Dive Brief:
- The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) and the state Division of Consumer Affairs have agreed to cooperatively investigate — and potentially prosecute — third-party energy suppliers for illegal advertising, marketing and contracting practices.
- Between December 2013 and March 2014, the BPU saw ten times the previous number of complaints about electric and gas service bill increases and third-party suppliers’ marketing tactics and terms, according BPU President Dianne Solomon.
- An extremely volatile natural gas market made the prices of electricity and heating gas from third-party marketers sharply variable month to month and there were reports of suppliers shifting consumers whose fixed-rate contracts expired to a variable rate contract without their assent.
Dive Insight:
It appears New Jersey ratepayers have encountered the downside of deregulation. Many complaints were of being fraudulently given rates not in their contracts, of bait-and-switch telephone sales, and of contracts with fine print subterfuges.
NJ BPU President Dianne Solomon: “Numerous customers alleged behavior by certain third-party suppliers that if corroborated would at best be considered dishonest and/or misleading…”
The NJ deregulated market is voluntary and if the ratepayer does not elect a third-party supplier, wholesale electricity prices are set in the power market, passed through by the utilities, and regulated by the BPU.
Third-party suppliers’ business, advertising and marketing practices must conform to state law.
