ASSEMBLY, No. 2850
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
INTRODUCED MARCH 24, 1997
By Assemblywoman POU and Assemblyman WISNIEWSKI
An Act concerning consumer protection for electricity customers and supplementing Title 48 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Electric Power Consumer Protection Act."
2. As used in this act:
"Customer" means a retail consumer of electricity;
"Electric distribution company" means the public utility providing facilities for the transmission or distribution of electricity to customers; and
"Electricity supplier" means a person or corporation, including municipal corporations which provide service outside their municipal boundaries, brokers and marketers, aggregators or any other entities, that sell to customers electricity or related services using the transmission or distribution facilities of an electric distribution company, or that purchases, brokers, arranges or markets electricity or related services for sale to customers using the transmission and distribution facilities of an electric distribution company. "Electricity supplier" includes an electric distribution company that sells electricity or related services to customers.
3. a. No electricity supplier shall provide electricity or related services or related services to customers in this State unless the electricity supplier applies for and receives a license from the Board of Public Utilities.
b. To receive a license pursuant to subsection a. of this section, an electricity supplier must:
(1) Maintain an office within the State of New Jersey for the purpose of accepting service and processing customer complaints;
(2) Provide assurance of the supplier's financial viability, including, but not necessarily limited to, the provision of a bond or other security approved by the board, in form and amount to ensure the financial responsibility of the electricity supplier and the supply of electricity at the retail level in accordance with customer contracts;
(3) Maintain written credit, collection and disconnection policies that are filed with the board and made available, upon request, to customers;
(4) Enter into a written agreement with the board to conform with the requirements established pursuant to section 4 of this act; and
(5) Provide the board with any other information the board requires.
4. a. The board shall require all electricity suppliers that provide electricity or related services to meet the following requirements:
(1) Provide electricity customers with understandable and accurate information, in a standardized format, to enable electricity customers to make informed choices regarding the purchase of all electricity services offered by that electricity supplier, and to compare prices and services on a uniform basis;
(2) Maintain and administer a program that receives, processes and resolves customer complaints; and
(3) Maintain the confidentiality of a customer's payment history.
b. The board shall ensure that all residential, commercial and industrial customers, regardless of sex, race, age, ethnic origin, family status, receipt of public assistance, or past credit history for non-electric service related bills, shall have an opportunity to obtain electricity and related services from a reasonable number of competing electricity suppliers.
5. a. The board shall, prior to the implementation of retail electric industry competition in the State, require each electric distribution company, in consultation with the board, to implement a multi-lingual consumer education program informing customers of the changes in the electric utility industry as a result of the restructuring of the electricity industry. The program shall provide customers with information necessary to assist them to make appropriate choices concerning their electric service. The education program shall be subject to the approval of the board.
b. The board shall establish rules and regulations to ensure that an electric distribution company does not change a customer's electricity supplier without written evidence of the customer's consent to a change of supplier.
6. The board shall revoke or suspend a license issued pursuant to section 3 of this act upon the failure of the license holder to comply with any of the provisions of this act.
7. The board shall adopt, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L. 1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), any rules and regulations necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act.
8. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would require each electricity supplier that provides electric power service or related services at the retail level to be licensed by the Board of Public Utilities (BPU). To be licensed, an electricity supplier would be required to maintain an office within the State of New Jersey, provide assurance of financial viability, maintain written credit, collection and disconnection policies that are filed with the board and made available, upon request, to customers, and to generally comply with the other requirements of the bill.
The bill also requires electricity suppliers to provide customers with understandable and accurate information on rates and services on a uniform basis, a customer complaint resolution process, and confidentiality concerning a customer's payment history. The bill also requires the BPU to ensure that all residential, commercial and industrial customers, regardless of sex, race, age, ethnic origin, family status, receipt of public assistance, or past credit history for non-electric service related bills, have an opportunity to obtain electricity and related services from a reasonable number of competing electricity suppliers.
The bill requires each electric distribution company, in consultation with the BPU, to implement a multi-lingual consumer education program informing customers of the changes in the electric utility industry as a result of electric restructuring. The program would be required to provide customers with information necessary to assist them to make appropriate choices concerning their electric service.
The bill also requires the BPU to establish rules and regulations to ensure that an electric distribution company does not change a customer's electricity supplier without written evidence of the customer's consent to a change of supplier (also known as "slamming"). An electricity supplier's failure to comply with the provisions of the bill would result in the revocation or suspension of the supplier's license to sell electricity or related services in this State.
Provides protection for electricity customers.