Albany, NY: The New York State Public Service Commission announced the first consumer protection standards for the Distributed Energy Resources (DER) market in the state on October 19.
“While DERs are creating a cleaner and more resilient power system here in New York, we must ensure that consumers are protected from fraud and dishonest marketing, protecting consumers as well as the integrity of the budding DER markets,” said Commissioner Chair John Rhodes.
For companies providing residential rooftop solar systems, on-site generating systems for small business, large community-solar projects or other community distributed generation, today’s order will establish registration requirements, a standard disclosure statement, detailed marketing requirements, rules for handling customer inquiries and complaints, and penalties for any violations. For other types of DER systems and services, other new requirements will give New York State the authority to address fraudulent business practices without imposing costly and burdensome regulations that might stifle innovation.
The Commission said its experience in regulating energy services companies (ESCOs) in the gas and electric supply market has demonstrated that oversight is needed to prevent false promises, exploitative pricing, and other deceptive or intentionally confusing behavior in marketing to residential customers and small businesses.