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Connecticut Seeks Stakeholder Comment on Issues Related to New Supplier Billing Requirements

March 23, 2015

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Copyright 2010-15 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Karen Abbott • kabbott@energychoicematters.com

Having recently re-opened a decision concerning new electric billing regulations, the Connecticut PURA has now sought specific stakeholder comment on several issues.

An EBT Working Group has identified issues that were not specifically addressed in the PURA's January 21, 2015 decision concerning several statutory changes to electric bill information and presentation. That January order required certain summary information to be displayed on bills (click here for specific information to be listed)

PURA requested written comments regarding the following issues.

1. General Statutes of Connecticut (Conn. Gen. Stat.) §16-245d(a)(1) requires licensed suppliers to offer direct billing to all customers, and as a result it appears that Conn. Gen. Stat. §16-245d(a)(2) requires licensed suppliers to include the Summary Information on the first page of residential electric bills issued by the supplier. Comment on whether licensed suppliers should be required to provide the Summary Information on residential bills issued by the supplier and the specifics relating to implementation by licensed suppliers.

2. The United Illuminating Company (UI) and The Connecticut Light and Power Company d/b/a Eversource (CL&P, together the electric distribution companies or EDCs) serve approximately 1.3 million residential customers. The EDCs estimate that there are about 600 residential customers that are being directly billed by licensed suppliers. The EDC billing systems cannot display the Summary Information for Item Nos. 1-5 and 8 for supplier direct-billed customers without incurring additional cost and allowing more time to affect necessary changes. The EDC billing system can display Item Nos. 6, 7 and 9 for these customers. Comment on whether the EDCs should be exempt from displaying Item Nos. 1-5 and 8 of the Summary Information on the first page of the EDC bill for supplier direct-billed residential customers and requiring that the Summary Information be displayed on the residential electric bills issued by licensed suppliers.

3. Conn. Gen. Stat. §16-245d(a)(2) applies to all residential customers. Summary Information Item No. 3 requires the EDCs to display the supplier’s generation rate that will be applied to the customer’s consumption during the next billing cycle. To accommodate this requirement, effective July 1, 2015, licensed suppliers can no longer offer Variable-Daily or Variable-Weekly generation plans to residential customers but must only offer generation rates that change on the customer’s meter reading date; i.e., Fixed or Monthly-Variable rates. The EDCs do not separately identify residential accounts that may be billed under a contract where a supplier is serving various individually metered buildings that are not all residential accounts. Comment on whether the billing statement for a residential account in these situations must comply with the requirements of Conn. Gen. Stat. §16﷓245d(a)(2).

4. Summary Information Item No. 5 only requires the EDC to display “Variable, if applicable.” Comment on whether the word “Fixed” should appear on a residential customer’s bill if the rate is not variable.

5. Summary Information Item No. 6 requires the Standard Service generation rate to be displayed on the first page of residential customer bills. The Standard Service generation rate is used to calculate Summary Information Item No. 8 which displays the dollar amount that would have been billed for the electric generation services component had the customer been receiving Standard Service generation. At present, Standard Service generation rates change on January and July 1st requiring the EDCs to issue prorated bills for most customers when the rates change. These pro-rated bills are calculated using two Standard Service rates; the rate that is expiring and the rate that becomes effective on January or July 1st. Comment on which of the two Standard Service rates should be used to calculate and display the Summary Information for Item No. 6 for residential bills that are issued when changes to the Standard Service generation rate requires the EDC to issue pro-rated residential bills.

6. Comment on the process by which suppliers must comply with the revised EBT standards.

Docket No. 14-07-19

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