As a consumer in Texas’s deregulated electricity market, you have certain rights, as outlined on the Texas Electric Choice “Power to Choose” website. One of the roles of the Public Utility Commission is to help protect your rights regardless of which Retail Electric Provider you choose. Your most basic right as a customer is to be able to choose the Affiliate Retail Electric Provider in your area, or the provider that originally generated and sold electricity before deregulation. You are also entitled to a disclosure of “Your Rights as a Customer” from any Retail Electric Provider you choose.
Some of the other basic rights of Texas electricity customers have already been covered on this site. For instance, one of your rights is access to an Electricity Facts Label, or EFL, from every Retail Electric Provider. As mentioned in a previous post, this label provides important information including pricing for three different usage levels, contract terms, and information about the provider’s electricity generation from renewable content.
Texas customers also enjoy various rights that help protect you when choosing or switching providers. The right to non-discrimination means that an REP may not deny service based on “income level, location in an economically distressed area, or qualification for low-income or energy efficiency services,” according to Power to Choose. Privacy of information means that one REP cannot release your information to another REP or other company without your permission. Slamming (switching your electric service provider without your express permission) and cramming (adding charges for optional services of any kind without your permission) are also illegal.
Your other rights as a customer include the Terms of Service agreement, or your contract, and the option of non-English language materials for Spanish-speaking customers. If an REP markets electric service in another language or languages, they must make customer information available in those languages as well.
If you feel that a Texas Retail Electric Provider has violated your customer rights, you can call the PUC’s Customer Hotline (1-888-PUC-TIPS). You can rest easy knowing that you’ll enjoy these basic customer rights with whichever Retail Electric Provider you choose. Of course, that doesn’t mean you’ll enjoy the same benefits with every provider, so it’s still important to take the time to choose the Retail Electric Provider that’s right for you. You can find out more information about different providers by visiting the pages on this site, or call today for more information on how you can lock in your Texas energy prices.
