HOUSE BILL No. 6083 May 15, 2002, Introduced by Rep. Jamnick and referred to the Committee on Energy and Technology. A bill to prohibit the switching of a customer's natural gas supplier or distributor and the adding of optional services with- out the customer's authorization; to require certain notices; to prescribe the powers and duties of certain state agencies and officials; and to provide penalties and other remedies. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT: 1 Sec. 1. As used in this act: 2 (a) "Commission" means the Michigan public service commis- 3 sion in the department of consumer and industry services. 4 (b) "Customer" means an end-user of natural gas. 5 (c) "Natural gas distributor" or "distributor" means a 6 person that physically delivers natural gas to retail customers. 7 (d) "Natural gas supplier" or "supplier" means a person who 8 sells natural gas to natural gas retail customers located in this 9 state. 07267'02 SAT 2 1 (e) "Natural gas utility" means a public utility that 2 provided natural gas service before the effective date of this 3 act. 4 Sec. 2. (1) A customer of a natural gas supplier or dis- 5 tributor shall not be switched to another supplier or distributor 6 without the authorization of the customer. 7 (2) The commission shall issue orders to ensure that a cus- 8 tomer of a natural gas supplier or distributor is not switched to 9 another supplier or distributor without the customer's oral 10 authorization, written confirmation, confirmation through an 11 independent third party, or other verification procedures subject 12 to commission approval, confirming the customer's intent to make 13 a switch and that the customer has approved the specific details 14 of the switch. 15 (3) A natural gas supplier or distributor shall use reason- 16 able efforts to switch a customer to another supplier or distrib- 17 utor if properly authorized by the customer in accordance with 18 the agreement between the supplier or distributor and the cus- 19 tomer as provided under subsection (2). 20 Sec. 3. (1) A natural gas supplier or distributor shall not 21 include or add optional services in a customer's service package 22 or bill for additional services without the authorization of the 23 customer. 24 (2) The commission shall issue orders to ensure that a natu- 25 ral gas supplier or distributor does not include or add optional 26 services in a customer's service package without the customer's 27 oral authorization, written confirmation, confirmation through an 07267'02 3 1 independent third party, or other verification procedures 2 approved by the commission confirming the customer's intent to 3 receive the optional services. 4 Sec. 4. (1) The commission shall establish minimum stan- 5 dards for the form and content of all disclosures, explanations, 6 or sales information relating to the sale of a natural gas com- 7 modity and disseminated by a natural gas supplier or distributor 8 to ensure that the disclosures, explanations, and sales informa- 9 tion contain accurate and understandable information and enable a 10 customer to make an informed decision relating to the purchase of 11 a natural gas commodity. The standards shall be developed to do 12 all of the following: 13 (a) Not be unduly burdensome. 14 (b) Not unnecessarily delay or inhibit the initiation and 15 development of competition among natural gas suppliers or dis- 16 tributors in any market. 17 (c) Establish different requirements for disclosures, expla- 18 nations, or sales information relating to different services or 19 similar services to different natural gas supply classes of cus- 20 tomers, whenever such different requirements are appropriate to 21 carry out the provisions of this act. 22 (2) The commission may adopt rules under the administrative 23 procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to 24.328, it 24 considers necessary to implement this act and to protect retail 25 customers from fraud and other unfair and deceptive business 26 practices. 07267'02 4 1 Sec. 5. (1) A customer is entitled to obtain all data and 2 information from the customer's natural gas supplier or 3 distributor relating to the customer's billing history and energy 4 usage over the last 12 months. 5 (2) Upon receipt of a written request from the customer, the 6 customer's natural gas supplier or distributor shall provide the 7 information described in subsection (1) to the customer within 10 8 business days from the date the request was received. 9 (3) The natural gas supplier or distributor is entitled to 10 charge a fee under this act not greater than the actual cost of 11 providing the information described in subsection (1). The fee 12 allowed under this subsection shall be approved by the 13 commission. 14 (4) A natural gas supplier or distributor may not release 15 the information described in subsection (1) to a third party 16 unless the customer has provided consent for the release of the 17 information. 18 (5) Not less than once annually, the natural gas supplier or 19 distributor shall provide the means for a customer to grant con- 20 sent for the release of the information described in subsection 21 (1). 22 (6) Each bill shall identify the name of the customer's nat- 23 ural gas supplier or distributor and provide the supplier's or 24 distributor's addresses and telephone numbers. 25 Sec. 6. A natural gas supplier or distributor that enters 26 into a contract with a customer to provide natural gas service 27 shall provide a notice to the customer 30 days before the 07267'02 5 1 expiration date of the contract. The notice required under this 2 section shall include all of the following information: 3 (a) The last date of service under the contract. 4 (b) That the customer has the option of remaining with the 5 supplier or distributor or choosing to receive service from an 6 alternative supplier or distributor. 7 (c) That if the customer elects to remain with the supplier 8 or distributor, what changes will occur regarding rates, charges, 9 and services. 10 Sec. 7. If after notice and hearing the commission finds a 11 person has violated this act or a rule promulgated under this 12 act, the commission shall order remedies and penalties to protect 13 and make whole another person who has suffered an economic loss 14 as a result of the violation, including, but not limited to, 1 or 15 more of the following: 16 (a) The person to pay a fine for the first offense of not 17 less than $10,000.00 nor more than $20,000.00 per day that the 18 person is in violation of this act, and for each subsequent 19 offense, a fine of not less than $20,000.00 nor more than 20 $40,000.00 per day. 21 (b) The unauthorized supplier or distributor to refund to 22 the customer any amount greater than the customer would have paid 23 to an authorized supplier or distributor. 24 (c) If the person is a licensed supplier or distributor 25 under the jurisdiction of the commission, the revocation of the 26 supplier's or distributor's license. 27 (d) Cease and desist orders. 07267'02 Final page. 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