Electric Customer Bill of Rights

During the past year many families and individuals on fixed incomes – received a shock when they opened their electric bills and found the monthly generation charge doubled and even tripled. Many had no idea why, but were stuck paying the bill.

Turns out these customers were not alone. Despite the fact that Connecticut has some of the highest energy costs in the nation, this skyrocketing of costs was totally unacceptable.

The state’s Consumer Counsel Elin Swanson Katz was quoted as saying, “No one should be overcharged for electricity, an essential life service. Unfortunately, we’ve seen an ever-increasing number of complaints from consumers about being misled, overcharged, or switched from one rate to another without their consent.”

The state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) received more than 1,300 consumer complaints about electric suppliers in 2014.

This week I voted in favor of a measure aimed at better protecting electricity consumers from future spikes in their rates and clearing up confusion in the system. The proposal empowers consumers in several ways, including:

• Make it easier for customers to compare pricing policies and charges. Requiring the Public Utility Regulatory Authority (PURA) to initiate a redesign of the billing format for residential customers to make it easier for a customer to compare pricing policies and charges of different suppliers.
• Let customers choose how to receive information related to bill notices. Customers would be able to decide how they receive billing notifications. Options would include U.S. mail, e-mail, text messages or an app.
• Stops an electric supplier from charging a customer month-to month variable rates after a contract expires. They must provide written notification to the customer 45 days prior to the beginning of the rate change.
• Prohibit suppliers from misleading customers. Stopping a supplier from making a statement suggesting a customer is required to choose a supplier. Additionally, the legislation would prohibit any door-to-door salesperson for a supply company from wearing apparel, carrying equipment or distributing materials with the logo of an electric distribution company (including Northeast Utilities and United Illuminating). This would stop supply companies from misleading customers into thinking a supply company is associated with a larger distribution company.
• Require that all fixed rates must be fixed for at least 3 months. That rate can also be lowered, but never raised in that set period of time.

Future bills will contain quarterly inserts which contain helpful information, such as:

• the electric generation rate
• the term and expiration date of that rate
• any change to such rate effective for the next billing cycle
• the cancellation fee if there is one
• notification when such a rate is variable
• the standard service rate
• the term and expiration date of the standard service rate
• the dollar amount that would have been billed for electric generation services had the customer been on standard service.

Of interest some groups like the AARP believe the bill did not go far enough. Though the Public Utility Regulatory Authority (PURA) has the ability to fine suppliers for abuses – in some cases as much as $10,000 per complaint – the agency is not doing so.

Whether it is not having enough enforcement staff or the money to hire that staff, market oversight is still a very real concern. This legislation is a start in the right direction and should send a message that we are listening to consumers. And we will continue to do all we can to protect consumers against aggressive, misleading marketing by electric retailers.

Customers expect and deserve a fair price and should be told the truth about a service they are paying for.

For more information about options available in the electric retail market visit www.energizect.com