Ohio retail gas marketers will have to undergo new regulatory scrutiny, according to rules adopted by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio last week. Under the rules all retail marketers will have to file balance sheets, credit ratings and other relevant financial information among other requirements in order to obtain certification by the PUCO. Up to this point, retail marketers have been allowed to operate without certification.

On March 27, Gov. Bob Taft signed Amended Substitute House Bill 9, which required certain governmental aggregators and retail gas suppliers to be certified. It also authorized governmental aggregation for competitive retail natural gas service and authorized the PUCO to order large natural gas companies to provide distribution service on an open non-discretionary basis.

The rules adopted by the PUCO Tuesday establish, among other things, the following:

“We’re not trying to regulate a competitive market. We’re just trying to make sure we can oversee what is happening in that market and make sure that consumers are protected,” said PUCO spokeswoman Shana Gerber. “We have received complaints from consumers, but that’s not what prompted House Bill 9. There were concerns that consumers raised in dealing with marketers and situations where we had very little say in what could be done. The legislature recognized that. If problems arose, the PUCO had very little role in trying to resolve those problems.”

The certification rules must become effective before July 26, 2002, when all retail natural gas suppliers will be required to be certified, as outlined in House Bill 9. Before the rules become effective, they will first be filed with and reviewed by the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review.

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