Dive Brief:
- Deluged with customer complaints, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission is moving to require increased product disclosure from competitive power suppliers.
- The commission is especially concerned about variable-rate deals, which generated the most complaints when power prices jumped this winter.
- The proposed rule change comes a day after the PUC said it would speed up the time it takes to change suppliers to three days from up to 40 days.
Dive Insight:
About 12,000 consumers have contacted the PUC so far this year with complaints about their competitive power service. This has triggered a bill that would cap electric rate hikes for competitive suppliers. Situations like this hurt efforts to expand retail competition to traditionally regulated states.
