B 26-0750

                    COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
                         THE JOHN A. WILSON BUILDING
                       1350 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, N.W.
                             WASHINGTON, D.C. 20004
                         Statement Upon Introduction of the
                     Retail Energy Market Consumer Protection
                              Amendment Act of 2026
 Today we are introducing the Retail Energy Market Consumer Protection Amendment Act of
2026. This legislation is substantively identical to Subtitle E of Title VI of Bill 26-661, the Budget
Support Act (BSA), introduced by Mayor Muriel Bowser on April 14, 2026.
   Separating this measure from the Budget Support Act enables the Council to hold a public
hearing singularly focused on the proposal to protect consumers from unfair trade practices in the retail
electric supply market.
  The subtitle (and therefore this bill) proposes a price cap on alternative electric suppliers
relative to the Standard Offer Service which is the default electric supply available to all customers.
While price controls may protect consumers, there can be offsetting effects on a competitive market.
On the other hand, there are a variety of requirements on suppliers that can protect consumers from an
otherwise unregulated market. Some of those requirements are included in this bill. There may be
more, and a look at the best practices utilized in other states could benefit this bill.
 Introducing this BSA subtitle as standalone legislation will enable the Council, through its
Transportation and the Environment Committee, to thoughtfully examine unfair trade practices, ways
to counteract them, and evidence-based solutions. The goal is protecting consumers in a robust and
competitive energy market.
1 ________________________________  ______________________________
2 Councilmember Charles Allen  Chairman Phil Mendelson
3
4A BILL
5_____________
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7
8IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
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12 To amend the Retail Electric Competition and Consumer Protection Act of 1999 to revise
13relevant definitions and establish requirements for third party electricity suppliers, and to
14amend the Retail Natural Gas Supplier Licensing and Consumer Protection Act of 2004
15to add additional protections for residential customers, including allowing customers to
16terminate service at any time.
17
18BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COUMBIA, that this act
19 may be cited as the “Retail Energy Market Consumer Protection Amendment Act of 2026”.
20Sec. 2. The Retail Electric Competition and Consumer Protection Act of 1999, effective
21 May 9, 2000 (D.C. Law 13-107; D.C. Official Code § 34-1501 et seq.), is amended as follows:
22(a) Section 101 (D.C. Official Code § 34-1501) is amended as follows:
23(1) Paragraph (15A) is amended to read as follows:
24“(15A) “Department” means the Department of Energy and Environment.”.
25(2) Paragraph (15B) is amended to read as follows:
26“(15B) “Director” means the Director of the Department or the Director’s
27 designee.”.
28(b) Section 104(c)(1)(D) (D.C. Official Code § 34-1504(c)(1)(D)) is amended by striking
29 the phrase “in section 107;” and inserting the phrase “in sections 107 and 107a;” in its place.
30(c) Section 107 (D.C. Official Code § 34-1507) is amended as follows:
31(1) Subsection (a)(2) is amended to read as follows:
32“(2) This restriction shall not apply to lawful disclosures:
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33“(A) For bill collection or credit rating reporting purposes;
34“(B) To a building owner about the energy consumption of a non-
35 residential tenant of the building; or
36“(C) To comply with the reporting requirements of this act.”.
37(2) Subsection (b)(2) is amended to read as follows:
38“(2) This restriction shall not apply to lawful disclosures for bill collection, credit
39 rating reporting purposes, or information disclosed in compliance with the reporting
40 requirements of this act.”.
41(d) A new section 107a is added to read as follows:
42“Sec. 107a. Market participants: rates, termination of contracts, and other consumer
43 protections.
44“(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the supply and sale of electricity by a
45 market participant to residential customers shall be regulated by the Commission as follows:
46“(1) A market participant shall only offer electricity supply to residential
47 customers at a price that does not exceed the applicable price cap established by the Commission
48 pursuant to subsection (b) of this section.
49“(2) Residential customers may terminate their supply contracts at any time and
50 market participants shall not charge residential customers fees or penalties for early termination
51 of service.
52“(3) A market participant shall be responsible for ensuring that its agents,
53 contractors, marketers, or brokers comply with all legal requirements that apply to the supply and
54 sale of electricity in the District, including the consumer protections in this section, section 107,
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55 and associated regulations. A market participant shall be liable for any violation of these legal
56 requirements committed by its agents, contractors, marketers, or brokers.
57“(b)(1) The Commission shall establish one or more price caps for electricity supplied by
58 a market participant to residential customers. Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3) of this
59 subsection, the price cap shall not exceed 110% of the price of the standard offer service.
60“(2) The Commission may establish a price cap that exceeds 110% of the price of
61 the standard offer service; provided, that:
62“(A) The electricity supply is sourced from a tier one renewable source or
63 tier two renewable source, as those terms are defined in section 3 of the Renewable Energy
64 Portfolio Standard Act of 2004, effective April 12, 2005 (D.C. Law 15-340; D.C. Official Code §
65 34-1431); and
66“(B) A market participant demonstrates procurement of renewable energy
67 or renewable energy credits, as described in section 5 of the Renewable Energy Portfolio
68 Standard Act of 2004, effective April 12, 2005 (D.C. Law 15-340; D.C. Official Code § 34–
69 1433), in excess of the amount required by the renewable energy portfolio standard established
70 pursuant to section 4 of the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard Act of 2004, effective April
71 12, 2005 (D.C. Law 15-340; D.C. Official Code § 34–1432).
72“(3)(A) The Commission may establish exemptions from a price cap, or establish
73 a higher price cap, for specific market participants or types of electricity supply contracts;
74 provided, that the Commission determines that doing so is in the public interest. In making this
75 determination, the Commission may consider the following factors, along with any other factor
76 the Commission deems relevant:
77“(i) Whether a proposed service is new or innovative;
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78“(ii) The potential for the service to result in long-term savings for
79 residential customers;
80“(iii) Any other energy-related benefits the service may provide,
81 such as improvements in energy efficiency or the ability of residential customers to manage their
82 energy costs; and
83“(iv) The potential costs or financial risks to customers.
84“(B) The Commission may modify or revoke an exemption or higher price
85 cap established pursuant to this paragraph if the Commission determines that the exemption or
86 higher price cap is no longer in the public interest or is otherwise no longer warranted.
87“(c) A contract that contains a price for electricity supply that exceeds an applicable price
88 cap established pursuant to this section, including a contract entered into before the Commission
89 established the price cap, shall:
90“(1) Be deemed null and void as against public policy;
91“(2) Not be considered null and void under this subsection if amended to be in
92 compliance with the price cap within 60 days of the establishment of the price cap; provided, that
93 the contract was either entered into before the Commission established the price cap, or entered
94 into at a price for electricity supply that was in compliance with the price cap initially and then
95 exceeded the applicable price cap after the price of the standard offer service changed.
96“(d)(1) The Commission shall require each market participant to share the standard
97 contract terms for each contract to be offered to a residential customer on a Commission-
98 approved comparison website before the contract is offered to the residential customer.
99“(2) The Commission shall determine which standard contract terms offered by a
100 market participant shall be posted to the Commission-approved website.
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101“(3) The Commission may designate its own website as the Commission-
102 approved website, or another website that assists residential customers in comparing electricity
103 supply contracts from different market participants.
104“(4) Market participants shall notify the Commission when standard contract
105 terms for a new contract are posted to the Commission-approved website, when the standard
106 contract terms for a contract posted to the Commission-approved website are modified, and when
107 a contract is removed from the Commission-approved website. The Commission may establish
108 rules regarding the form, content, and frequency at which such notifications must be provided to
109 the Commission.
110“(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Commission shall establish
111 additional reporting requirements for market participants supplying electricity to residential
112 customers as follows:
113“(1) The Commission shall require market participants to report the following
114 information:
115“(A) Name of the market participant;
116“(B) Number of distinct rates offered by each market participant and the
117 price offered for each rate;
118“(C) Number of customers subscribed to each rate;
119“(D) Sales volume in kilowatt hours (kWh) for each rate;
120“(E) Number of customers in arrears and average arrears per customer,
121 reported by rate;
122“(F) Number of customers who switched to and from the market
123 participant during the reporting period for each rate; and
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124“(G) Number of customers with different contract lengths for each rate.
125“(2)(A) The Commission shall determine which information provided by a market
126 participant pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be deemed confidential for the
127 purposes of protecting proprietary business information.
128“(B) The Commission may direct market participants to submit both
129 confidential and public versions of any required report, with confidential information redacted
130 from the public version.
131“(C) The Commission shall make available to the public copies of market
132 participant reports, with all confidential information redacted.
133“(D) The Commission shall share, upon request, copies of confidential
134 versions of market participant reports with the Office of the People’s Counsel, the Office of the
135 Attorney General, and the Department.
136“(3) Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit the use of confidential information
137 to prepare statistics or other general data for publication when the statistics or other general data
138 are published in a manner that prevents identification of particular persons or individual
139 customer account information.
140“(4) Nothing in this subsection shall limit the authority of the Commission to
141 establish additional reporting requirements, including the frequency for reporting of the
142 information in paragraph (1) of this subsection, or to continue existing reporting requirements.
143“(f) The requirements in subsections (a), (b), and (c) of this section shall not apply to
144 electricity supplied by or through:
145“(1) The standard offer service;
146“(2) A municipal aggregation program under section 115;
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147“(3) A single-customer or multi-customer microgrid; or
148“(4) The District government, the federal government, or the agencies and
149 instrumentalities of the District government or federal government.
150“(g) The Commission shall issue rules or orders to implement this section within 270
151 days after the applicability date of this act.”.
152Sec. 3. The Retail Natural Gas Supplier Licensing and Consumer Protection Act of 2004,
153 effective March 16, 2005 (D.C. Law 15-227; D.C. Official Code § 34-1671.01 et seq.), is
154 amended as follows:
155(a) Section 4(a) (D.C. Official Code § 34-1671.03(a)) is amended as follows:
156(1) Paragraph (2) is amended by striking the phrase “protections;” and inserting
157 the phrase “protections, including the provisions in sections 9 and 9a;” in its place.
158(2) Paragraph (7) is amended to read as follows:
159“(7) Establish uniform contract terms for the enrollment agreement for residential
160 customers;”.
161(b) Section 9 (D.C. Official Code § 34-1671.08) is amended as follows:
162(1) Subsection (b)(1) is amended as follows:
163(A) Subparagraph (A) is amended by striking the phrase “; and” and
164 inserting a semicolon in its place.
165(B) Subparagraph (B) is amended by striking the phrase “a contract
166 without penalty.” and inserting the phrase “a contract; and” in its place.
167(C) A new subparagraph (C) is added to read as follows:
168“(C) Permit residential customers to terminate service at any time without
169 incurring a fee or penalty for early termination of service.”.
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170(2) Subsection (c) is amended by striking the period and inserting the phrase “;
171 provided, that a licensed retail natural gas supplier shall not charge a fee or penalty for early
172 termination of service.” in its place.
173(3) Subsection (e) is amended as follows:
174(A) Paragraph (4) is amended by striking the phrase “without penalty;”
175 and inserting a semicolon in its place.
176(B) Paragraph (5) is amended by striking the phrase “and any penalty for”
177 and inserting the word “for” in its place.
178(c) A new section 9a is added to read as follows:
179“Sec. 9a. Enhanced consumer protections in the residential retail market for natural gas.
180“(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the supply and sale of natural gas by a
181 natural gas supplier to residential customers shall be regulated by the Commission as follows:
182“(1) A natural gas supplier shall only offer natural gas to residential customers at
183 a price that does not exceed the applicable price cap established by the Commission pursuant to
184 subsection (b) of this section.
185“(2) Residential customers may terminate their natural gas supply contracts at any
186 time and natural gas suppliers shall not charge residential customers fees or penalties for early
187 termination of service.
188“(3) A natural gas supplier shall be responsible for ensuring that its agents;
189 contractors; marketers; or brokers comply with all legal requirements that apply to the supply
190 and sale of natural gas in the District, including the consumer protections in this section and
191 section 9, and associated regulations. A natural gas supplier shall be liable for any violation of
192 these legal requirements committed by its agents; contractors; marketers; or brokers.
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193“(b)(1) The Commission shall establish one or more price caps for natural gas supplied
194 by a natural gas supplier to residential customers. Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this
195 subsection, the price cap shall not exceed 110% of the price of the gas company’s default
196 service.
197“(2) The Commission may establish exemptions from the price cap, or establish a
198 price cap that exceeds 110% of the price of the gas company’s default service, for specific
199 natural gas suppliers or types of natural gas supply contracts; provided, that the Commission
200 determines that doing so is in the public interest. In making this determination, the Commission
201 may consider the following factors, along with any other factor the Commission deems relevant:
202“(A) Whether a proposed service is new or innovative;
203“(B) The potential for the service to result in long-term savings for
204 residential customers;
205“(C) Any other energy-related benefits the service may provide, such as
206 improvements in energy efficiency or the ability of residential customers to manage their energy
207 costs; and
208“(D) The potential costs or financial risks to customers.
209“(3) The Commission may modify or revoke an exemption or a higher price cap
210 established pursuant to this paragraph if the Commission determines that the exemption or higher
211 price cap is no longer in the public interest or is otherwise no longer warranted.
212“(c) A contract that contains a price for natural gas supply that exceeds an applicable
213 price cap established pursuant to this section, including a contract entered into before the
214 Commission established the price cap, shall:
215“(1) Be deemed null and void as against public policy;
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216“(2) Not be considered null and void under this subsection if amended to be in
217 compliance with the price cap within 60 days of the establishment of the price cap; provided, that
218 the contract was either entered into before the Commission established the price cap, or entered
219 into at a price for natural gas supply that was in compliance with the price cap initially and then
220 exceeded the applicable price cap after the price of the gas company’s default service changed.
221“(d)(1) The Commission shall require each natural gas supplier to share the standard
222 contract terms for each contract to be offered to a residential customer on a Commission-
223 approved comparison website before the contract is offered to the residential customer.
224“(2) The Commission shall determine which standard contract terms offered by a
225 natural gas supplier shall be posted to the Commission-approved website.
226“(3) The Commission may designate its own website as the Commission-
227 approved website, or another website that assists residential customers in comparing natural gas
228 supply contracts from different natural gas suppliers.
229“(4) Natural gas suppliers shall notify the Commission when the standard contract
230 terms for a new contract are posted to the Commission-approved website, when the standard
231 contract terms for a contract posted to the Commission-approved website are modified, and when
232 a contract is removed from the Commission-approved website. The Commission may establish
233 rules regarding the form, content, and frequency at which such notifications must be provided to
234 the Commission.
235“(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Commission shall establish
236 additional reporting requirements for natural gas suppliers supplying natural gas to residential
237 customers as follows:
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238“(1) The Commission shall require natural gas suppliers to report the following
239 information:
240“(A) Name of natural gas supplier;
241“(B) Number of distinct rates offered by each natural gas supplier and the
242 price offered for each rate;
243“(C) Number of customers subscribed to each rate;
244“(D) Sales volume (therms) for each rate;
245“(E) Number of customers in arrears and average arrears per customer,
246 reported by rate;
247“(F) Number of customers who switched to and from the natural gas
248 supplier during the reporting period for each rate; and
249“(G) Number of customers with different contract lengths for each rate.
250“(2)(A) The Commission shall determine which information provided by a natural
251 gas supplier pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be deemed confidential for the
252 purposes of protecting proprietary business information.
253“(B) The Commission may direct natural gas suppliers to submit both
254 confidential and public versions of any required report, with confidential information redacted
255 from the public version.
256“(C) The Commission shall make available to the public copies of natural
257 gas supplier reports, with all confidential information redacted.
258“(D) The Commission shall share, upon request, copies of confidential
259 versions of supply reports with the Office of the People’s Counsel, the Office of the Attorney
260 General, and the Department of Energy and Environment.
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261“(3) Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit the use of confidential information
262 to prepare statistics or other general data for publication when the statistics or other general data
263 are published in a manner that prevents identification of particular persons or individual
264 customer account information.
265“(4) Nothing in this subsection shall limit the authority of the Commission to
266 establish additional reporting requirements, including the frequency for reporting of the
267 information in paragraph (1) of this subsection, or to continue existing reporting requirements.
268“(f) The requirements in subsections (a), (b), and (c) of this section shall not apply to
269 natural gas supplied by or through:
270“(1) The gas company’s default service;
271“(2) A municipal aggregation program for the purchase of natural gas; or
272“(3) The District government, the federal government, or the agencies and
273 instrumentalities of the District government or federal government.
274“(g) The Commission shall issue rules or orders to implement this section within 270
275 days after the effective date this act.”.
276(d) Section 12(a)(1)(D) (D.C. Official Code § 34-1671.11(a)(1)(D)) is amended by
277 striking the phrase “purposes or” and inserting the phrase “purposes, for the reporting
278 requirements in this act, or” in its place.
279Sec. 4. Fiscal impact statement.
280The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the fiscal
281 impact statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975,
282 approved October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code § 1-301.47a).
283Sec. 5. Effective date.
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284This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the
285 Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), a 30-day period of Congressional review as
286 provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December
287 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code § 1-206.02(c)(1)), and publication in the District of
288 Columbia Register.
289
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