Substitute House Bill No. 6526
Public Act No. 21-117
AN ACT CONCERNING ELECTRIC SUPPLIERS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subparagraph (A) of subdivision (7) of subsection (h) of
section 16-245o of the general statutes is repealed and the following is
substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2021):
(7) (A) No contract for electric generation services by an electric
supplier shall require a residential customer to pay any fee for
termination or early cancellation of a contract. [in excess of fifty dollars,
provided when an electric supplier offers a contract, it provides the
residential customer an estimate of such customer's average monthly
bill, and provided further it] It shall not be considered a termination or
early cancellation of a contract if a residential customer moves from one
dwelling within the state and remains with the same electric supplier.
Sec. 2. Subdivision (1) of subsection (h) of section 16-245o of the
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu
thereof (Effective July 1, 2021):
(h) (1) Any third-party [agent] who contracts with or is otherwise
compensated by an electric supplier to sell electric generation services,
or contracts with or is compensated by a third-party marketer of the Substitute House Bill No. 6526
Public Act No. 21-117 2 of 8
electric supplier to sell electric generation services for the electric
supplier, shall be a legal agent of the electric supplier. No third-party
[agent] may sell electric generation services on behalf of an electric
supplier unless [(A) the third-party agent is an employee or
independent contractor of such electric supplier, and (B) the third-party
agent] such third party has received appropriate training directly from
such electric supplier.
Sec. 3. Subsection (m) of section 16-245o of the general statutes is
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1,
2021):
(m) The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority may initiate a docket to
review the feasibility, costs and benefits of placing on standard service,
or of otherwise limiting the ability to contract with electric suppliers, all
customers [of all electric suppliers] (1) who are hardship cases for
purposes of subdivision (3) of subsection (b) of section 16-262c, (2)
having moneys due and owing deducted from such customers' bills by
the electric distribution company pursuant to subdivision (4) of
subsection (b) of section 16-262c, (3) receiving other financial assistance
from an electric distribution company, or (4) who are otherwise
protected by law from shutoff of electricity services. Notwithstanding
the provisions of section 16-245r, the authority may, in a final decision
issued pursuant to this subsection, (A) order all such customers to be
placed on standard service, (B) order all customer contracts with electric
suppliers, entered into on and after a determined date, to be at or below
the standard service rate, or (C) order all customer contracts, entered
into on and after a determined date, to comply with appropriate
limitations the authority deems necessary. If the authority issues such
an order, it shall reopen such docket not less than every two years.
Sec. 4. Subsection (g) of section 16-245o of the general statutes is
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1,
2021): Substitute House Bill No. 6526
Public Act No. 21-117 3 of 8
(g) (1) Between thirty and sixty days, inclusive, prior to the expiration
of a fixed price term for a residential customer, an electric supplier shall
provide a written notice of the contract expiration to such customer. [of
any change to the customer's electric generation price] Any new contract
shall contain a cover page highlighting each change from the prior
contract, in a format prescribed by the Public Utilities Regulatory
Authority. Such residential customer shall select the method of written
notice at the time the contract is signed or verified through third-party
verification as described in subdivision (2) of subsection (f) of this
section. Such selection shall include the option for written notice
through United States mail, electronic mail, text message, an application
on a cellular telephone or a third-party notification service approved by
the authority. Such customer shall have the option to change the method
of notification at any time during the contract.
(2) No electric supplier shall charge a residential customer month-to-
month variable rates for electric generation services following the
expiration of a contract entered into after June 3, 2014, without
providing written notification to such residential customer forty-five
days prior to the commencement of such month-to-month variable
rates. Such notice shall include the highest and lowest electric
generation service rate charged by such supplier as part of a variable
rate offer in each of the preceding twelve months to any customer
eligible for standard service. The residential customer shall select the
method of written notification at the time the contract is signed or
verified through third-party verification as described in subdivision (2)
of subsection (f) of this section. Such selection shall include the option
for written notice through United States mail, electronic mail, text
messages, an application on a cellular telephone or a third-party
notification service approved by the authority. Such customer shall have
the option to change the method of notification at any time during the
contract. Substitute House Bill No. 6526
Public Act No. 21-117 4 of 8
(3) No electric supplier shall charge an electric generation service rate
to a residential customer that is twenty-five per cent more than the
original contract price, [of a contract entered into after June 6, 2014] or
more than the first price term offered in the contract, without notifying
such customer of the rate change [fifteen] thirty days before it takes
effect. [, provided such notice shall only be required for the first instance
such rate is twenty-five per cent more than the original contract price.
After such one-time notice, no electric supplier shall charge an electric
generation service rate to a residential customer that is twenty-five per
cent more than the most recent notice of the rate change without
notifying such customer of the rate change fifteen days before it takes
effect.] Any notification described in this subdivision shall be provided
pursuant to the method agreed to by the customer in the contract and
may include written notice through United States mail, electronic mail,
text message, an application on a cellular telephone, or third-party
notification service approved by the authority. The electric supplier
shall maintain documentation of the original method of communication
of the notice.
(4) On and after October 1, 2015, no electric supplier shall (A) enter
into a contract to charge a residential customer a variable rate for electric
generation services; or (B) automatically renew or cause to be
automatically renewed a contract with a residential customer and,
pursuant to such contract, charge such customer a variable rate for
electric generation services. Notwithstanding any provision of title 16,
on and after July 1, 2022, no electric supplier shall charge a residential
customer a variable rate for electric generation services. On and after
July 1, 2022, any contract between an electric supplier and a residential
customer that provides for the use of such variable rates shall be deemed
null and void.
Sec. 5. Subdivision (8) of subsection (h) of section 16-245o of the
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu Substitute House Bill No. 6526
Public Act No. 21-117 5 of 8
thereof (Effective July 1, 2021):
(8) An electric supplier shall not make a material change in the terms
or duration of any contract for the provision of electric generation
services by an electric supplier without the express consent of the
customer. Nothing in this subdivision shall restrict an electric supplier
from renewing a contract by clearly informing the customer, in writing,
not less than thirty days or more than sixty days before the renewal date,
of the renewal terms, including a summary of any new or altered terms,
and of the option not to accept the renewal offer, provided no fee
pursuant to subdivision (7) of this subsection shall be charged. [to a
customer who terminates or cancels such renewal within the first two
billing cycles of the renewed contract.]
Sec. 6. Subsection (j) of section 16-245 of the general statutes is
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1,
2021):
(j) No license may be transferred, and no customer may be assigned
or transferred, without the prior approval of the authority. Notice of
such assignment or transfer shall be provided to the Public Utilities
Regulatory Authority at least thirty days prior to the effective date of
the assignment or transfer of a customer from one electric supplier to
another electric supplier. The authority may, upon its review of such
notice, require certain conditions or deny assignment or transfer of such
customer. Customer assignment or transfer shall be approved, modified
or denied by the authority within thirty business days of the authority's
receipt of such notice from the electric supplier, unless the authority and
electric supplier agree to a specified extension of time, or such
assignment or transfer is deemed approved. The authority may assess
additional licensing fees to pay the administrative costs of reviewing a
request for such transfer.
Sec. 7. Subsection (a) of section 16-245 of the general statutes is Substitute House Bill No. 6526
Public Act No. 21-117 6 of 8
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1,
2021):
(a) No person shall execute any contract relating to the sale of electric
generation services to be rendered after January 1, 2000, to end use
customers located in the state unless such person has been issued a
license by the authority in accordance with the provisions of this section.
No license shall be valid before July 1, 1999. The Public Utilities
Regulatory Authority shall have the authority to condition an electric
supplier's license and access to the systems and billing of the electric
distribution companies on terms the authority determines to be just and
reasonable, including, but not limited to, proof that the electric
supplier's products are not overpriced or harmful to residential
customers.
Sec. 8. Subsection (k) of section 16-245 of the general statutes is
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1,
2021):
(k) Any licensee who fails to comply with a license condition or who
violates any provision of this section, except for the renewable portfolio
standards contained in subsection (g) of this section, shall be subject to
civil penalties by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority in accordance
with section 16-41, [or] including direction that a portion of the civil
penalty be paid to a nonprofit agency engaged in energy assistance
programs named by the authority in its decision or notice of violation,
the suspension or revocation of such license [or] and a prohibition on
accepting new customers following a hearing that is conducted as a
contested case in accordance with chapter 54. Notwithstanding the
provisions of subsection (b) of section 16-244c regarding an alternative
transitional standard offer option or an alternative standard service
option, the authority shall require a payment by a licensee that fails to
comply with the renewable portfolio standards in accordance with
subdivision (4) of subsection (g) of this section in the amount of: (1) For Substitute House Bill No. 6526
Public Act No. 21-117 7 of 8
calendar years up to and including calendar year 2017, five and one-half
cents per kilowatt hour, (2) for calendar years commencing on January
1, 2018, and up to and including the calendar year commencing on
January 1, 2020, five and one-half cents per kilowatt hour if the licensee
fails to comply with the renewable portfolio standards during the
subject annual period for Class I renewable energy sources, and two and
one-half cents per kilowatt hour if the licensee fails to comply with the
renewable portfolio standards during the subject annual period for
Class II renewable energy sources, and (3) for calendar years
commencing on and after January 1, 2021, four cents per kilowatt hour
if the licensee fails to comply with the renewable portfolio standards
during the subject annual period for Class I renewable energy sources,
and two and one-half cents per kilowatt hour if the licensee fails to
comply with the renewable portfolio standards during the subject
annual period for Class II renewable energy sources. On or before
December 31, 2013, the authority shall issue a decision, following an
uncontested proceeding, on whether any licensee has failed to comply
with the renewable portfolio standards for calendar years up to and
including 2012, for which a decision has not already been issued. On
and after June 5, 2013, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority shall
annually conduct an uncontested proceeding in order to determine
whether any licensee has failed to comply with the renewable portfolio
standards during the preceding year. Not later than December 31, 2014,
and annually thereafter, the authority shall, following such proceeding,
issue a decision as to whether the licensee has failed to comply with the
renewable portfolio standards during the preceding year. The authority
shall allocate such payment to the Clean Energy Fund for the
development of Class I renewable energy sources, provided, on and
after June 5, 2013, any such payment shall be refunded to ratepayers by
using such payment to offset the costs to all customers of electric
distribution companies of the costs of contracts and tariffs entered into
pursuant to sections 16-244r, 16-244t and section 16-244z. Any excess
amount remaining from such payment shall be applied to reduce the Substitute House Bill No. 6526
Public Act No. 21-117 8 of 8
costs of contracts entered into pursuant to subdivision (2) of subsection
(j) of section 16-244c, and if any excess amount remains, such amount
shall be applied to reduce costs collected through nonbypassable,
federally mandated congestion charges, as defined in section 16-1.