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Massachusetts Proposes "Interim" Electricity Shopping Website While Development Continues (Only Fixed Products To Be Listed)

September 9, 2015

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

The Massachusetts DPU has proposed releasing an "interim" electricity shopping website for customers as it continues with development of a more robust website.

The interim solution is intended to allow customers to compare competitive supply pricing with electric distribution company basic service pricing

Notably, the DPU's interim shopping site, which would be for residential offers, would only include fixed-price products with a term of six months or greater. Competitive suppliers would be required to specify the product term in months (not billing cycles).

Only volumetric products (i.e., product prices must be displayed as cents per kilowatt-hour, not a dollar per month) would be displayed.

Suppliers would submit offers twice monthly to the DPU Staff, which would update the site only on the 1st and 15th of the month (or next business day). Suppliers' offers would be submitted to Staff three days prior to the bi-monthly update. A supplier would be required to honor the product(s) displayed on the Department’s webpage(s) provided that the product information matches the information that the competitive supplier submitted to the Department.

The site would list the supplier's price, term length, early termination fee (if any) and link to the supplier's site.

Supplier participation on the interim site would be voluntary.

Basic service rates and terms will also be displayed on the Department’s webpage(s).

The DPU sought stakeholder comment on the following questions regarding the interim shopping site:

1. Should the Department allow a competitive supplier to display an unlimited number of products, or should the Department limit each competitive supplier to displaying one product?

2. Should the Department allow competitive suppliers to display products of any allowable term (i.e., any period six months or longer), or should the Department limit competitive suppliers to one standard product term? If limited to one standard product term, how long should that term be?

3. Should the Department allow competitive suppliers to display products that exceed the renewable portfolio standard required renewable content, or should the Department allow only RPS compliant products?

4. Should the Department allow competitive suppliers to provide additional limited information on the webpage(s), for example, using a maximum of 150 characters, in order to: (a) list products that include energy and/or non-energy related products and services (e.g., smart thermostats, gift cards, etc.); and/or (b) provide information about the other products that the competitive supplier offers to customers? (For example, if the website limits competitive suppliers to listing only twelve-month products that meet RPS requirements, could competitive suppliers provide information about the voluntary renewable products they also offer.)

5. Would the Department’s proposal to allow competitive suppliers to update product information only twice per month serve as barrier to competitive suppliers’ participation in the interim solution?

D.P.U. 14-140

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