Governor Dannel P. Malloy, Attorney General George Jepsen, Consumer Counsel Elin Swanson Katz and Senate President Pro Tempore Donald E. Williams, Jr.today announced legislative proposals to tackle the growing number of complaints about services and rates of third-party electric suppliers. The “Electric Supplier Consumers’ Bill of Rights,” if passed by the midnight May 7 deadldine, would be aimed at deceptive practices.
“Together, we have made it a priority to bring cheaper, cleaner and more reliable energy to Connecticut residents,” Malloy said in a statement. “As a result of that commitment, over the past few years Connecticut consumers have seen electric prices fall after experiencing some of the highest energy costs in the nation. This past winter, as demand spiked and prices rose, we heard from far too many consumers who complained of deceptive practices and unjustified rate increases by electric suppliers. That’s why today, we are asking legislators to consider a package of proposals that will arm consumers with better information, allow them to make the choices that are right for them, and crack down on unfair and deceptive practices. These proposals will give consumers the information, the certainty, and the security they deserve when buying electricity.”
“Over the past few months, my office has received dozens of formal complaints and hundreds of phone calls from Connecticut residents who were shocked to find that their electric bills had skyrocketed,” Jepsen said in a statement. “It has become exceedingly clear that greater disclosure in the electric supplier market is necessary to protect consumers. The goal of this legislation is to provide consumers with more information so that they can make the best choices when shopping for an electric supplier and to empower regulators to crack down on deceptive marketing practice within the industry. Consumers also need much greater flexibility to quickly extract themselves from expensive variable-rate plans and to get back onto standard service, which has proved to be a much better deal for the majority of ratepayers.”
“No one should be overcharged for electricity, an essential life service,” said Consumer Counsel Katz. “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. I’ve talked with many of the people filing complaints, and the skyrocketing rates we’ve seen from many of the electric suppliers have created a lot of hardship and difficult choices for them. I glad that today we are presenting a solution that, with the legislature’s support, will make provide more transparency, clarity, and fairness in the electric supplier market. There should be no surprises for consumers when it comes to electricity.”
“I support strong legislation that will protect consumers against predatory practices that result in higher electric bills, and make it easy for consumers to know the rates they’re paying and to switch power providers when it is to their advantage,” said Williams, D-Brooklyn.
The state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) has gotten about 1,300 complaints about electric suppliers. The state’s electric utilities this year reported that some suppliers were charging more than double the standard charge of about 9 cents per kilowatt hour. “The proposed bill would require new disclosures consumer and rate disclosures, decrease the switch delay when consumers choose to leave a supplier, impose a three-month fixed-rate requirement in supplier contracts and empower PURA to develop new regulations on sales and telemarketing practices,” Malloy’s office said.