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Complaint Filed Against Texas Retail Provider Over REP's Alleged Requirement That Customer Must Verify Identity Via Persona (Photo/Facial Recognition)
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A customer has filed a complaint against Southern Federal Power, LLC at the Texas PUC alleging that Southern Federal Power informed the customer that the customer's enrollment process would not be completed if the customer did not complete verification of the customer's identity through a service called Persona
Although the complaint does not specifically identify what data the Persona process used by Southern Federal requires, the complainant argues that customers should not have to submit, to a third party, "personal, image, and biometric data," in order to complete enrollment with a REP. While it is unclear what specific process the complainant was directed to complete, it is generally understood that Persona may require submission of a photo and/or use a facial recognition scan from a camera-equipped electronic device
The customer alleges that refusal of retail electric service based on a customer's election not to verify through Persona is in violation 16 TAC § 25.23, which applies to electric utilities, not REPs
The refusal of service rules governing REPs (16 TAC §25.477) provides that, in addition to various other stated reasons in which a REP may refuse service, a REP other than the affiliated REP or POLR, may
refuse to provide electric service to an applicant or customer, "for any other reason that is not
otherwise discriminatory pursuant to §25.471(c) of this title (relating to General Provisions
of Customer Protection Rules)."
§25.471(c) prohibits REPs from unduly refusing to provide
electric service or otherwise unduly discriminating in the marketing and provision of electric service to any
customer because of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, marital status, lawful source of income,
level of income, disability, familial status, location of customer in an economically distressed geographic
area, or qualification for low-income or energy efficiency services.
The complainant, Joshua Verde, previously filed an informal complaint. While the disposition of such informal complaint was not specifically stated, the filing of a formal complaint suggests that the informal complaint was not found in the complainant's favor
The complainant alleged that relying on § 25.477 to support the REP's denial of service due to the failure to verify via Persona, "is not a valid defense
because the requirement that an applicant use a third-party service and submit biometric data
(including images) is discriminatory or may lead to a discriminatory result."
"Further investigation
and discovery into this practice is warranted," the complainant said
More specifically, as part of the enrollment, the complainant alleged that he provided his name, service address, personal information (including SSN), and meter ID. The complainant alleged that a
credit check was performed by Southern Federal using this data.
The complainant alleged that a new service account was created for the complainant and that the complainant set up his new account with payment data to facilitate auto-pay.
Shortly after this new account creation, the complainant alleged that he received an email from Southern Federal stating that the complainant must use a
third-party service called "Persona" to, "ensure the security of [his] new account."
The complainant alleged that such email
further stated that if the verification is not completed, such failure "may delay" the activation of the new
electricity service
As noted above, the complainant alleged that, upon informing Southern Federal that the complainant refused to complete verification via Persona, Southern Federal allegedly responded in an email that, "You are no way obligated to complete the verification process however, we will not complete the enrollment process for services without completion." [sic]
The enrollment was apparently not completed as the complainant alleges that he lost the fixed rate at which he had enrolled.
The complainant alleged that Southern Federal already verified the complainant’s identity when Southern Federal ran a credit check on him using his provided address and SSN.
The complainant said, "An electricity customer should not be required to submit their personal information,
including photo and biometric data, to an unlicensed third party to obtain electric service in
Texas."
The complainant alleged that, "Requiring electricity customers to submit their personal, image, and biometric data to a
third party is not required by law and may be discriminatory."
The complainant alleged that Persona’s own terms, which would apply to the complainant should he use their service at
the insistence of Southern Federal, completely waive any viable remedy for a data breach.
Among other relief, the complainant sought: "Complainant respectfully requests the PUC open an investigation into the conduct and
events described herein, permit discovery, and determine that Respondent’s conduct was not in
compliance with the applicable regulations or code."
The complainant alleged and speculated that Southern Federal may be using Persona in order to allegedly sell the acquired personal data to Persona
Docket 57929
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April 8, 2025
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Copyright 2025 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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