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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 7155
January Session, 2019
AN ACT CONCERNING CO NSUMER PROTECTIONS F OR
CUSTOMERS OF ELECTRI C SUPPLIERS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 16-1 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 2
passage): 3
(a) Terms used in this title and in chapters 244, 244a, 244b, 245, 245a 4
and 245b shall be construed as follows, unless another meaning is 5
expressed or is clearly apparent from the language or context: 6
(1) "Authority" means the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority and 7
"department" means the Department of Energy and Environmental 8
Protection; 9
(2) "Utility commissioner" means a member of the Public Utilities 10
Regulatory Authority; 11
(3) "Public service company" includes electric distribution, gas, 12
telephone, pipeline, sewage, water and community antenna television 13
companies and holders of a certificate of cable franchise authority, 14
owning, leasing, maintaining, operating, managing or controlling 15
plants or parts of plants or equipment, but shall not include towns, 16
cities, boroughs, any municipal corporation or department thereof, 17 Substitute Bill No. 7155
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whether separately incorporated or not, a private power producer, as 18
defined in section 16-243b, or an exempt wholesale generator, as 19
defined in 15 USC 79z-5a; 20
(4) "Plant" includes all real estate, buildings, tracks, pipes, mains, 21
poles, wires and other fixed or stationary construction and equipment, 22
wherever located, used in the conduct of the business of the company; 23
(5) "Gas company" includes every person owning, leasing, 24
maintaining, operating, managing or controlling mains, pipes or other 25
fixtures, in public highways or streets, for the transmission or 26
distribution of gas for sale for heat or power within this state, or 27
engaged in the manufacture of gas to be so transmitted or distributed 28
for such purpose, but shall not include (A) a person manufacturing gas 29
through the use of a biomass gasification plant provided such person 30
does not own, lease, maintain, operate, manage or control mains, pipes 31
or other fixtures in public highways or streets, (B) a municipal gas 32
utility established under chapter 101 or any other gas utility owned, 33
leased, maintained, operated, managed or controlled by any unit of 34
local government under any general statute or any public or special 35
act, or (C) an entity approved to submeter pursuant to section 16-19ff; 36
(6) "Water company" includes every person owning, leasing, 37
maintaining, operating, managing or controlling any pond, lake, 38
reservoir, stream, well or distributing plant or system employed for 39
the purpose of supplying water to fifty or more consumers. A water 40
company does not include homeowners, condominium associations 41
providing water only to their members, homeowners associations 42
providing water to customers at least eighty per cent of whom are 43
members of such associations, a municipal waterworks system 44
established under chapter 102, a district, metropolitan district, 45
municipal district or special services district established under chapter 46
105, chapter 105a or any other general statute or any public or special 47
act which is authorized to supply water, or any other waterworks 48
system owned, leased, maintained, operated, managed or controlled 49
by any unit of local government under any general statute or any 50 Substitute Bill No. 7155
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public or special act; 51
(7) "Consumer" means any private dwelling, boardinghouse, 52
apartment, store, office building, institution, mechanical or 53
manufacturing establishment or other place of business or industry to 54
which water is supplied by a water company; 55
(8) "Sewage company" includes every person owning, leasing, 56
maintaining, operating, managing or controlling, for general use in any 57
town, city or borough, or portion thereof, in this state, sewage disposal 58
facilities which discharge treated effluent into any waterway of this 59
state; 60
(9) "Pipeline company" includes every person owning, leasing, 61
maintaining, operating, managing or controlling mains, pipes or other 62
fixtures through, over, across or under any public land, water, 63
parkways, highways, parks or public grounds for the transportation, 64
transmission or distribution of petroleum products for hire within this 65
state; 66
(10) "Community antenna television company" includes every 67
person owning, leasing, maintaining, operating, managing or 68
controlling a community antenna television system, in, under or over 69
any public street or highway, for the purpose of providing community 70
antenna television service for hire and shall include any municipality 71
which owns or operates one or more plants for the manufacture or 72
distribution of electricity pursuant to section 7-213 or any special act 73
and seeks to obtain or obtains a certificate of public convenience and 74
necessity to construct or operate a community antenna television 75
system pursuant to section 16-331 or a certificate of cable franchise 76
authority pursuant to section 16-331q. "Community antenna television 77
company" does not include a certified competitive video service 78
provider; 79
(11) "Community antenna television service" means (A) the one-way 80
transmission to subscribers of video programming or information that 81 Substitute Bill No. 7155
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a community antenna television company makes available to all 82
subscribers generally, and subscriber interaction, if any, which is 83
required for the selection of such video programming or information, 84
and (B) noncable communications service. "Community antenna 85
television service" does not include video service provided by a 86
certified competitive video service provider; 87
(12) "Community antenna television system" means a facility, 88
consisting of a set of closed transmission paths and associated signal 89
generation, reception and control equipment that is designed to 90
provide community antenna television service which includes video 91
programming and which is provided in, under or over any public 92
street or highway, for hire, to multiple subscribers within a franchise, 93
but such term does not include (A) a facility that serves only to 94
retransmit the television signals of one or more television broadcast 95
stations; (B) a facility that serves only subscribers in one or more 96
multiple unit dwellings under common ownership, control or 97
management, unless such facility is located in, under or over a public 98
street or highway; (C) a facility of a common carrier which is subject, in 99
whole or in part, to the provisions of Subchapter II of Chapter 5 of the 100
Communications Act of 1934, 47 USC 201 et seq., as amended, except 101
that such facility shall be considered a community antenna television 102
system and the carrier shall be considered a public service company to 103
the extent such facility is used in the transmission of video 104
programming directly to subscribers; or (D) a facility of an electric 105
distribution company which is used solely for operating its electric 106
distribution company systems. "Community antenna television 107
system" does not include a facility used by a certified competitive 108
video service provider to provide video service; 109
(13) "Video programming" means programming provided by, or 110
generally considered comparable to programming provided by, a 111
television broadcast station; 112
(14) "Noncable communications service" means any 113
telecommunications service, as defined in section 16-247a, and which is 114 Substitute Bill No. 7155
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not included in the definition of "cable service" in the Communications 115
Act of 1934, 47 USC 522, as amended. Nothing in this definition shall 116
be construed to affect service which is both authorized and preempted 117
pursuant to federal law; 118
(15) "Cogeneration technology" means the use for the generation of 119
electricity of exhaust steam, waste steam, heat or resultant energy from 120
an industrial, commercial or manufacturing plant or process, or the use 121
of exhaust steam, waste steam or heat from a thermal power plant for 122
an industrial, commercial or manufacturing plant or process, but shall 123
not include steam or heat developed solely for electrical power 124
generation; 125
(16) "Renewable fuel resources" means energy sources described in 126
subdivisions (20) and (21) of this subsection; 127
(17) "Telephone company" means a telecommunications company 128
that provides one or more noncompetitive or emerging competitive 129
services, as defined in section 16-247a; 130
(18) "Domestic telephone company" includes any telephone 131
company which has been chartered by or organized or constituted 132
within or under the laws of this state; 133
(19) "Telecommunications company" means a person that provides 134
telecommunications service, as defined in section 16-247a, within the 135
state, but shall not mean a person that provides only (A) private 136
telecommunications service, as defined in section 16-247a, (B) the one-137
way transmission of video programming or other programming 138
services to subscribers, (C) subscriber interaction, if any, which is 139
required for the selection of such video programming or other 140
programming services, (D) the two-way transmission of educational or 141
instructional programming to a public or private elementary or 142
secondary school, or a public or independent institution of higher 143
education, as required by the authority pursuant to a community 144
antenna television company franchise agreement, or provided 145 Substitute Bill No. 7155
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pursuant to a contract with such a school or institution which contract 146
has been filed with the authority, or (E) a combination of the services 147
set forth in subparagraphs (B) to (D), inclusive, of this subdivision; 148
(20) "Class I renewable energy source" means (A) electricity derived 149
from (i) solar power, (ii) wind power, (iii) a fuel cell, (iv) geothermal, 150
(v) landfill methane gas, anaerobic digestion or other biogas derived 151
from biological sources, (vi) thermal electric direct energy conversion 152
from a certified Class I renewable energy source, (vii) ocean thermal 153
power, (viii) wave or tidal power, (ix) low emission advanced 154
renewable energy conversion technologies, including, but not limited 155
to, zero emission low grade heat power generation systems based on 156
organic oil free rankine, kalina or other similar nonsteam cycles that 157
use waste heat from an industrial or commercial process that does not 158
generate electricity, (x) (I) a run-of-the-river hydropower facility that 159
began operation after July 1, 2003, and has a generating capacity of not 160
more than thirty megawatts, or (II) a run-of-the-river hydropower 161
facility that received a new license after January 1, 2018, under the 162
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rules pursuant to 18 CFR 16, 163
as amended from time to time, and provided a facility that applies for 164
certification under this clause after January 1, 2013, shall not be based 165
on a new dam or a dam identified by the commissioner as a candidate 166
for removal, and shall meet applicable state and federal requirements, 167
including applicable site-specific standards for water quality and fish 168
passage, or (xi) a biomass facility that uses sustainable biomass fuel 169
and has an average emission rate of equal to or less than .075 pounds 170
of nitrogen oxides per million BTU of heat input for the previous 171
calendar quarter, except that energy derived from a biomass facility 172
with a capacity of less than five hundred kilowatts that began 173
construction before July 1, 2003, may be considered a Class I renewable 174
energy source, or (B) any electrical generation, including distributed 175
generation, generated from a Class I renewable energy source, 176
provided, on and after January 1, 2014, any megawatt hours of 177
electricity from a renewable energy source described under this 178
subparagraph that are claimed or counted by a load-serving entity, 179 Substitute Bill No. 7155
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province or state toward compliance with renewable portfolio 180
standards or renewable energy policy goals in another province or 181
state, other than the state of Connecticut, shall not be eligible for 182
compliance with the renewable portfolio standards established 183
pursuant to section 16-245a; 184
(21) "Class II renewable energy source" means electricity derived 185
from a trash-to-energy facility that has obtained a permit pursuant to 186
section 22a-208a and section 22a-174-33 of the regulations of 187
Connecticut state agencies; 188
(22) "Electric distribution services" means the owning, leasing, 189
maintaining, operating, managing or controlling of poles, wires, 190
conduits or other fixtures along public highways or streets for the 191
distribution of electricity, or electric distribution-related services; 192
(23) "Electric distribution company" or "distribution company" 193
means any person providing electric transmission or distribution 194
services within the state, but does not include: (A) A private power 195
producer, as defined in section 16-243b; (B) a municipal electric utility 196
established under chapter 101, other than a participating municipal 197
electric utility; (C) a municipal electric energy cooperative established 198
under chapter 101a; (D) an electric cooperative established under 199
chapter 597; (E) any other electric utility owned, leased, maintained, 200
operated, managed or controlled by any unit of local government 201
under any general statute or special act; (F) an electric supplier; (G) an 202
entity approved to submeter pursuant to section 16-19ff; or (H) a 203
municipality, state or federal governmental entity authorized to 204
distribute electricity across a public highway or street pursuant to 205
section 16-243aa; 206
(24) "Electric supplier" means any person, including an electric 207
aggregator or participating municipal electric utility that is licensed by 208
the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority in accordance with section 209
16-245, as amended by this act, that provides electric generation 210
services to end use customers in the state using the transmission or 211 Substitute Bill No. 7155
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distribution facilities of an electric distribution company, regardless of 212
whether or not such person takes title to such generation services, but 213
does not include: (A) A municipal electric utility established under 214
chapter 101, other than a participating municipal electric utility; (B) a 215
municipal electric energy cooperative established under chapter 101a; 216
(C) an electric cooperative established under chapter 597; or (D) any 217
other electric utility owned, leased, maintained, operated, managed or 218
controlled by any unit of local government under any general statute 219
or special act; 220
(25) "Electric aggregator" means (A) a person, municipality or 221
regional water authority that gathers together electric customers for 222
the purpose of negotiating the purchase of electric generation services 223
from an electric supplier, or (B) the Materials Innovation and Recycling 224
Authority, if it gathers together electric customers for the purpose of 225
negotiating the purchase of electric generation services from an electric 226
supplier, provided such person, municipality or authority is not 227
engaged in the purchase or resale of electric generation services, and 228
provided further such customers contract for electric generation 229
services directly with an electric supplier, and may include an electric 230
cooperative established pursuant to chapter 597; 231
(26) "Electric generation services" means electric energy, electric 232
capacity or generation-related services; 233
(27) "Electric transmission services" means electric transmission or 234
transmission-related services; 235
(28) "Generation entity or affiliate" means a corporate affiliate or a 236
separate division of an electric distribution company that provides 237
electric generation services; 238
(29) "Participating municipal electric utility" means a municipal 239
electric utility established under chapter 101 or any other electric 240
utility owned, leased, maintained, operated, managed or controlled by 241
any unit of local government under any general statute or any public 242 Substitute Bill No. 7155
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or special act, that is authorized by the authority in accordance with 243
section 16-245c to provide electric generation services to end use 244
customers outside its service area, as defined in section 16-245c; 245
(30) "Person" means an individual, business, firm, corporation, 246
association, joint stock association, trust, partnership or limited 247
liability company; 248
(31) "Regional independent system operator" means the "ISO - New 249
England, Inc.", or its successor organization as approved by the 250
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; 251
(32) "Certified telecommunications provider" means a person 252
certified by the authority to provide intrastate telecommunications 253
services, as defined in section 16-247a, pursuant to sections 16-247f to 254
16-247h, inclusive; 255
(33) "Gas registrant" means a person registered to sell natural gas 256
pursuant to section 16-258a; 257
(34) "Customer-side distributed resources" means (A) the generation 258
of electricity from a unit with a rating of not more than sixty-five 259
megawatts on the premises of a retail end user within the transmission 260
and distribution system including, but not limited to, fuel cells, 261
photovoltaic systems or small wind turbines, or (B) a reduction in the 262
demand for electricity on the premises of a retail end user in the 263
distribution system through methods of conservation and load 264
management, including, but not limited to, peak reduction systems 265
and demand response systems; 266
(35) "Federally mandated congestion charges" means any cost 267
approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as part of 268
New England Standard Market Design including, but not limited to, 269
locational marginal pricing, locational installed capacity payments, any 270
cost approved by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to reduce 271
federally mandated congestion charges in accordance with section 7-272
233y, this section, sections 16-32f, 16-50i, 16-50k, 16-50x, 16-243i to 16-273 Substitute Bill No. 7155
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243q, inclusive, 16-244c, 16-245m, 16-245n and 16-245z, section 21 of 274
public act 05-1 of the June special session, subsection (f) of section 16a-275
3j and reliability must run contracts; 276
(36) "Combined heat and power system" means a system that 277
produces, from a single source, both electric power and thermal energy 278
used in any process that results in an aggregate reduction in electricity 279
use; 280
(37) "Grid-side distributed resources" means the generation of 281
electricity from a unit with a rating of not more than sixty-five 282
megawatts that is connected to the transmission or distribution system, 283
which units may include, but are not limited to, units used primarily to 284
generate electricity to meet peak demand; 285
(38) "Class III source" means the electricity output from combined 286
heat and power systems with an operating efficiency level of no less 287
than fifty per cent that are part of customer-side distributed resources 288
developed at commercial and industrial facilities in this state on or 289
after January 1, 2006, a waste heat recovery system installed on or after 290
April 1, 2007, that produces electrical or thermal energy by capturing 291
preexisting waste heat or pressure from industrial or commercial 292
processes, or the electricity savings created in this state from 293
conservation and load management programs begun on or after 294
January 1, 2006, provided on and after January 1, 2014, no such 295
programs supported by ratepayers, including programs overseen by 296
the Energy Conservation Management Board or third-party programs 297
pursuant to section 16-245m, shall be considered a Class III source, 298
except that any demand-side management project awarded a contract 299
pursuant to section 16-243m shall remain eligible as a Class III source 300
for the term of such contract; 301
(39) "Sustainable biomass fuel" means biomass that is cultivated and 302
harvested in a sustainable manner. "Sustainable biomass fuel" does not 303
mean construction and demolition waste, as defined in section 22a-304
208x, finished biomass products from sawmills, paper mills or stud 305 Substitute Bill No. 7155
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mills, organic refuse fuel derived separately from municipal solid 306
waste, or biomass from old growth timber stands, except where (A) 307
such biomass is used in a biomass gasification plant that received 308
funding prior to May 1, 2006, from the Clean Energy Fund established 309
pursuant to section 16-245n, or (B) the energy derived from such 310
biomass is subject to a long-term power purchase contract pursuant to 311
subdivision (2) of subsection (j) of section 16-244c entered into prior to 312
May 1, 2006; 313
(40) "Video service" means video programming services provided 314
through wireline facilities, a portion of which are located in the public 315
right-of-way, without regard to delivery technology, including Internet 316
protocol technology. "Video service" does not include any video 317
programming provided by a commercial mobile service provider, as 318
defined in 47 USC 332(d), any video programming provided as part of 319
community antenna television service in a franchise area as of October 320
1, 2007, any video programming provided as part of and via a service 321
that enables users to access content, information, electronic mail or 322
other services over the public Internet; 323
(41) "Certified competitive video service provider" means an entity 324
providing video service pursuant to a certificate of video franchise 325
authority issued by the authority in accordance with section 16-331e. 326
"Certified competitive video service provider" does not mean an entity 327
issued a certificate of public convenience and necessity in accordance 328
with section 16-331 or the affiliates, successors and assigns of such 329
entity or an entity issued a certificate of cable franchise authority in 330
accordance with section 16-331p or the affiliates, successors and 331
assignees of such entity; 332
(42) "Certificate of video franchise authority" means an 333
authorization issued by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority 334
conferring the right to an entity or person to own, lease, maintain, 335
operate, manage or control facilities in, under or over any public 336
highway to offer video service to any subscribers in the state; 337 Substitute Bill No. 7155
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(43) "Certificate of cable franchise authority" means an authorization 338
issued by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority pursuant to section 339
16-331q conferring the right to a community antenna television 340
company to own, lease, maintain, operate, manage or control a 341
community antenna television system in, under or over any public 342
highway to (A) offer community antenna television service in a 343
community antenna television company's designated franchise area, or 344
(B) use the public rights-of-way to offer video service in a designated 345
franchise area. The certificate of cable franchise authority shall be 346
issued as an alternative to a certificate of public convenience and 347
necessity pursuant to section 16-331 and shall only be available to a 348
community antenna television company under the terms specified in 349
sections 16-331q to 16-331aa, inclusive; 350
(44) "Thermal energy transportation company" means any person 351
authorized under any provision of the general statutes or special act to 352
furnish heat or air conditioning or both, by means of steam, heated or 353
chilled water or other medium, to lay and maintain mains, pipes or 354
other conduits, and to erect such other fixtures necessary or convenient 355
in and on the streets, highways and public grounds of any 356
municipality to carry steam, heated or chilled water or other medium 357
from such plant to the location to be served and to return the same; 358
(45) "The Connecticut Television Network" means the General 359
Assembly's state-wide twenty-four-hour state public affairs 360
programming service, separate and distinct from community access 361
channels; 362
(46) "Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection" 363
means the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection 364
appointed pursuant to title 4, or the commissioner's designee; 365
(47) "Large-scale hydropower" means any hydropower facility that 366
(A) began operation on or after January 1, 2003, (B) is located in the 367
New England Power Pool Generation Information System geographic 368
eligibility area in accordance with Rule 2.3 of said system or an area 369 Substitute Bill No. 7155
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abutting the northern boundary of the New England Power Pool 370
Generation Information System geographic eligibility area that is not 371
interconnected with any other control area that is not a part of the New 372
England Power Pool Generation Information System geographic 373
eligibility area, (C) delivers power into such geographic eligibility area, 374
and (D) has a generating capacity of more than thirty megawatts; 375
(48) "Energy storage system" means any commercially available 376
technology that is capable of absorbing energy, storing it for a period 377
of time and thereafter dispatching the energy, and that is capable of 378
either: (A) Using mechanical, chemical or thermal processes to store 379
electricity that is generated at one time for use at a later time; (B) 380
storing thermal energy for direct use for heating or cooling at a later 381
time in a manner that avoids the need to use electricity at a later time; 382
(C) using mechanical, chemical or thermal processes to store electricity 383
generated from renewable energy sources for use at a later time; or (D) 384
using mechanical, chemical or thermal processes to capture or harness 385
waste electricity and to store such electricity generated from 386
mechanical processes for delivery at a later time; 387
(49) "Distributed energy resource" means any (A) customer-side 388
distributed resource or grid-side distributed resource that generates 389
electricity from a Class I renewable energy source or Class III source, 390
and (B) customer-side distributed resource that reduces demand for 391
electricity through conservation and load management, energy storage 392
system which is located on the customer-side of the meter or is 393
connected to the distribution system or microgrid; [and] 394
(50) "Grid-side system enhancement" means an investment in 395
distribution system infrastructure, technology and systems designed to 396
enable the deployment of distributed energy resources and allow for 397
grid management and system balancing, including, but not limited to, 398
energy storage systems, distribution system automation and controls, 399
intelligent field systems, advanced distribution system metering, and 400
communication and systems that enable two-way power flow; [.] and 401 Substitute Bill No. 7155
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(51) "Telesales call" means any communication using a telephonic 402
device, including, but not limited to, land telephone lines and cellular 403
telephone lines, in which the purpose of the communication is to 404
inform a customer or potential customer about a product offering, 405
engage a customer or potential customer in a conversation that may 406
result in entering into a contract for services or discuss current or 407
future contract terms with a customer or potential customer. 408
Sec. 2. Section 16-245o of the general statutes is amended by adding 409
subsection (p) as follows (Effective from passage): 410
(NEW) (p) (1) Each electric supplier shall record the entirety of all 411
telesales calls with a potential residential customer, including, but not 412
limited to, all attempted and consummated sales, and retain such 413
telesales call recordings for two years after the date such recording was 414
made. 415
(2) Each electric supplier shall record the entirety of all face-to-face 416
marketing interactions with a potential residential customer, including, 417
but not limited to, all attempted and consummated sales, and retain 418
such recordings for two years after the date such recording was made. 419
(3) Each electric supplier shall conduct criminal background checks 420
on all door-to-door marketers prior to such marketer conducting 421
marketing on behalf of the electric supplier. Each electric supplier shall 422
conduct such criminal background checks at least once each year on all 423
marketers conducting door-to-door marketing on behalf of the electric 424
supplier. 425
(4) When conducting telesales calls or face-to-face marketing, each 426
electric supplier shall begin by immediately stating: (A) The name of 427
the electric supplier conducting the call; (B) that the electric supplier is 428
not affiliated with any state program and no state program encourages 429
Connecticut residents to obtain an electric supplier; (C) that the electric 430
supplier is calling the residential customer or potential residential 431
customer to market or sell electric supply service to the residential 432 Substitute Bill No. 7155
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customer or potential residential customer and if the residential 433
customer or potential residential customer assents, the telesales call or 434
face-to-face marketing will result in the residential customer or 435
potential residential customer immediately entering into a contract 436
with the electric supplier; (D) that such electric supplier does not 437
represent an electric distribution company and that electric 438
distribution companies do not encourage Connecticut residents to 439
obtain an electric supplier; and (E) what the standard service rate is on 440
the date of the telesales call or face-to-face marketing and that the 441
standard service rate is fixed, not variable. 442
(5) When conducting telesales calls or face-to-face marketing, no 443
electric supplier may request the account information from a potential 444
residential customer or request that a potential residential customer 445
retrieve account information or the potential residential customer's 446
electric distribution company bill prior to the residential customer or 447
potential residential customer affirmatively assenting to contract with 448
the electric supplier for a specified rate. 449
(6) Each electric supplier shall terminate any telesales call when a 450
residential customer or potential residential customer connects with 451
the third-party verification as described in subsection (b) of section 16-452
245s of the general statutes and may not remain on the telephone line 453
while the residential customer or potential residential customer 454
participates in the third-party verification. 455
(7) Each electric supplier shall process a residential customer's 456
enrollment or reenrollment and submit such enrollment to the electric 457
distribution company within five calendar days of the residential 458
customer consenting to enroll. Enrollments processed and sent to the 459
electric distribution company after five calendar days shall be 460
considered invalid enrollments. 461
Sec. 3. Subsection (a) of section 16-41 of the general statutes is 462
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 463
passage): 464 Substitute Bill No. 7155
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(a) Each (1) public service company and its officers, agents and 465
employees, (2) electric supplier or person providing electric generation 466
services without a license in violation of section 16-245, as amended by 467
this act, and its officers, agents and employees, (3) certified 468
telecommunications provider or person providing telecommunications 469
services without authorization pursuant to sections 16-247f to 16-247h, 470
inclusive, and its officers, agents and employees, (4) person, public 471
agency or public utility, as such terms are defined in section 16-345, 472
subject to the requirements of chapter 293, (5) person subject to the 473
registration requirements under section 16-258a, (6) cellular mobile 474
telephone carrier, as described in section 16-250b, (7) Connecticut 475
electric efficiency partner, as defined in section 16-243v, (8) company, 476
as defined in section 16-49, and (9) entity approved to submeter 477
pursuant to section 16-19ff shall obey, observe and comply with all 478
applicable provisions of this title and each applicable order made or 479
applicable regulations adopted by the Public Utilities Regulatory 480
Authority by virtue of this title as long as the same remains in force. 481
Any such company, electric supplier, certified telecommunications 482
provider, cellular mobile telephone carrier, Connecticut electric 483
efficiency partner, entity approved to submeter, person, any officer, 484
agent or employee thereof, public agency or public utility which the 485
authority finds has failed to obey or comply with any such provision of 486
this title, order or regulation shall be fined, ordered to pay restitution 487
to customers or ordered to pay a combination of a fine and restitution 488
by order of the authority in accordance with the penalty prescribed for 489
the violated provision of this title or, if no penalty is prescribed, not 490
more than ten thousand dollars for each offense, except that the 491
penalty shall be a fine, restitution to customers or a combination of a 492
fine and restitution of not more than forty thousand dollars for failure 493
to comply with an order of the authority made in accordance with the 494
provisions of section 16-19 or 16-247k or within thirty days of such 495
order or within any specific time period for compliance specified in 496
such order. Each distinct violation of any such provision of this title, 497
order or regulation shall be a separate offense and, in case of a 498
continued violation, each day thereof shall be deemed a separate 499 Substitute Bill No. 7155
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offense. Each such penalty and any interest charged pursuant to 500
subsection (g) or (h) of section 16-49 shall be excluded from operating 501
expenses for purposes of rate-making. 502
Sec. 4. Subsection (j) of section 16-245 of the general statutes is 503
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 504
passage): 505
(j) No license may be transferred or customers assigned or 506
transferred without the prior approval of the authority. The authority 507
may assess additional licensing fees to pay the administrative costs of 508
reviewing a request for such transfer. 509
Sec. 5. Subdivision (8) of subsection (h) of section 16-245o of the 510
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 511
thereof (Effective from passage): 512
(8) An electric supplier shall not make a material change in the 513
terms or duration of any contract for the provision of electric 514
generation services by an electric supplier without the express consent 515
of the customer. (A) An electric supplier may renew a contract with a 516
residential customer, subject to the requirements of this subparagraph. 517
An electric supplier shall clearly inform a residential customer, in 518
writing, not less than thirty days or more than sixty days before the 519
renewal date, of the renewal terms, including a summary of any new 520
or altered terms, including, but not limited to, the current rate and the 521
new rate, and of the option not to accept the renewal offer. The 522
contract may only be renewed if the residential customer affirmatively 523
and expressly consents to the renewal by providing either a written or 524
electronic signature, provided no fee pursuant to subdivision (7) of this 525
subsection shall be charged to a residential customer who terminates 526
or cancels such renewal within the first two billing cycles of the 527
renewed contract. If the residential customer does not affirmatively 528
and expressly consent to the renewal by providing either a written or 529
electronic signature, the residential customer shall be placed on the 530
standard service provided pursuant to section 16-244c at the expiration 531 Substitute Bill No. 7155
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of the residential customer's current contract with an electric supplier 532
for the provision of electric generation services. (B) Nothing in this 533
subdivision shall restrict an electric supplier from renewing a contract 534
with a customer who is not a residential customer by clearly informing 535
the customer, in writing, not less than thirty days or more than sixty 536
days before the renewal date, of the renewal terms, including a 537
summary of any new or altered terms, and of the option not to accept 538
the renewal offer, provided no fee pursuant to subdivision (7) of this 539
subsection shall be charged to a customer who terminates or cancels 540
such renewal within the first two billing cycles of the renewed 541
contract. 542
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage 16-1(a)
Sec. 2 from passage 16-245o
Sec. 3 from passage 16-41(a)
Sec. 4 from passage 16-245(j)
Sec. 5 from passage 16-245o(h)(8)
ET Joint Favorable Subst.