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Texas Commissioners Concerned With REPs' Requirement That Customers Agree to 3rd Party Info. Sharing As Condition of Service; Suggest Provision Makes REPs Responsible for 3rd Parties
During last week's open meeting, Texas Public Utility Commissioners expressed concerns with various aspects of REPs' sharing of customer information with third parties.
Commissioner Kenneth Anderson raised a concern with the requirement from certain REPs that customers agree to the sharing of information with third parties (not just affiliates) as a condition of enrolling with the REP.
Most troubling was that the language was included in boilerplate contract language, and was not prominently highlighted, which Anderson said did not constitute a "knowing waiver."
The comments from the REP coalition in this proceeding (Project 42030), "heightened my concern," Anderson said, "that somehow [a REP] can require as a condition of entering a contract, that you have to share your information, not only with affiliates of the REP, but with third parties."
"My own view is that, that ought not to be allowed," Anderson said, though Anderson would allow a narrow exception for the sharing of information as necessary to facilitate a demand response program offered by the REP as called for in the specific product or contract.
At the very least, the disclosure that customers agree to information sharing with third parties should be more, "knowing," such as a pop-up or otherwise clear prompt, Anderson said.
"This is one kind of hot button issue," Anderson said, comparing it to the AMI issue [which EnergyChoiceMatters interprets to be a reference to the AMI opt-out].
Chairman Donna Nelson further said that if a REP has a provision in the contract granting them the ability to share customer information with third parties, that provision, "makes them responsible for the third party."
Nelson said that the Commission's next scope of competition report should ask the legislature to address and clarify the Commission's authority over such third parties.
The Commissioners agreed to take another look at the issues individually and work with Staff to come up with a proposal to address the issues raised.
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June 4, 2014
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Copyright 2010-14 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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