NY State Senate Deputy Majority Leader Calls PSC's Full Stop Retail Markets Order "Anti-Competitive"

New York State Senator John DeFrancisco, Deputy Majority Leader, called the New York PSC's February 23 "full stop" retail market order, "anti-competitive" in a March 3 letter which had sought at least a 60-day postponement of the order's effective date

Related: Updated: Judge Grants Temporary Restraining Order Preventing Enforcement Of NY PSC Full Stop Order, Orders PSC To Show Cause Why Preliminary Injunction Should Not Be Granted

"Hundreds of thousands of customers in the state are likely to be abruptly impacted by this decision, because the order impacts all contract renewals, as well as new enrollments. Many customers receiving commodity service from ESCOs on a month to month basis will receive discontinuance notices, or notice of new offerings in which they might not have an interest. Many customers enjoying the security of fixed price contracts will no longer be offered this option, since ESCOs will be required to guarantee savings off a utility rate that is not published and is unknown to both customers and their suppliers. This is of particular concern to heating customers, who are used to such arrangements, whether they heat with oil or natural gas," DeFrancisco wrote

"Given the anti-competitive dictates of the order, and the unreasonable period in which ESCOs must certify compliance, there is simply not enough time for ESCOs to design compliant service offerings, and to disentangle previous arrangements that might have included value-added services such as equipment maintenance, energy efficiency, energy management, or even non-energy promotional type offerings," DeFrancisco wrote

"Absent an extension at the end of this week, hundreds of thousands of consumers will lose their current service package, and without reasonable notice, start to be switched from the energy supplier of their choice to the local utility. This switch will take place during the winter period and will likely result in many customers losing money and paying higher than necessary energy costs," DeFrancisco wrote

"In addition without an extension, many ESCOs who have responsibly provided service to customers since the beginning of retail choice will be forced out of business in New York. This will in turn impact thousands of New York residents that ESCOs directly or indirectly employ. Finally, the substantial destruction of the retail market would likely result in hundreds of millions of dollars of lost revenue to the State of New York, through the loss of personal income tax and other collections," DeFrancisco wrote