Billing Arrearages & Cancel/Adjustment Transactions

To assist electricity suppliers in the billing arrearages and cancel/adjustment processes, BGE has divided the information into the following categories:

A.  Billing Arrearages

B.  Cancel/Adjustment Transactions

C.  Special Processing for Cancel/Adjustment Transactions

D.  Special Processing Cancel/Adjustment & Reversal/Reissue Transactions

Electricity suppliers should also familiarize themselves with Maryland's Electric Choice rules that are covered in Section 12 of the BGE Electricity Supplier Coordination Tariff.

A. Billing Arrearages

If the customer chooses a consolidated billing option (See Customer Billing & Payment), the billing party (BGE or the electricity supplier) for the consolidated bill must maintain a record of customer arrearages for as long as the customer maintains its relationship with the other party.  For those instances where the relationship between the customer and the electricity supplier ends, the retention periods below should apply or until the customer pays in full whichever comes first.  If not paid in full, the billing party (BGE or the electricity supplier) must send a 248 Write-Off transaction (See EDI Implementation Guidelines) to the other party to return its outstanding charges.

B. Cancel/Adjustment Transactions

Cancel/Adjustment transactions are for BGE Consolidated Bills where BGE cancels meter readings and charges and generates a new bill from corrected readings.

• When BGE cancels a meter reading, an 867-01 Cancel (See EDI Implementation Guidelines) will be sent to the electricity supplier.  Once the new meter readings have been obtained, BGE will send an 867MU Original to the electricity supplier with the corrected billing period, meter readings, and demands.

• When the electricity supplier receives a 867-01 Cancel and 867MU Original from BGE, the electricity supplier should respond with an 810-01 Cancel and an 810-00 Original (See EDI Implementation Guidelines) with their corrected charges.  BGE does not automatically cancel the supplier's charges after sending the 867-01 Cancel.   

• The electricity supplier may send an 810-01 Cancel at anytime after receiving an 867-01 Cancel from BGE.  However, the 810-00 Original transaction generated by the electricity supplier, in response to the 867MU Original transaction from BGE with the corrected meter usage, must be sent during the 3 business day billing window.  

• BGE will not cancel a reading in the "Prebill" status which is the period after the meter has been read and before the charges has been billed.

• When BGE cancels meter readings involving multiple electricity suppliers, BGE will send multiple 867-01 Cancels and prorated 867MU Originals to the appropriate electricity suppliers.  However, BGE will not accept any 810 transactions from any of the electricity suppliers except the current one.

C. Reversal/Reissue Transactions

An 810-17 Reversal and 810-18 Reissue transaction (See EDI Implementation Guidelines) allow the electricity supplier to cancel and rebill a customer's charges without receiving an 867MU-01 cancel from BGE.

• 810-17 Reversal and 810-18 Reissue transactions are paired transactions and cannot be used interchangeably with the 810-01 Cancel and an 810-00 Original.

• 810-17 Reversal transactions may be sent by the electricity supplier at anytime during the billing cycle.  However, the 810-18 Reissue transaction must be sent during the 3 business day billing window.

• When an electricity supplier sends an 810-17 Reversal to BGE, BGE will cancel the charge via credit adjustment against the original debit.

D. Special Processing for Cancel/Adjustment & Reversal/Reissue Transactions

Below are some of the more common scenarios of what happens with 810-01 Cancel and 810-00 Original transactions as well as 810-17 Reversal and 810-18 Reissue transactions when electricity suppliers initiate these types of transactions when their relationship with a customer has ended.  These scenarios are only applicable if the customer remains in competition.  If the customer returns to BGE, BGE will not accept any 810 cancels.  If there are charges outstanding, BGE will return the debit to the electricity supplier who will need to reconcile the charges with the customer. 

For each of the following scenarios,

- Supplier A is active.

- BGE receives an 814E Enrollment request from Supplier B.

- BGE sends Supplier B an 814E Response confirming their customer relationship effective 9/14.

- BGE sends Supplier A an 814D Drop transaction effective 9/14.

- BGE reads the meter on 9/14.

- BGE sends Supplier A an 867MU from the August reading date to 9/14.

- Supplier A sends the 810-00 to BGE within 3 business days.

810-01 Cancel Transaction - Customer pays the bill in full

- BGE generates a final bill for Supplier A up to 9/14.

- Customer pays the bill in full.

- BGE takes a reading on 10/14.

- BGE cancels the meter reading for 9/14.

- BGE sends Supplier A an 867-01 to cancel the reading and an 867mu with the corrected usage.

- BGE sends an 867MU to Supplier B for the reading period 9/14 to 10/14.

- Supplier A sends an 810-01 to BGE and BGE rejects it because the customer's bill is paid in full and the relationship has ended with Supplier A.

- Supplier A has responsibility for adjusting the billing directly with the customer.

810-01 Transaction - Customer does not pay the bill

- BGE generates a final bill for Supplier A up to 9/14.

- Customer does not pay the bill.

- BGE takes a reading on 10/14.

- BGE cancels the meter reading for 9/14.

- BGE sends Supplier A an 867-01 to cancel the 9/14 reading and an 867mu with the corrected usage.

- BGE sends an 867MU to Supplier B for the billing period 9/14 to 10/14.

- Supplier A sends an 810-01 to cancel Supplier A's charges for the reading taken 9/14.

- BGE accepts Supplier A's 810-01, because the charges were not paid; however, BGE rejects any 810-00, because the relationship with the customer has ended.

810-01 Cancel Transaction - Customer pays a portion of the bill

- BGE generates a final bill for Supplier A up to 9/14.

- Customer pays a portion of the bill.

- BGE takes a reading on 10/14.

- BGE cancels the meter reading for 9/14.

- BGE sends Supplier A an 867-01 to cancel the 9/14 reading and an 867mu with the corrected usage.

- BGE sends an 867MU to Supplier B for the billing period 9/14 to 10/14.

- Supplier A sends an 810-01 to cancel Supplier A's charges for the reading taken 9/14.

- BGE accepts Supplier A's 810-01, because the charges were not paid in full; however, BGE rejects any 810-00 to re-bill the new charges, because Supplier A's relationship has ended with the customer.

- If Supplier A sends the 810-01, they must cancel the entire charge and they would owe BGE for the portion of the customer's payment that BGE remitted to Supplier A.

810-17 Reversal Transaction - Customer pays the bill in full

- BGE generates a final bill for Supplier A up to 9/14.

- Customer pays the bill in full.

- BGE takes a reading on 10/14.

- Supplier A sends an 810-17 Reversal to BGE, because the supplier has found an error in their calculation of the charges.

- BGE rejects the 810-17 and 810-18 Reissue, if sent, because the supplier's charge is paid in full and the supplier's relationship has ended.

810-17 Reversal Transaction - Customer does not pay the bill

- BGE generates a final bill for Supplier A up to 9/14.

- Customer does not pay the bill.

- BGE takes a reading on 10/14.

- Supplier A sends an 810-17 Reversal to BGE, because the supplier has found an error in their calculation of the charges.

- BGE accepts and processes the 810-17. 

- BGE makes a credit adjustment to the customer's account for the full amount of the original charge.

- If Supplier A sends an 810-18 Reissue of charges for the period from August reading to 9/14 reading, BGE rejects the 810-18, because Supplier A's relationship with the customer has ended.

- Supplier A has the responsibility of billing the customer direct.

810-17 Reversal Transaction - Customer pays a portion of the bill  

- BGE generates a final bill for Supplier A up to 9/14.

- Customer does not pay the bill in full.

- BGE takes a reading on 10/14.

- Supplier A sends an 810-17 Reversal to BGE, because the Supplier has found an error in their calculation of the charges.

- BGE accepts and processes the 810-17. 

- BGE makes a credit adjustment to the customer's account for the full amount of the original charge.

- If Supplier A sends an 810-18 Reissue of the charges. BGE rejects the transaction, because Supplier A's relationship with the customer has ended.

- Supplier A owes BGE for the portion of the original bill the customer paid and BGE remitted to the supplier.