State to Consider Prohibiting Automatic Contract Renewal, Supplier-Initiated Contract Terminations

In a wide-ranging retail market order issued yesterday, the Maine PUC said that it will reopen the customer protection provisions of Chapter 305 to consider the following provisions:

• A requirement that any comparison with standard offer include the term length for both standard offer and the CEP [retail supplier] offer;

• A prohibition in promotional or marketing activities on any suggestion that the CEP is associated with a utility, as well as a requirement for clear identification of an entity as a competitive provider of electricity not associated with the utility;

• A prohibition on automatic renewals without affirmative customer consent if the price or other significant terms (e.g., length of contract term) are changed;

• A prohibition of the transfer of customer accounts to another CEP unless the previous terms are honored, and customers are given the option to change suppliers; and

• A requirement that any contract that binds customers for a particular term also bind the supplier for a same term (e.g., contract cannot obligate customers for a 12 month term, while simultaneously allowing the supplier to terminate at any time).

In the same order, the PUC also made default service more market-reflective and ruled on purchase of receivables, click here for related story today

Docket 2013-00200