pursuant to Section 2(B)(4) of this Chapter; and
The Commission may subject any information required by Title 35-A or this Chapter to appropriate protective orders.
65-407 C.M.R. ch. 305, § 2