Latest Draft Would Tweak Prohibition on Use of Utility Name By Retail Suppliers To Reflect Use Of Long-Standing Names

A proposed second notice order from an Illinois ALJ revises earlier language concerning the prohibition on the use of a utility's name by a retail supplier to reflect long-standing use of a name in the market.

The revised language is specifically intended as a carve-out to continue to allow MidAmerican Energy Services, LLC (MES) to use the term MidAmerican in its name when marketing outside the service area of its affiliate (utility MidAmerican Energy).

The proposed rules under the draft second notice order would provide that a retail electric supplier(RES), "shall not utilize the name of a public utility in any manner that is deceptive or misleading, including, but not limited to, implying or otherwise leading a customer to believe that an is soliciting on behalf of or is an agent of a utility."

However, overriding this general prohibition would be proposed, controlling language that more specifically provides that, "an RES that is an affiliate of an Illinois public utility, and that was doing business in Illinois providing RES service as of January 1, 2016, may continue to use that public utility's name in its business operations occurring outside the service territory of the public utility with which it is affiliated."

While MidAmerican Energy Services may continue to use the MidAmerican name under the draft, the proposed second notice order would not permit the use of a utility logo by a retail supplier under any circumstance

"The Commission does not believe that MES’s requested exemption should be extended to the logo and there is no statutory reason to require that MES be allowed to use MidAmerican’s logo ... The middle-ground adopted here will lessen current MES customer confusion because the name will not change, but use of a sufficiently dissimilar logo will distance the MidAmerican RES from the MidAmerican utility," the proposed second notice order states

"An RES shall not utilize the logo of a public utility in any manner," the latest draft rules provide

"An RES shall not utilize the name, or any other identifying insignia, graphics or wording that has been used at any time to represent a public utility company or its services, to identify, label or define any of its electric power and energy service offers," the latest draft rules provide

Docket 15-0512