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State To Stay Customer Notification Requirements, Re-examine Along With Supplier Website, Other Rules
The Connecticut PURA, under a draft decision, would re-open Docket 13-07-18 to re-examine several issues from its November 2014 order in the proceeding, including issues related to: customer notification method requirements; supplier website requirements; cancellation (rescission) methodology requirements; and communication of exact enrollment date requirements
The re-opening is in response to a December petition from the Retail Energy Supplier Association.
In its November 2014 order, PURA ruled that retail suppliers must offer customers the ability to select to receive certain statutorily required notices from the supplier through all of the following methods: (1) United States mail, (2) electronic mail, (3) text message, (4) an application on a cellular telephone, and (5) a third-party notification service, which has been submitted to the Authority for approval.
RESA argued that PURA's finding that suppliers must offer customers the choice of any of these methods contradicts the plain language of the statute, which used the term "or" in enumerating the methods, which RESA said indicates that the suppliers may select what method of notices they offer for customers to elect among those listed by the statute
PURA's draft re-opening the docket provides that the Authority will stay implementation of the customer notification method requirements until such time the issues have been decided in the reopened docket. A separate ruling on RESA's motion states that the notification requirements will be stayed, "from July 31, 2015," until decided
PURA's November decision also requires each licensed supplier to maintain, "its own website," and provided that posting statutorily required information on a separate webpage of a global website for the supplier's brand does not meet this requirement.
RESA said that PURA's decision imposes a requirement that the supplier have a website, separate and distinct, from its affiliates or any other business interests, which is not required by statute.
PURA's November decision requires that each supplier allow customers to exercise their rescission right, "by email, text, telephone and United States mail, and each method must be clearly communicated to each customer."
RESA argued that statute does not require that suppliers allow customers to cancel via any particular method, particularly objecting to the requirement that suppliers be required to receive rescission requests via text message.
PURA's November decision requires that fixed rate agreements include the language, "The plan will have a fixed rate of [$0.0000/kWh] will be fixed from [date] through [date]."
RESA argued that because suppliers have no control over the processing of an enrollment request once it is sent to the electric distribution company or the meter reading cycles of the EDCs, they cannot reasonably be required to guarantee the enrollment date in their contracts and customer communication materials. RESA requested that the Authority clarify that the reference to "[date]" does not require suppliers to provide exact enrollment dates to customers and that suppliers are simply required to clearly communicate the length of the term of prices and contracts to customers and to tell customers that the enrollment will occur on the meter read date following acceptance of their enrollment by the EDCs
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June 16, 2015
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Copyright 2010-15 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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