Retail Supplier CEO: Higher Retail Market Entry, Qualification Standards Would Eliminate A Lot Of Bad Actors

During a panel at DNV GL's Energy Executive Forum, Rich Blaser, CEO of Infinite Energy, said that more rigorous standards for being licensed as a retail supplier would eliminate, "a lot of bad actors."

Blaser said that the markets with the most issues in terms of customer protection are those with utility consolidated billing and guaranteed receivables

"The threshold to get in the industry is so low, that you have people getting in the industry that don't know how to hedge their positions, they don't know how to take care of customers, and they're just a line item on a bill," Blaser said

Blaser noted Infinite has previously advocated (see our exclusive prior story here) that suppliers, for licensure, should, "have to show that they have an ability to do this, they can bill a customer, they have financial strength ... you take a lot of the bad actors out that way," Blaser said

Matt White, General Counsel at IGS Energy and President of the Retail Energy Supply Association, also cited higher standards for certification, as well as heightened standards for door-to-door, as a means to protect customers