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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5225
February Session, 2020
LCO No. 1638
Referred to Committee on ENERGY AND TECHNOLOGY
Introduced by:
(ET)
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
amended by adding subdivisions (51) and (52) as follows (Effective 2
October 1, 2020): 3
(NEW) (51) "Telesales call" means any communication using a 4
telephonic device, including, but not limited to, land telephone lines and 5
cellular telephone lines, in which the purpose of the communication is 6
to inform a customer or potential customer about a product offering, 7
engage a customer or potential customer in a conversation that may 8
result in entering into a contract for services or discuss current or future 9
contract terms with a customer or potential customer; and 10
(NEW) (52) "Record" or "Recording" means an audio recording of the 11
telesales call with the customer or potential customer. 12
Sec. 2. Section 16-245o of the general statutes is amended by adding 13
subsection (p) as follows (Effective October 1, 2020): 14 Raised Bill No. 5225
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(NEW) (p) (1) Each electric supplier shall record the entirety of all 15
telesales calls lasting ten seconds or longer with all residential customers 16
or potential residential customers, and shall retain such telesales call 17
recordings for two years after the date the recording was made. 18
(2) When conducting telesales calls to any residential customer or 19
potential residential customer, each electric supplier shall begin by 20
immediately stating: (A) The full name of the electric supplier 21
conducting the call; (B) that the purpose of the call is to sell electric 22
supply service to the residential customer or potential residential 23
customer; and (C) that such electric supplier does not represent, and is 24
not affiliated with, any electric distribution company. 25
(3) When conducting telesales or face-to-face marketing to any 26
residential customer or potential residential customer, prior to initiating 27
the third-party verification as described in subsection (b) of section 16-28
245s of the general statutes, each electric supplier shall inform the 29
residential customer or potential residential customer: (A) That, if the 30
residential customer or potential residential customer assents, the 31
telesales call or face-to-face marketing will result in the residential 32
customer or potential residential customer immediately entering into a 33
contract with the electric supplier; (B) that the residential customer or 34
potential residential customer may rescind the contract with the electric 35
supplier without penalty as required by subdivision (2) of subsection (f) 36
of section 16-245o of the general statutes, as amended by this act; (C) 37
what the standard service rate is on the date of the telesales call or face-38
to-face marketing in cents per kilowatt hour, and, if the telesales call or 39
face-to-face marketing is being conducted within forty-five calendar 40
days of a change to the standard service rate, the date that the standard 41
service rate will change and what the standard service rate will be on 42
that date in cents per kilowatt hour; and (D) of all material contract 43
terms, as defined by the authority in its decisions. 44
(4) When conducting telesales calls or face-to-face marketing to any 45
residential customer or potential residential customer, each electric 46
supplier is prohibited from representing that: (A) The electric supplier 47 Raised Bill No. 5225
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or its offer is affiliated with any state or utility program; (B) any state 48
program encourages or requires Connecticut electric customers to 49
obtain an electric supplier; (C) the electric distribution company 50
encourages or requires Connecticut electric customers to obtain an 51
electric supplier; and (D) the standard service rate is a variable rate. 52
(5) When conducting telesales calls or face-to-face marketing to any 53
residential customer or potential residential customer, no electric 54
supplier may request the account information from a potential 55
residential customer or request that a potential residential customer 56
retrieve account information or the potential residential customer's 57
electric distribution company bill prior to the residential customer or 58
potential residential customer affirmatively assenting to contract with 59
the electric supplier. 60
(6) Each electric supplier shall terminate any telesales call when a 61
residential customer or potential residential customer connects with the 62
third-party verification, as described in subsection (b) of section 16-245s 63
of the general statutes, and may not remain on the telephone line while 64
the residential customer or potential residential customer participates in 65
the third-party verification. 66
(7) Each electric supplier shall process a residential customer's 67
enrollment or reenrollment and submit such enrollment or reenrollment 68
to the electric distribution company within three business days after the 69
conclusion of the rescission period required by subdivision (2) of 70
subsection (f) of section 16-245o of the general statutes, as amended by 71
this act, unless the residential customer agrees to a later date. 72
Sec. 3. Subparagraph (A) of subdivision (7) of subsection (h) of section 73
16-245o of the general statutes is repealed and the following is 74
substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2020): 75
(7) (A) No contract for electric generation services by an electric 76
supplier shall require a residential customer to pay any fee for 77
termination or early cancellation of a contract. [in excess of fifty dollars, 78
provided when an electric supplier offers a contract, it provides the 79 Raised Bill No. 5225
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residential customer an estimate of such customer's average monthly 80
bill, and provided further it] It shall not be considered a termination or 81
early cancellation of a contract if a residential customer moves from one 82
dwelling within the state and remains with the same electric supplier. 83
Sec. 4. Subdivision (1) of subsection (h) of section 16-245o of the 84
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 85
thereof (Effective October 1, 2020): 86
(h) (1) Any third-party agent who contracts with or is otherwise 87
compensated by an electric supplier to sell electric generation services, 88
or contracts with or is compensated by an agent or third-party marketer 89
of the electric supplier to sell electric generation services for the electric 90
supplier, shall be a legal agent of the electric supplier. No third-party 91
agent may sell electric generation services on behalf of an electric 92
supplier unless (A) the third-party agent is an employee or independent 93
contractor of such electric supplier, and (B) the third-party agent has 94
received appropriate training directly from such electric supplier. 95
Sec. 5. Subsection (a) of section 16-41 of the general statutes is 96
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 97
1, 2020): 98
(a) Each (1) public service company and its officers, agents and 99
employees, (2) electric supplier or person providing electric generation 100
services without a license in violation of section 16-245, as amended by 101
this act, and its officers, agents and employees, (3) certified 102
telecommunications provider or person providing telecommunications 103
services without authorization pursuant to sections 16-247f to 16-247h, 104
inclusive, and its officers, agents and employees, (4) person, public 105
agency or public utility, as such terms are defined in section 16-345, 106
subject to the requirements of chapter 293, (5) person subject to the 107
registration requirements under section 16-258a, (6) cellular mobile 108
telephone carrier, as described in section 16-250b, (7) Connecticut 109
electric efficiency partner, as defined in section 16-243v, (8) company, as 110
defined in section 16-49, and (9) entity approved to submeter pursuant 111 Raised Bill No. 5225
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to section 16-19ff shall obey, observe and comply with all applicable 112
provisions of this title and each applicable order made or applicable 113
regulations adopted by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority by 114
virtue of this title as long as the same remains in force. Any such 115
company, electric supplier, certified telecommunications provider, 116
cellular mobile telephone carrier, Connecticut electric efficiency partner, 117
entity approved to submeter, person, any officer, agent or employee 118
thereof, public agency or public utility which the authority finds has 119
failed to obey or comply with any such provision of this title, order or 120
regulation shall be fined, ordered to pay restitution to customers or 121
ordered to pay a combination of a fine and restitution by order of the 122
authority in accordance with the penalty prescribed for the violated 123
provision of this title or, if no penalty is prescribed, not more than ten 124
thousand dollars for each offense, except that the penalty shall be a fine, 125
restitution to customers or a combination of a fine and restitution of not 126
more than forty thousand dollars for failure to comply with an order of 127
the authority made in accordance with the provisions of section 16-19 or 128
16-247k or within thirty days of such order or within any specific time 129
period for compliance specified in such order. The authority may direct 130
a portion of any fine levied pursuant to this section to be paid to a 131
nonprofit agency engaged in energy assistance programs named by the 132
authority in its decision or notice of violation. Each distinct violation of 133
any such provision of this title, order or regulation shall be a separate 134
offense and, in case of a continued violation, each day thereof shall be 135
deemed a separate offense. Each such penalty and any interest charged 136
pursuant to subsection (g) or (h) of section 16-49 shall be excluded from 137
operating expenses for purposes of rate-making. 138
Sec. 6. Subsection (j) of section 16-245 of the general statutes is 139
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 140
1, 2020): 141
(j) No license may be transferred, and no customer may be assigned 142
or transferred, without the prior approval of the authority. Notice of the 143
assignment or transfer of a customer shall be provided to the authority 144
at least thirty days prior to the effective date of the assignment or 145 Raised Bill No. 5225
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transfer of a customer from one electric supplier to another electric 146
supplier. The authority may, upon its review of the notice, require 147
certain conditions or deny assignment or transfer of the customer. 148
Customer assignment or transfer shall be approved by the authority 149
within thirty business days of the authority's receipt of notice from the 150
electric supplier unless the authority and electric supplier agree to a 151
specified extension of time. The authority may assess additional 152
licensing fees to pay the administrative costs of reviewing a request for 153
such transfer. 154
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2020 16-1(a)
Sec. 2 October 1, 2020 16-245o
Sec. 3 October 1, 2020 16-245o(h)(7)(A)
Sec. 4 October 1, 2020 16-245o(h)(1)
Sec. 5 October 1, 2020 16-41(a)
Sec. 6 October 1, 2020 16-245(j)
Statement of Purpose:
To (1) define "telesales call", "record" and "recording", (2) add
requirements for electric suppliers regarding telesales calls and face-to-
face marketing, to (3) permit the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority
to order fines, restitution to customers or a combination of fines and
restitution, and (4) prohibit the assignment or transfer of customers
without prior approval of the authority.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]