Relates to energy services company telemarketing standards

1 Co-sponsor

• Rich Funke

BILL NUMBER:S4526A

Purpose

To enforce and create telemarketing standards for energy services companies, establish civil penalties for violating such standards.

Summary of provisions

*Section one of the bill creates definitions for various terms used in the bill.

*Section two of the bill:

*Establishes telemarketing practices and requires an energy services company (ESCO) and an ESCO marketing representatives to:

*remove a customer from an ESCO marketing database upon request;

*require a marketing representative to provide their name, the name of the ESCO on whose behalf they are calling for, and the purpose of the call;

*transfer a customer to a representative who speaks the customer's primary language or terminate the call;

*use independent third party verification, as approved by the Public Service Commission, to enroll a customer; and

*prohibit ESCO marketing representatives from asserting that an ESCO is acting on behalf of a utility.

*Require ESCOs and contractors to comply with the "Do-Not-Call" Registry and basic telemarketing standards.

*Authorizes the Public Service Commission to access a civil penalty which would not exceed one thousand dollars per violation against any ESCO that knowingly fails or neglects to comply with the provisions of this section. This section also requires the Public Service Commission to provide notice to an ESCO, when the Commission believes an ESCO has violated a provision of this section.

*Deems that nothing in this act will limit the Public Service Commission or Long Island Power Authority from regulating ESCOs as they deem necessary and appropriate.

*Section three of the bill is the effective date.

Justification

On October 18, 2012, the Public Service Commission began a proceeding to assess certain aspects of the residential and small nonresidential retail energy or energy service companies markets in New York (Case 12-M-0476). Out of the proceeding, serious concerns about the telemarketing behavior of energy services companies (ESCOs) have emerged. In the assessment of the Commission's staff, some ESCOs are engaging in marketing behavior that creates and relies on customer

confusion. This bill would explicitly subject ESCOs to telemarketing standards that would protect customers from predatory marketing behavior.

Most importantly, this bill would empower the Commission to issue civil penalties against ESCOs that repeatedly refuse to comply with telemarketing standards. By requiring ESCO to comply with the "Do-Not-Call" Registry and telemarketing standards under Public Service Law, the Commission would be allowed to issue a civil penalty when ESCO disregards the "Do-Not-Call" Registry. The civil penalty created in this bill closes an important gap in the regulation of ESCOs as the Commission currently cannot issue any civil penalties against ESCOs for any violations.

Legislative history

New.

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect 90 days after enactment into law and immediately upon enactment the Public Service Commission is authorized to establish any regulations needed to implement this act.