State's Final Rules Drop Earlier Proposal For Complete Ban on Door-to-Door Energy Marketing

The New Hampshire PUC has adopted final revisions, for legislative review, concerning retail electric marketing rules and has dropped an earlier proposal for a complete prohibition on door-to-door electricity marketing.

As first reported by EnergyChoiceMatters.com, the originally proposed rules from 2016 would have provided that, "Unless requested by the potential customer no less than 24 hours in advance, no CEPS [competitive supplier] or aggregator, or its representative, shall solicit a potential residential customer in person at the customer's residence."

This language has been dropped from the final version of the rule.

Instead, the final rule includes various requirements concerning door-to-door sales, including:

• Door-to-door sales shall only occur between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. on Monday through Saturday, between the hours of 12:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, or during such more limited hours as are prescribed by local ordinance, regulation, or order

• The supplier shall provide written notice to the municipal police department prior to commencing in-person solicitation of residential customers in a municipality, and such notice shall state the dates and times when the in-person solicitation will occur and identify the individual employees or representatives who will conduct the in-person solicitation

• The sales agent must leave the customer's premises prior to any third-party verification call during which customer enrollment is continued

The PUC also adopted new longer rescission periods specific to door-to-door sales (see related story today here)

The final rules also modify earlier proposed telemarketing restrictions

The originally proposed rules would have provided that a CEPS or aggregator, or its representative, shall not, while soliciting by telephone, initiate any telephone call to a telephone number assigned to, "cellular telephone service."

This complete prohibition on sales calls to cellular numbers has been removed in the final rules, but a prohibition still exists on auto-dialed calls to cell phones

Specifically, under the final rules, a supplier may not initiate any telephone call to a, "telephone number assigned to a cellular telephone service, unless the call is directly placed to the number and not initiated using an automatic telephone dialing system."

The final rules maintain the earlier proposal prohibiting a supplier from using, "a pre-recorded automated message to send unsolicited advertisements to potential customers."

The originally proposed rules would have prohibited telemarketing on a weekend or any state or federal holiday

The final rules drop this complete prohibition, and instead adopts more restrictive permissible hours for Sundays and holidays

Specifically, other than for Sundays and holidays, suppliers under the final rule may not initiate any telephone solicitation to a customer or potential customer before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. eastern time

Under the final rule, suppliers may not initiate any telephone solicitation to a customer or potential customer before 11:00 a.m. or after 8:00 p.m. on Sunday or on any state or federal holiday

Docket DRM 16-853