PUC Orders Utility To Provide Customer Lists, Including Customer Email Addresses, To Green Power Provider -- EnergyChoiceMatters.com

PUC Orders Utility To Provide Customer Lists, Including Customer Email Addresses, To Green Power Provider

May 11, 2022

Email This Story
Copyright 2010-21 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com

The following story is brought free of charge to readers by EC Infosystems, the exclusive EDI provider of EnergyChoiceMatters.com

The Maine PUC has ordered Central Maine Power Company and Versant Power to provide to 3Degrees Group, Inc., the provider under the Maine Green Power REC add-on program, utility customer lists, including customer email addresses

Specifically, Central Maine Power Company and Versant Power shall provide mailing lists of their residential and small commercial class customers to 3Degrees, including account name, service address, mailing address, customer rate class, email address, Maine Green Power (MGP) enrollment status, and solicitation status if available, to 3Degrees

The utilities had expressed concerns about the inclusion of email addresses.

3Degrees said that it no longer has field outreach available as a marketing tactic due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and 3Degrees expects nearly 25% of MGP annual program growth to come from email marketing.

As noted by the PUC, "3Degrees notes that in-person field outreach was MGP’s most successful marketing tactic in Maine. With the pandemic having eliminated in-person field outreach, the program is limited in its ability to continue to grow participation. Thus, the Commission finds that due to the unique circumstances resulting from the pandemic, it is reasonable for the T&D utilities to provide 3Degrees with this information."

"However, all emails must include a clear unsubscribe option for customers who do not wish to receive future emails," the PUC said

Furthermore, 3Degrees is required by this Order and by the Utility Service Agreements to use the lists only for the purposes of marketing the MGP program.

The PUC stressed, "It is with a high degree of caution that the Commission entrusts the release of customer utility information to a third-party, and 3Degrees is expected to handle this information with an acceptable standard of care and guard its knowledge of customer information, as well as electronically protect the information. The lists must be used solely by 3Degrees and 3Degrees shall not distribute or combine the list (or any part of the list) in any form or manner, nor use it for any purpose other than marketing the MGP program pursuant to the Utility Service Agreements. Further, the Commission requires that 3Degrees keep a record of how the lists are used and this record shall be provided to the Commission upon request."

3Degrees had stated that it plans to send three targeted emails per calendar year

Docket No. 2021-00281

Email This Story

HOME