{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"Citizens Utility Board","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org","title":"Power suppliers\u00a0could soon be knocking on your door again. Here's why. | Citizens Utility Board","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"XacyEte4L2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/power-suppliers-could-soon-be-knocking-on-your-door-again-heres-why\/\">Power suppliers\u00a0could soon be knocking on your door again. Here&#8217;s why.<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/power-suppliers-could-soon-be-knocking-on-your-door-again-heres-why\/embed\/#?secret=XacyEte4L2\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;Power suppliers\u00a0could soon be knocking on your door again. Here&#8217;s why.&#8221; &#8212; Citizens Utility Board\" data-secret=\"XacyEte4L2\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\n\/*! 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Here&#8217;s why. By Steve Daniels, Crain&#8217;s Chicago Business, Oct. 16, 2020 The door-knockers appear set to return. Since the onset of COVID-19, state utility regulators have barred energy suppliers from going door to door to sell households on alternatives to Commonwealth Edison, Peoples Gas and Nicor Gas. With much of modern-day unsolicited marketing occurring over cellphones or internet, power and natural gas retailers are among the last businesses to continue in the tradition of encyclopedias or vacuum cleaners. In recent months, the industry has pressed to be allowed to resume in-person marketing in a limited way. But on Sept. 29 they received a gift that went well beyond even their scaled-back ambitions. Seemingly out of the blue, staff of the Illinois Commerce Commission moved to allow unsolicited door-knocking, arguing that Gov. J.B. Pritzker&#8217;s &#8220;Phase 4&#8221; public-health restrictions for Illinois didn&#8217;t allow the commission to continue to bar such marketing. Until then, no supplier had publicly argued for that stance before the commission. Instead, suppliers generally had asked for permission to meet in person with potential customers if arranged ahead of time, presumably over the phone. Now, however, the suppliers are all for resuming in-person sales. &#8220;Competitive energy suppliers should not be treated differently than any other industry that is permitted to sell products in-person under the Phase 4 DCEO guidelines and that complies with masking, social distancing, and other public health requirements,&#8221; emails Kevin Wright, president of the Illinois Competitive Energy Association, which represents suppliers. The numbers tell the story. The number of Chicago households buying natural gas from a firm other than Peoples Gas dropped 32 percent just in the first nine months of 2020, to 56,526 from 82,913 in December, according to filings with the ICC. Likewise, at just over 1 million in August, the number of households getting electricity from a supplier other than ComEd is at its lowest level since 2012. Buying gas and power from a nonutility firm generally costs more\u2014often far more\u2014than simply continuing to get it from the utility, which by law passes the costs onto ratepayers at no markup. The attorney general, which is the state&#8217;s chief consumer advocate, has identified door-to-door sales pitches as frequently misleading. Consumers often believe they&#8217;re saving money when they aren&#8217;t. In an Oct. 2 filing with the ICC, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul&#8217;s office, along with consumer advocate Citizens Utility Board, called on the commission to continue the suspension of in-person marketing. &#8220;This is not the time to threaten health through direct transmission or to allow potentially predatory in-person marketing for energy products almost certain to cost consumers more than the regulated utility,&#8221; the filing said. The commission is expected to act on the staff&#8217;s motion within the coming weeks. INTERPRETATION The staff in its motion said it &#8220;became aware&#8221; on Sept. 16 that the state&#8217;s Department of Commerce &amp; Economic Opportunity &#8220;had begun to interpret its own guidelines to allow in-person solicitations provided that solicitors wear masks and proper social distancing is maintained, although DCEO had not published such guidance. Staff immediately contacted DCEO and confirmed [&hellip;]","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/CUB_IL_LogoBadgeRGBAdminLogo.png","thumbnail_width":254,"thumbnail_height":254}