Retail Supplier Seeks Clarification Of Requirement To Present Utility's Charges To Customers -- EnergyChoiceMatters.com

Retail Supplier Seeks Clarification Of Requirement To Present Utility's Charges To Customers

April 13, 2021

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Copyright 2010-21 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com

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Vistra Corp. requested from the Connecticut PURA clarification regarding disclosure of the electric distribution companies’ ('EDCs') current charges when advertising or disclosing the price of electricity as required pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes section 16-245o(h)(3)(i).

"Specifically, Vistra seeks confirmation that an electric supplier satisfies this statutory obligation by disclosing the EDC’s standard service rate, but that a supplier does not also need to disclose the individual EDC delivery charges so long as the supplier informs the customer that they cannot avoid these EDC delivery charges by enrolling with a supplier," Vistra said

"This motion and the confirmation that Vistra now seeks is informed by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority’s ('Authority') commentary on this topic. Most recently, the Authority’s May 6, 2020 decision in the above-referenced proceeding ('Marketing Standards Decision') requires, for residential customers, that electric suppliers 'update all verbal and electronic marketing materials disclosing the EDC standard service price immediately upon PURA’s approval of a new standard service price.' In addition, '[t]he use of printed marketing materials with the expiring EDC standard service price must be updated to reflect the new standard service price or be discontinued within five (5) days of PURA’s approval of the new standard service price.' While the 'burden is on the Electric Supplier to keep apprised of this information', the Authority correctly points out that it 'posts the standard service rates in the applicable docket, which suppliers can easily follow if they sign up for email notifications in these dockets,'" Vistra said

"The Authority has recently concluded several investigations into individual electric suppliers where this statutory provision was further analyzed and a similar conclusion was reached. In each instance, the discussion related only to the standard service rate. For instance, the Authority determined that 'Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16-245o(h)(3)(B)(i) requires any electric supplier to accurately disclose the price of standard service.' The Authority goes on to state that the supplier 'did not always disclose the standard service rate as required by Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16-245o(h)(3)(i)'. Further, in another supplier investigation, the Authority concluded that the evidence in the record indicated that the supplier 'rarely discloses the EDC’s standard service charge as required by Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16-245o(h)(3),'" Vistra said

"Vistra believes that the Authority has correctly determined that individual EDC delivery charges are not feasible to provide to customers of electric suppliers. As the Authority has noted, 'because past decisions have established different timing requirements for the submission of different rate adjustments, filings for the various rate adjustments do not occur simultaneously.' Even with revisions to the rate setting process in the RAM Dockets, the delivery charges addressed in the RAM Dockets are not the only EDC delivery charges that exist. Given the complicated and often-changing nature of the various delivery charges, approvals of those EDC delivery charges are unlike the standard service docket that electric suppliers 'can easily follow'. Further, tracking these changes and capturing each of them in updated disclosures would require a significant amount of effort to update individual EDC delivery charges in a timely manner as updates are needed multiple times during the year that do not align with the timing of standard service approvals. This is compounded if a supplier serves or offers to serve customers in both EDC service territories," Vistra said

To the extent that the Authority believes individual EDC delivery charges must be disclosed to customers, Vistra requested that the Authority confirm that such disclosure can be accomplished by providing customers with a weblink to the EDC’s websites where rates are posted.

"Vistra believes that this will be the best means of communicating this information to customers to avoid confusion and the risk of inaccurate or outdated information. More importantly, with numerous individual delivery charges, providing customers with a means to obtain the data directly from the source (i.e., the EDC), would ensure timely and accurate information. The option to provide customers with a weblink to the EDCs’ information both reduces the administrative burden and improves the customer experience. Recognizing that certain customers may not have access or the inclination to view a weblink, Vistra would not object to providing customers with a hard copy upon request," Vistra said

"In conclusion, the focus of the Authority on electric supplier compliance with Connecticut General Statutes section 16-245o(h)(3)(i) has rightfully been on disclosure to customers of the EDC standard service rate. After all, this is the comparison rate for customers to determine whether they will save money compared with EDC standard service. While the supplier’s responsibility to disclose the standard service rates was emphasized in the Marketing Standards Decision, the Authority did not explicitly exclude the EDC delivery charges which is why Vistra is seeking this clarification," Vistra said

"Therefore, for the reasons described more fully above, Vistra requests that the Authority confirm that a supplier disclosing the EDC’s standard service rate does not also need to disclose the individual EDC delivery charges to satisfy the statutory obligation so long as the supplier informs the customer that they cannot avoid these EDC delivery charges by enrolling with a supplier. In the alternative, Vistra requests that it be able to provide a weblink to the EDC’s website where the customer can see the EDC delivery charges for their specific rate class," Vistra said

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