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Final Order Maintains Proposed Requirement for Retail Suppliers to Separately List Broker Fees

February 18, 2015

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Copyright 2010-15 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com

A final Connecticut PURA written order concerning a new standard contract summary form of the material terms and conditions for residential electric contracts still contains a requirement that retail suppliers disclose separately any fee paid to a broker

PURA's written order posted online in Docket 14-07-17 states that:

"The sixth row [of the new contract summary] must list any cost or fee that is not included in the contracted cents/kWh charge and the amount of that cost or fee. Examples of costs or fees include Early Termination Fee, Deposits, Aggregator or Broker Fee. Any non-generation related cost/fee that is included in (i.e., recovered through) the generation rate must be separately identified. For example, if a broker’s payment is recovered through the Generation Rate that cost and amount must be separately identified in the sixth row."

Although we find final language rather clunky (first emphasizing fees, "not included in the contracted cents/kWh charge" but then later using terminology of generation vs. non-generation costs) it is clear from the contract summary template that PURA intends for the broker fee to be disclosed, as the contract summary provides that the supplier must list the, "Aggregator or Broker Fee – [00.0000¢/kWh] collected in the Generation Rate."

PURA's final order drops an explicit reference to how many decimal places the generation rate must be shown, but states that supplier must list the generation rate as "00.0000¢/kWh" (PURA is not explicit if all four decimal places are required).

If the rate is variable, the supplier must display the rate within the following statement: "00.0000¢/kWh for the first three complete billing cycles, variable thereafter, and can increase up to 25% without notice."

Supplier must list the length and expiration date of the contract. The length of the contract can be shown in months or billing cycles while the expiration date must refer to the month in which the customer’s meter will be read.

Supplier must inform consumers whether the contract will automatically renew on the expiration date or whether the customer will be provided with options for a new contract when the current contract ends

PURA has struck from the final order the draft language that, "A contract may automatically renew only if all of the terms and conditions, including the Generation Rate, Rate Plan and Other Fees remain identical to the original contract."

The contract summary must list service location/address for each account covered in the contract with the same Generation Rate, Rate Plan and Other Fees. A separate Contract Summary is required for each service location/address where the Generation Rate, Rate Plan or Other Fees differs.

See the final templates for the standard form contract summer here

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