Texas REPs Request Refund Data Be Eliminated From PUC Complaint Report, Noting Data Labels Goodwill, Other Courtesy Credits As "Refunds"

In response to a draft Texas PUC 2016 Summary of Customer Complaints and Enforcement Activities proposed to be published, several retail electric providers recommended that the graphs entitled "% of Complaints Resulting in Customer Refunds - FY 2016" and "Average Refund - FY 2016" be eliminated from the proposed data for publication.

The REPs noted that the footnote to the graphs indicates that the "refunds" reported include, "refunds, credits & courtesy, goodwill and out of service credits."

"As implied by the footnote, it is not uncommon for a company to provide a courtesy credit to the customer's account, or to waive certain fees as a courtesy to the customer in the course of resolving a complaint. Such courtesies should not be termed 'refunds,' as they don't infer anything about the prospective outcome of a complaint case," the REPs said

REPs further noted that a Sunset Advisory Commission recommendation concerning the publication of complaint information does not call for reporting of refunds.

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