What To Do If Your Electric Company Goes Out Of Business

Provider of Last Resort rates can be significantly higher

The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) urges electric customers who have recently been involuntarily switched to a Provider of Last Resort (POLR) to shop for a new price plan to get a competitive rate. POLR service is designed as a temporary safety net ensuring continuous electric service if a Retail Electric Provider (REP) goes out of business.

Customers who are switched to a last resort electric company should receive a notice in the mail from their new provider. Any customer who receives notice that they are on a POLR rate should read the notice immediately and carefully, then contact that REP or shop for other REPs to enroll in a another plan. The POLR rate is typically much higher than standard retail offers and is tied to wholesale energy costs. Providers of Last Resort may offer customers rates that are more economical than the POLR rates, so customers should ask their POLR about such offers.

Switching to a different electric company can take up to 45 days to take effect, but you can speed up your switch to a lower-cost product by asking your new REP to waive your notification requirement and to have the transmission and distribution service provider (TDSP) do an out-of-cycle meter read.

While these actions affect less than one percent of residential electric customers in the Texas competitive retail electric market, it is important these customers understand the need to find a lower-cost offer as soon as possible. Rapidly rising energy prices have created the potential for POLR rates to be significantly higher than current competitive electricity rates at a regular electric company.

POLR service ensures continuous electric service if a REP leaves the market and customer accounts are not sold or transferred to a competitor. POLR service is relatively high-priced due to planning costs and uncertainty at a given time in the number of customers and electricity load.

The PUC requires that REPs that leave the market return any unused portion of a deposit to a switched customer within seven calendar days after a meter read. A POLR can require a deposit, but a deposit cannot be an original condition to receive POLR service.

A POLR is required to offer call center facilities for customer inquiries. POLRs also must give low-income customers the same benefits as all other REPs.

http://www.powertochoose.org/_files/_pdf/POLR.pdf

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