Md. Code Regs. 20.53.08.03

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 26, December 27, 2024

Section 20.53.08.03 - Deposits

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

(1) A supplier may request a maximum of 4 months of supply charges for a deposit related to commodity service;

(2) A supplier is not required to apply its deposit from §A(1) of this regulation or the interest accrued to any utility charges held by the supplier;

(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) Unclaimed deposits, with accrued interest, shall be credited to an appropriate account, or shall otherwise be disposed of in accordance with State law;

(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) A supplier shall retain records of deposits for a minimum of 3 years.

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

(1) Refund within 60 days the commodity portion of the deposit to the customer after applying the deposit to any outstanding utility charges;

(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) 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.

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

(1) A utility may require 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) 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.

Md. Code Regs. 20.53.08.03

Regulation .03 adopted effective 43:5 Md. R. 386, eff.3/14/2016; amended and recodified from .02 effective 46:5 Md. R. 310, eff. 3/11/2019; recodified to 20.53.10.03 effective 49:5 Md. R.367, eff. 3/7/2022