(1) Except as provided for in (2) and (3) , an applicant shall include the following information in an application for a license to supply electricity:

(a) complete business name of the applicant, and all names that may be used when marketing electricity supply services to consumers;

(b) complete street and mailing address of the applicant's principal office;

(c) if intending to serve or solicit residential or commercial (under 300 kW) consumers, the address and direct, toll-free phone number of the department or office that should be contacted by consumers regarding supply;

(d) the name of a regulatory contact who should be contacted regarding the application, and the address, direct phone number, fax number and e-mail address of that person;

(e) the name and business address of all applicant's officers and directors, partners, or other similar officials, and a statement that neither the applicant, nor any of its officers and directors, partners or other similar officials are currently in violation of, and within the past three years have not violated, any state or federal consumer protection laws or rules;

(f) descriptions of the activities and purposes of applicant, including:

(i) customer segments which applicant intends to serve or solicit (e.g., residential, small business (under 20 kW) , commercial, industrial) ; and

(ii) a list of public utility and cooperative utility electric distribution service territories in which applicant intends to provide service or solicit customers;

(g) a list of affiliates, a corporate organization diagram, a description of each affiliate's activities and purposes, a description of any distribution facilities owned or operated by an affiliate in the state of Montana and the status of open and nondiscriminatory access to those facilities for all electricity suppliers;

(h) the state(s) under which applicant is organized, the form(s) of organization (corporation, partnership, association, firm, individual, etc.) , the date of organization and duration, and a list of states where applicant is currently licensed or registered to provide electricity supply;

(i) an agreement that, on commission request, the applicant will demonstrate that it has obtained generation capacity, power purchases and transmission rights sufficient to deliver subscribed retail electricity services with adequate reserves;

(j) an agreement to comply with reliability criteria established by the North American electric reliability council and the western systems coordinating council and mid-continent area power pool, as applicable;

(k) prior to executing contracts with residential and commercial (under 300 kW) customers, a demonstration of applicant's financial integrity through one of the following:

(i) a long term bond (or other senior debt) rating of BBB-, or equivalent debt or credit rating, obtained in one of the following ways:

(A) the rating must be determined by standard and poors, dunn and bradstreet information services, or another recognized U.S. or Canadian debt or credit rating service, or

(B) the applicant may, at its own expense, obtain a private rating from a recognized debt rating service, or request that an independent accountant or financial advisor, mutually acceptable to the commission and the applicant, prepare an equivalent evaluation based on the financial rating methodology, criteria, and ratios for the industry as published by the above rating agencies from time to time;

(ii) two years of audited financial statements; or

(iii) a $100,000 performance bond;

(l) most recent annual report to shareholders; and

(m) copies of standard forms or contracts used to provide service to residential and commercial (under 300 kW) customers.

(2) An electricity supply broker not taking title to electricity supplies but acting as an agent or intermediary in the sale or purchase of electricity shall include the following information in an application to supply electricity:

(a) complete name of the applicant, and all names that may be used when marketing or brokering;

(b) complete street and mailing address of the applicant's principal office;

(c) the name of the person to contact regarding the application, and the address, direct phone number, fax number and e-mail address of that person;

(d) descriptions of the activities and purposes of applicant, including:

(i) customer segments which applicant intends to serve or solicit (e.g., residential, small business (under 20 kW) , commercial, industrial) ; and

(ii) a list of public utility and cooperative utility electric distribution service territories in which applicant intends to provide service or solicit customers;

(e) a list of affiliates, a corporate organization diagram, a description of each affiliate's activities and purposes and any distribution facilities owned or operated by an affiliate in the state of Montana and the status of open and nondiscriminatory access to those facilities for all electricity suppliers; and

(f) a description of all ownership interests in any supplier operations.

(3) A broker or marketer obtaining a license pursuant to (2) of this rule may not sell retail electricity supplies in the state of Montana, be an aggregator or engage in market aggregation by taking title to electricity for sale to retail end-use customers unless it has submitted the information listed in (1) of this rule and the commission has determined the information to be complete and adequate.