In an effort to improve consumer education about choosing acompetitive energy supplier, the Retail Energy Supply Association(RESA) announced that it released a consumer education guide at thesummer conference of the National Association of Regulatory UtilityCommissioners (NARUC).
According to a release, NARUC is the national association ofstate public utility commissions, whose responsibilities includeoversight of competitive retail energy markets for the states thathave restructured to facilitate competition and enable customerchoice.
"While millions of consumers in restructured states are enjoyingthe benefits of customer choice and the various innovative productsand services being offered by competitive electric and natural gassuppliers, millions more are completely unaware of theseopportunities," said David Fein, President of RESA. "Moreimportantly, consumers must have the necessary information to makeinformed decisions about choosing an electric or natural gassupplier. For instance, many consumers may be wary of sales agentswho may knock on their door, call them on the phone, or make offersthrough the mail or on the internet, simply because they are unawareof their right to choose competitive electricity and natural gasproducts. RESA, as the leading national trade association forcompetitive retail energy suppliers, today is taking a proactivestep to help ensure that consumers are armed with the informationthey need to become a better educated consumer as they shop forcompetitive electricity or natural gas products."
"As an Association, we are dedicated to working with allstakeholders to promote vibrant competitive retail energy marketsfor residential, commercial and industrial consumers," adds JayKooper, Past President of RESA and Chairman of RESA's consumereducation committee. "As part of this charge, it is imperative forus as an industry to ensure consumers have a positive experiencewhen shopping for competitive energy products and services and tohave at their fingertips the information necessary to ensure thishappens. This means not only adhering to a set of guiding principleson marketing practices, which RESA and its members do, but toproactively educate consumers so that they understand whatcompetitive suppliers do, what it means for consumers to shop fortheir energy needs, and what questions they should be askingsuppliers before they enter into a contract. In this sense, weenvision our role as complementary to that of state public utilitycommissions and consumer advocates in that the one of the mostpowerful weapons we have to combat and minimize bad marketingpractices is the fully educated consumer."
RESA noted that its four-page guide provides general informationon competitive suppliers, types of questions to ask before enteringinto a contract, pricing and product option information, andoutlines elements of legitimate sales interactions. "Our goal is toprovide consumers with information they need to understand thattheir utility will not be mad at them if they make a switch and theywill not need any new pipes or wires, they just need to evaluatecompetitive options over utility options and make an affirmative andeducated decision to choose a competitive supplier," says Fein."Some individuals may shop based on price, while others may shopbased type of billing options or product types, it's really aboutcustomer's choice, comfort, and satisfaction. We hope this brochurewill help consumers obtain better comfort and confidence in shoppingfor energy choices available to them."
RESA is a 21 member organization which acknowledges the criticalrole substantive, practical, fair and workable consumer protectionand marketing practices play in creating a sustainable competitivemarket.
More Information:
resausa.org
((Comments on this story may be sent tonewsdesk@closeupmedia.com))
No comments:
Post a Comment