Illinois Commerce Commission Drops Proposed Cap on Termination Fees, Prohibition on Utility Name Use by Retail Suppliers

The Illinois Commerce Commission has issued a post-prohibition order in its retail electric customer protection rulemaking, and will send the revised proposed rule back to the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules for consideration.

As previously reported, the Illinois Joint Committee on Administrative Rules had prohibited the filling and adoption of a prior draft of the rules.

Most notably, the revised proposal strikes an earlier proposed provision under which a retail electric supplier (RES) would not have been permitted to market power and energy service to residential customers using a similar name (where any part of the retail supplier name contains any part of the utility name) or logo to that of an existing electric utility or natural gas utility in Illinois.

"While it is within the Commission's authority and discretion to determine whether a RES may use an electric utility's name or logo, the Commission agrees with the view of Staff and several of the other parties that Section 412.110(l) and 412.170(c) serve to achieve similar goals contemplated by this section, such as to render this provision redundant," the Commission said, referring to sections requiring the supplier to affirmatively state it is not representing or acting on behalf of the utility, and sections prohibiting the use of deceptive or misleading information.

Furthermore, the ICC has struck the proposed $50 cap on small volume early termination fees. "Since the Joint Committee has strong objections to the $50 cap on the early termination fee in Section 412.110 (l), the Commission will remove this language."

Still, the ICC has maintained a provision that allows a small volume customer to terminate a contract without any termination fee within 10 business days after the date of the first bill issued to the customer.

The post-prohibition order also strikes restrictions on the hours of door-to-door marketing by retail suppliers, deferring the issue to local municipalities, and eliminates the requirements to conduct criminal background checks and drug tests on all potential door-to-door employees.

"It is important that the use of marketing tools for the RES be fair and even overall. The Commission notes Subsections 412.120 (j) and (k), as drafted, create a scenario where door-to-door marketing tools and employment eligibility requirements for RES agents are unduly restrictive when compared to the marketing restrictions and requirements in place for other utilities and general product sales. The Commission will defer to the marketing restrictions set forth by the individual municipalities should they exist, and the Commission elects to strike the employment eligibility restrictions in Section 412.120," the ICC said.

Additionally, the post-prohibition order strikes the proposed "Do Not Market" list from the rule. However, upon a customer's request, a retail supplier shall still refrain from any further marketing to that customer.

Docket: 09-0592