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ROBERT L. EHRLICH, JR., Governor
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Ch. 5
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7-512.1.
(a) (1) The Commission shall establish an electric universal service program
to assist electric customers with annual incomes at or below [150%] 175% of the
federal poverty level.
(2) The components of the electric universal service program shall
include:
(i) bill assistance, at a minimum of 50% of the determined need;
(ii) low-income weatherization; and
(iii) the retirement of arrearages for electric customers who have not
previously received assistance in retiring arrearages under the universal service
program, not to exceed a total of $1.5 million in any given fiscal year.
(3) The Department of Housing and Community Development is
responsible for administering the low-income weatherization component of the
electric universal service program.
(4) The Department of Human Resources, through the Office of Home
Energy Programs, is responsible for administering the bill assistance and the
arrearage retirement components of the electric universal service program.
(5) The Department of Human Resources may, with input from a panel
or roundtable of interested parties, contract to assist in administering the bill
assistance and the arrearage retirement components of the electric universal service
program.
(6) The Commission has oversight responsibility for the bill assistance
and the arrearage retirement components of the electric universal service program.
(7) In a specific case, the electric universal service program may waive
the income eligibility limitation under paragraph (1) of this subsection in order to
provide assistance to an electric customer who would qualify for a similar waiver
under the Maryland Energy Assistance Program established under Article 41, § 6-406
of the Code.
(b) (1) All customers shall contribute to the funding of the electric universal
service program through a charge collected by each electric company.
(2) The Commission shall determine a fair and equitable allocation for
collecting the charges among all customer classes pursuant to subsection (e) of this
section.
(3) In accordance with subsection (f)(6) of this section, any unexpended
bill assistance and arrearage retirement funds returned to customers under
subsection (f) of this section shall be returned to each customer class as a credit in the
same proportion that the customer class contributed charges to the fund.
(4) An electric company shall recover electric universal service program
costs in accordance with § 7-512 of this subtitle.
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