The Authority issued an Interim Decision in its investigation into issues associated by P.A. 15-90, banning residential variable electric rates effective October 1, 2015. The Authority stated the overall impact of the Act to be - "after October 1, 2015, electric suppliers and residential customers are left to enter into only fixed term contracts, with a minimum term of four billing cycles. . . . [P]re-existing variable contracts are permitted to continue, unless they contain specific renewal terms that are prohibited by the Act." Subsequent to October 1st, contract renewal provisions may be constructed in one of three ways: returning the customer to standard service; retaining the customer at the original fixed contract rate until a new contract is entered into or the supplier returns the customer to standard service; or renewing the customer to a new fixed term of no less than four billing cycles.

The Authority also suggests that communications with consumers by all market participants include the following information:

"* If you are a commercial or industrial customer, you are not affected by this new law.
* If you are a residential customer and signed up for electric supplier generation service on or before September 30, 2015, this law does not affect your current contract until renewal.
* If you are a residential customer and wish to sign up for electric supplier generation service on or after October 1, 2015, you will be restricted to fixed term offers of no less than four billing cycles. These new fixed contracts will contain specific language about what happens at the end of the initial fixed term.
* If you are unhappy with your current rate you may seek to negotiate a new rate with your current supplier, switch to another supplier or return to EDC Standard Service. Be aware of the terms and conditions of your current contract and whether any early termination or cancellation fee would apply."

In summary, the Authority stated, "the Act is clear and unambiguous about variable pricing in residential contracts starting on and after October 1, 2015. Residential contracts entered into or renewed on and after that date may not include variable pricing. Licensed electric suppliers are prohibited from contracting with residential customers for variable products either through an initial term or on a renewal basis, on and after October 1, 2015. To do so would violate Conn. Gen. Stat. §16-245 and such action would be subject to penalty under Conn. Gen. Stat. §16-41. Licensed electric suppliers may include renewal language in new contracts that either returns customers to EDC Standard Service, keeps the customer on the original fixed contract rate, or starts a new fixed price term of no less than four billing cycles."

The full text of the Interim Decision is available on the NEM Website.

NEM filed comments on the Staff Proposal regarding revisions to the Uniform Business Practices (UBP) with respect to eligibility requirements for ESCOs to participate in New York’s retail energy markets. Of particular note, Staff proposes that ESCOs be required to use standard contracts for service to residential customers and standard contract terms in non-residential contracts. Staff proposes to modify Section 2 of the UBP to require the inclusion of additional information in the ESCO application package. Staff proposes to add and revise terms in the Definitions Section of the UBP.

NEM recommended in its comments that the Commission consider enhancements to the Customer Disclosure Statement to achieve increased consumer understanding in lieu of imposing a restrictive standard contract requirement that will deter ESCO product innovation and differentiation. NEM offered alternative approaches to the increased information reporting proposed to be required with the ESCO application package. NEM also discussed problems associated with the proposed definitions of “fixed price” and “green energy."

The full text of NEM's Comments is available on the NEM Website.

NEM filed comments on the Staff Proposal regarding standards for Commission oversight of Distributed Energy Resource Suppliers (DERS). NEM made the following recommendations:
1) Because the proposed definitions of DER and DERS are so broad, it is imperative that the Commission make clear that its oversight will be limited to those transactions that constitute the sale of DER services into the Commission-jurisdictional Distributed System Platform (DSP) markets.
2) ESCOs should not be competitively disadvantaged through the imposition of a disproportionate regulatory compliance burden that increases costs of doing business and renders their DER product offerings less competitive.
3) The proposal to institute a marketing standard that requires DERS to use energy commodity forecasts based on multi-year averages of utility pricing in marketing materials will not provide consumers with meaningful or comparable data for evaluating offers.
4) To promote the goal of consumer understanding of DER product offerings without restricting innovation, the Commission should focus on the development of a DERS Customer Disclosure Statement, rather than the development of a standardized DERS contract.

The full text of NEM's Comments is available on the NEM Website.