State Proposes to Prohibit Assignment of Customer Contracts to Another Supplier "Without The Customer's Consent"

The Connecticut PURA, in newly proposed marketing standards for electric suppliers, has proposed prohibiting electric suppliers from assigning a customer's contract to another supplier, "without the customer's consent."

"Electric Suppliers are providing a service, and each Supplier is unique in terms of its price, products, services, corporate structure and reputation. One Supplier cannot be substituted for another without the customer's consent. Therefore, a customer's contract or agreement cannot be assigned to another Supplier without the customer's consent," the proposal states.

It is not explicit that such customer consent must be affirmatively obtained for, and at the time of, the specific assignment, and that a generic assignability clause in a terms of service consented to at enrollment would be insufficient for purposes of consent.

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