The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority will expand its investigation into the competitive electricity supply industry to check whether any suppliers complied with a 2011 law regarding marketing practices to residential customers, according to a PURA filing.
The move came after PURA found widespread abuse of the law requiring customer notice of contract expirations, $100 caps on termination fees, and sales people properly identifying themselves and their company affiliations.
The electric supply industry provides businesses and residents an alternative to the standard service default utility rates charged by Connecticut Light & Power and United Illuminating for the generation portion of customer bills. Consumers using an electric supplier still receive their bill from CL&P and UI, but the rate for the generation portion of that bill is set by the contract between the supplier and the customer.
PURA had initiated an investigation into certain suppliers after widespread complaints arose from residential consumers, mostly because the supplier failed to notify the customer when their fixed-price contract was being changed over to a much higher variable rate. In the course of this investigation, suppliers Discount Power, Liberty Holdings, Energy Plus Holdings, Direct Energy Services, and Constellation all admitted to violating the law by failing to provide adequate notice to customers.
As a result, PURA now will investigate every Connecticut supplier to determine whether they complied with the law. PURA will determine appropriate remedies for customers and penalties for the suppliers for failing to follow that 2011 law.
The Connecticut General Assembly this year passed a new law putting further regulations on the electric supplier industry, mostly stemming from complaints about the high variable rate contracts. The new law places further restrictions on notifications, comparisons to the standard service default utility rate, and caps on termination fees.
