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Texas PUC Staff Propose Scrapping Draft Rule Requiring Retail Providers To Share Customer Contact Data With TDUs; Focus Instead On Promoting TDU Outage Alerts
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Citing concerns about customer privacy and exposure to litigation risk for retail electric providers and TDUs, Texas PUC Staff have proposed to withdraw a current draft rule that would have required REPs to provide customer contact information to TDUs, and which would have required the TDUs to automatically enroll customers onto the TDUs' outage alert service using such info (Project 56898)
Instead of this opt-out enrollment of customers onto the TDUs' alert service using REP data, Staff suggests that the availability of the TDUs' outage alert services be promoted by REPs, including potential requirements for REPs to offer a sign-up option for the TDUs' outage alert services (discussed further below)
As previously reported, to address concerns that TDUs do not have contact information for their delivery customers and thus cannot most effectively communicate outage information to customers, the draft rule would require REPs to provide to the TDU, for each of the REP's customers in the TDU's service area, the customer's emergency contact information, consisting of the customer's name, service address, telephone number, mobile phone number, and email address.
Staff evaluated several means of providing additional customer contact info from the REPs to the TDUs, and generally noted drawbacks with each, such as the lack of complete or accurate customer information in various existing data sets (incorrect phone number, or missing email address since an email address is not currently mandated to be collected under enrollments), as well as administrative costs associated with implementation. Citing concerns from the TDUs, Staff noted that, if lists with large amounts of inaccurate customer information are used to send opt-out notices, TDU communications may be flagged as spam by communications providers, and result in TDUs' having their ability to use such means of communication suspended
The use of opt-out push notifications may result in customers receiving the notices through means which are not the customer's preference, and could result in the customer being exposed to unexpected costs (data and messaging rates, etc), Staff noted
Regardless of which data set is used, Staff warned that using opt-out notifications could expose REPs and TDUs to the risk of litigation concerning customer privacy and unauthorized communications. Even if the PUC adopted an order directing the TDUs to send opt-out alerts to customers (which generally is a safe harbor under FCC rules), Staff noted other implementation issues, such as the receipt of customer opt-outs. Staff noted that a recent FCC ruling prohibits a sender from specifying an exclusive means of opting-out, and instead the sender must receive and honor opt outs provided under any "reasonable" communication method (e.g. only processing opt-outs under a "reply STOP to opt-out" method may not comply with federal law)
Staff also does not recommend that the TDUs be required, via Representational State Transfer (REST) Application Programming Interface (API), to provide outage information to REPs, so that REPs could develop their own outage trackers. Staff raised concerns with costs, and also questioned whether the provision of information regarding a regulated service (e.g. distribution), through what would be an essentially competitive manner (e.g. REPs would build their own tackers and customer interfaces which would differ in quality), is appropriate
As such, Staff does not recommend any mandate for REPs to provide a customer's emergency contact info to TDUs
Instead, Staff recommends that the PUC, TDUs, and REPs jointly work to promote the availability of the TDUs' existing outage alert service and online outage trackers
Staff proposed that, in a new rulemaking, the PUC could explore requiring that REPs must offer the ability for a customer to sign up for a TDU's alert service, as part of REP customer enrollment and renewal.
Alternative and/or additional promotion of the TDUs' outage notification alerts could be done through a requirement for REPs to post sign-up instructions on the REP's website, or inclusion of the information in REPs' quarterly billing inserts, Staff said
Staff noted that its recommendation may result in a smaller amount of customers receiving outage alerts
Staff recommended that the applications for chronic and critical care customer status should include a method for customers to enroll in a TDU's outage alert service through such application form
Staff noted that, in a separate rulemaking, the PUC is working to develop minimum standards for mandatory online outage trackers that are to be offered by the TDUs, which would provide a, "reliable source of outage information that is accessible from any computer or mobile device with internet service." (56897)
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Staff Float Requiring REPs To Offer Means For Customers To Sign Up For TDU Alerts
October 23, 2024
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Copyright 2024 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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