State Seeks Comment on Standard Summary Form of Material Retail Electric Contract Terms

The Connecticut PURA has issued a request for comments concerning its investigation into the development of a standard summary form of material contract terms for retail electric contracts (Docket 14-07-17).

Section 4 of Public Act 14-75, An Act Concerning Electric Customer Consumer Protection, requires the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to initiate a contested proceeding on or before January 1, 2015, to develop a standard summary form of the material terms and conditions of the contract for electric generation services signed by a residential customer.

Such form shall include, but not be limited to, the following: (1) A description of the rate the customer will be paying; (2) whether such rate is a fixed or variable rate; (3) the term and expiration date of such rate; (4) whether the contract will automatically renew; (5) a notice describing the customer's right to cancel the service, as provided in this section; (6) information on air emissions and resource mix of generation facilities operated by and under long-term contract to the electric supplier; (7) the trade name of the electric supplier; (8) the toll-free telephone number for customer service of the electric supplier; (9) the Internet web site of the electric supplier; and (10) the toll-free telephone number for customer complaints of the Authority.

Parties were requested to file written comments that include a proposed standard summary form of the material terms and conditions of the electric generation services contract for residential customers that, at a minimum, include the 10 items required by Section 4 of the Act. The Authority requested that the proposed standard contract be marked to indicate where each of the 10 required items are located. Also, parties should provide samples of standard summary forms that are used in other states and any other comments that are relevant.