Section 366.5 Of Article 6. Requirements For The Public Utilities Commission From California Public Utilities Code >> Division 1. >> Part 1. >> Chapter 2.3. >> Article 6.
366.5
. (a) No change in the aggregator or supplier of electric
power for any small commercial customer may be made until one of the
following means of confirming the change has been completed:
(1) Independent third-party telephone verification.
(2) Receipt of a written confirmation received in the mail from
the consumer after the consumer has received an information package
confirming the agreement.
(3) The customer signs a document fully explaining the nature and
effect of the change in service.
(4) The customer's consent is obtained through electronic means,
including, but not limited to, computer transactions.
(b) No change in the aggregator or provider of electric power for
any residential customer may be made over the telephone until the
change has been confirmed by an independent third-party verification
company, as follows:
(1) The third-party verification company shall meet each of the
following criteria:
(A) Be independent from the entity that seeks to provide the new
service.
(B) Not be directly or indirectly managed, controlled, or
directed, or owned wholly or in part, by an entity that seeks to
provide the new service or by any corporation, firm, or person who
directly or indirectly manages, controls, or directs, or owns more
than 5 percent of the entity.
(C) Operate from facilities physically separate from those of the
entity that seeks to provide the new service.
(D) Not derive commission or compensation based upon the number of
sales confirmed.
(2) The entity seeking to verify the sale shall do so by
connecting the resident by telephone to the third-party verification
company or by arranging for the third-party verification company to
call the customer to confirm the sale.
(3) The third-party verification company shall obtain the customer'
s oral confirmation regarding the change, and shall record that
confirmation by obtaining appropriate verification data. The record
shall be available to the customer upon request. Information obtained
from the customer through confirmation shall not be used for
marketing purposes. Any unauthorized release of this information is
grounds for a civil suit by the aggrieved resident against the entity
or its employees who are responsible for the violation.
(4) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), an aggregator or
provider of electric power shall not be required to comply with
these provisions when the customer directly calls an aggregator or
provider of electric power to change service providers. However, an
aggregator or provider of electric power shall not avoid the
verification requirements by asking a customer to contact an
aggregator or provider of electric power directly to make any change
in the service provider.
(c) No change in the aggregator or provider of electric power for
any residential customer may be made via an Internet transaction, in
which the customer accesses the website of the aggregator or
provider, unless both of the following occur with respect to
confirming the change:
(1) In addition to any other information gathered in the course of
the transaction, the customer shall be asked to read and respond to
a separate screen that states, in easily legible text, the following:
"I acknowledge that in entering this transaction I am voluntarily
choosing to change the entity that supplies me with my electric
power."
(2) The separate screen shall offer the customer the option to
complete or terminate the transaction.
(d) (1) No change in the aggregator or provider of electric power
for any residential customer may be made via a written transaction
unless the change has been confirmed, as provided in this
subdivision. In order to comply with this subdivision, in addition to
any other information gathered in the course of the transaction, and
in addition to any other signature required, the customer shall be
asked to sign and date a document separate from that written
transaction, containing the following words printed in 10-point type
or larger:
"I acknowledge that in signing this contract or agreement, I am
voluntarily choosing to change the entity that supplies me with
electric power."
(2) The acknowledgment document described in paragraph (1) may not
be included with a check or in connection with a sweepstakes
solicitation.
(e) Any aggregator or provider of electric power offering
electricity service to residential and small commercial customers
that switches the electric service of a customer without the customer'
s consent shall be liable to the aggregator or provider of electric
power offering electricity services previously selected by the
customer in an amount equal to all charges paid by the customer after
the violation and shall refund to the customer any amount in excess
of the amount that the customer would have been obligated to pay had
the customer not been switched.
(f) An aggregator or provider of electric power shall keep a
record of the confirmation of a change pursuant to subdivision (b),
(c), or (d) for two years from the date of that confirmation, and
shall make those records available, upon request, to the customer and
to the commission in the course of a commission investigation of a
customer complaint or an investigation pursuant to subdivision (c) of
Section 394.2.
(g) Public agencies are exempt from this section to the extent
they are serving customers within their jurisdiction.
(h) Notwithstanding subdivisions (c) and (d), the commission may
require third-party verification for all residential changes to
electric service providers if it finds that the application of
subdivisions (c) and (d) results in the unauthorized changing of a
customer's electric service provider.
(i) An electrical corporation is exempt from this section for
customers that default to the service of the electrical corporation.
(j) Electric power sold to customers pursuant to Section 80100 of
the Water Code is not subject to this section.