|
|
|
|
Retail Supplier To Drop Customers To Default Service, Exit State's Market Under Settlement With Regulator's Staff
The following story is brought free of charge to readers by EC Infosystems, the exclusive EDI provider of EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Residents Energy, LLC would return its Connecticut electricity customers to default service and exit the Connecticut market for a period of three years under a settlement agreement with the Office of Education, Outreach, and Enforcement ('EOE') of the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory
Authority ('PURA') and the Office of Consumer Counsel ('OCC')
The settlement would resolve alleged violations contained in a March 2021 Notice of Violation (NOV) against Residents Energy, which had been first reported by EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Among other things, the NOV had alleged that a vendor of Residents Energy violated PURA's order in Docket No. 14-07-20RE01 prohibiting door-to-door marketing during the pandemic. The NOV also cited customer complaints which had alleged that deceptive tactics had been used during such marketing
See our prior story here for more details on the alleged violations
The settlement notes that Residents Energy expressly denies all of the alleged violations in the NOV
The settlement remains subject to PURA approval
Per May 2021 utility migration data, Residents had been serving 271 customers in Connecticut (208 at CL&P and 63 at UI) as of April 30, 2021
As part of the settlement, Residents agrees to a voluntary payment in the amount of three hundred
thousand dollars ($300,000), made payable to Operation Fuel
Furthermore, as part of this settlement, Residents also agrees to voluntarily withdraw from
the Connecticut electric supplier market for three years (36 months) after the date PURA
approves this settlement agreement. "As a result of the voluntary withdrawal, Residents
will not serve or market to any Connecticut customers for three years (36 months) after
the date PURA approves this Settlement Agreement," the settlement states
Within three business
days of PURA approving the settlement agreement, Residents agrees (to the extent it has not
done so by that date) to submit an EDI request to the electric distribution companies
requesting that each of its customers be immediately transitioned to standard service.
Residents
will send such customers a correspondence via their preferred method of communication
indicating that it has exited the Connecticut market and they are being returned to
standard service.
"Such correspondence may not direct Residents’ former customers to one of its parent’s subsidiary supplier companies," the settlement states
The settlement provides that, "Residents will provide not less than thirty (30) days’ advance notice to PURA
if and when it seeks to re-enter the Connecticut market after three years. Together with
that notice, Residents will provide an affidavit that attests that Residents has no violations,
infractions, penalties, or fines in other jurisdictions in the time between when it exits the
Connecticut market and wishes to return, or identifying and describing in reasonable
detail any such issues. Once it begins marketing to customers again, Residents agrees
that for a period of one year, PURA shall have the right to request audio recordings of
marketing calls and, to the extent PURA reasonably concludes such requests are
necessary, written transcripts thereof. In addition, upon PURA’s request, Residents will
provide it with the dates, times, and locations in which it will conduct any form of
marketing, including but not limited to telesales, door-to-door and in-person marketing,
and PURA reserves the right to observe such door-to-door and in-person marketing in
person."
Docket No. 19-08-21
ADVERTISEMENT Copyright 2010-21 Energy Choice Matters. If you wish to share this story, please
email or post the website link; unauthorized copying, retransmission, or republication
prohibited.
Would Also Pay $300,000
June 11, 2021
Email This Story
Copyright 2010-21 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
NEW Jobs on RetailEnergyJobs.com:
• NEW! -- Customer Engagement Manager -- Retail Supplier -- Houston
• NEW! -- Energy Customer Service Specialist
• NEW! -- Energy Sales Executive
• NEW! -- Senior Energy Intelligence Analyst
• NEW! -- Energy Advisor
• NEW! -- Energy Operations Analyst
-- Retail Supplier
• NEW! -- New Product Strategy and Development Sr. Associate -- Retail Supplier -- DFW
• NEW! -- Sales Development Representative (SDR) -- Houston
• NEW! -- Senior Analyst - Pricing & Structuring -- Retail Supplier -- Houston
• NEW! -- Sr. Analyst, Structuring -- Retail Supplier
• NEW! -- Account Operations Manager -- Retail Supplier
|
|
|