New Rules Governing Energy Switch MA Shopping Website Take Effect

October 27, 2020

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Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com

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Revised rules governing the Massachusetts DPU's Energy Switch MA electricity shopping website will take effect on November 3, 2020, a hearing examiner notified stakeholders

As previously reported, the modified Energy Switch MA rules were adopted in May, but implementation was not immediate due to work needed to revise the website to accommodate the changes

The changes largely address the posting of municipal aggregation rates on the website, as well as certain changes related to treatment of renewable offers (though further changes relating to the display of renewable energy products continue to be discussed in a working group).

Under the changes, the Energy Switch MA website will still display basic service as the top product regardless of a user’s sorting preferences. However, the municipal aggregation "default product" rate will appear directly under the basic service rate. Other (optional) municipal aggregation products will be displayed, but will be sorted in the same manner as retail supplier products, and not listed at the top with basic service or the default municipal aggregation product.

As before, the website will display basic service as the top product regardless of a user’s filtering preferences related to pricing and contract term. The website will not display basic service when a user filters products to view only Voluntary Renewable Energy Supply Products or products that include additional products or services

With the revised site, Energy Switch MA will display the municipal aggregation default product directly beneath basic service regardless of a user’s sorting preferences. The website will display the municipal aggregation default product directly beneath basic service regardless of a user’s filtering preferences related to pricing and contract term, but will not display the municipal aggregation default product when a user filters products to view only Voluntary Renewable Energy Supply Products or products that include additional products or services

Under the product comparison feature, the website will always displays basic service as the top product on the Compare page regardless of a user’s selection of products for that page, and the website will now display the municipal aggregation default product directly beneath basic service on the Compare page, regardless of a user’s selection of products for that page

As before, the website will list only fixed-priced Supply Products for retail suppliers. As a fixed-priced Supply Product, the contract term must be three months or greater.

For municipal aggregations, municipal aggregators must identify the month and year through which the product is available.

Under the changes, for a product's voluntary renewable content, the website will now differentiate between products that are composed entirely of Massachusetts RPS Class I resources and those that are not.

Non-Premium Renewable Energy Products refer to Voluntary Renewable Energy Products that are not composed entirely of resources designated as RPS Class I resources.

Premium Renewable Energy Products refer to voluntary renewable energy supply products that are composed entirely of resources designated as RPS Class I resources.

For municipal aggregation and competitive supply products that are not composed entirely of RPS Class I resources, the existing rule will continue to apply. However, for municipal aggregation and competitive supply products that are composed entirely of RPS Class I resources, the website will display information about the product's voluntary renewable content provided that the voluntary resources comprise a minimum of one percent of the product's total resources.

More specifically, for Voluntary Renewable Energy Products, Suppliers must identify the percentage of renewable resources that comprise the product, inclusive of the resources required by RPS.

1. Minimum Content:

a. Non-Premium Renewable Energy Products must include a minimum of 50 percent renewable energy resources, inclusive of the resources required by RPS. Suppliers must express the percentage of the product that is composed of renewable energy resources in multiples of five.

b. Premium Renewable Products must include a minimum of one percent of renewable energy resources above the resources required by RPS. Suppliers must express the percentage of the Supply Product that is composed of renewable energy resources in whole numbers.

2. Resource Types:

a. For Voluntary Renewable Energy Products, Suppliers must identify:

i. the type(s) of renewable energy resources (biomass, hydro, solar, wind, other, or unspecified) that comprise the product; and

ii. the percentage of the voluntary component of the product that is composed of each identified resource type.

b. For Non-Premium Renewable Energy Products, Suppliers may, but are not required to, enter the percentage of each identified resource type that qualifies as a RPS Class I resource.

Docket 19-07

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