[homeles_ot-l] Fwd: [ow-watch-l] Energy Choise is Yours website - caution re electricity contracts - 500, 000 renewals soon

[Terrie]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Deborah O'Connor <OconnorD at lao.on.ca>
Date: 19-Jul-2007 09:16
Subject: [ow-watch-l] Energy Choise is Yours website - caution re
electricity contracts - 500, 000 renewals soon
To: Ontario Welfare Reform list <ow-watch-l at list.web.ca>





OEB* **The Energy Choice is** **Yours*  website
http://www.oeb.gov.on.ca/energychoiceisyours/en/index.htm

Webcast and list of active retailers is on web site

*Regulator urges caution in signing energy deals, London Free press, 18 July
2007*

TORONTO -- Consumers should never show door-to-door salespeople their power
bill because it could be used to lock them into contracts, Ontario's power
regulator says.

Showing a salesman your bill is like giving out your credit card, said Brian
Hewson, chief compliance officer for the Ontario Energy Board.

"Don't hand over your utility bill unless you want to enter into a
contract," Hewson told a news conference.

Hewson said his office has received complaints in the past about
unscrupulous salespeople using such tactics, but said it "wasn't a huge
issue."

With about 500,000 home electricity contracts up for renewal over the next
few months provincewide, the* **Ontario Energy Board* launched a campaign
yesterday aimed at informing consumers about their rights and
responsibilities.

"Make sure you understand what you're agreeing to," he said. Signing up with
a private retailer means forgoing prices that are regulated by the province,
he added.

He noted that thousands of consumers sign up for new contracts every week,
and that the province has about 20 private electricity and natural gas
companies.

Of particular note are customers who have signed contracts with natural gas
companies before July 30, 2005, because retailers can automatically renew
contracts for one year with a new price without the consumer's consent,
Hewson said.

The OEB gets thousands of calls from concerned consumers unaware of
provincial legislation.

Clinton Roeder, senior vice-president of Direct Energy, which sells both
natural gas and electricity, said his company has had to deal with
street-level salespeople who violated ethical guidelines.

While he wouldn't specifically say what those violations were, he said that
the company has "a zero-tolerance policy."

*Looking to sign a new power contract? Read it carefully, says
regulator ,CP Wire ,  17 Jul 2007
*

The province's energy regulator is reminding consumers to understand their
rights and read carefully before they sign any new contracts.

The Ontario Energy Board says about a half-million home*
**electricity*contracts are up for renewal across the province over
the next few months.

OEB compliance chief Brian Hewson says if a salesman comes to your door and
asks to see your current bill, you're under no obligation to show it.

Unscrupulous salesmen can use the account number on your bill to lock you
into a contract without your consent.

Hewson says his department has received complaints about such salesmen.

He says every week thousands of people across the province sign up for
long-term contracts.
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-- 
Terrie ( mocharebyl at gmail.com )
"If you see an injustice being committed, you aren't an observer, you are a
participant." June Callwood
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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