Electric
Energy Consumer Bill of Rights
Electric cooperative
utilities are unique in that they are owned and controlled by
the consumers they
serve. The following “Bill of
Rights” are polices that electric
cooperatives are vigorously
pursuing in the evolving restructuring of the electric
industry.
1.
The right to have access to
reliable, affordable and safe electric power.
The
availability of reliable, affordable and safe electric power is a necessity for
life issue, as well as an important factor that drives the country’s economic
engine. Consumers have a right to
expect reliable, affordable, and safe power. Consumers have a right to expect
uniform standards of electric power across the country as they travel or
move. Each sector of the electric utility
is different: each is structured
differently, financed differently and, aside from the provision of electric
service, organized for different purposes.
All electric utilities receive federal assistance and the form of
federal assistance is different for each sector. In an era of competition, consumers should expect to have many
choices. However, all energy providers
should have the obligation to provide reliable, affordable and safe electric
power. The obligation of lawmakers is
to recognize the differences among electric utilities and treat them
differently in legislation.
2.
The right to join together
to establish and operate a consumer-owned
not-for-profit electric utility. obligations.
Current consumer protection depends on government regulation, local
service territories, and voluntary cooperation among thousands of utility
systems with local service obligations.
If that system is to be replaced with competition where “big dogs eat
first” where utility systems are
allowed to become huge combines remote from local consumers, and where energy
providers are free to choose the customer class that provides them the most
profit, consumers must have a way to protect themselves. All electric consumers must have the right
to join together to establish and operate a consumer-owned electric system to
provide themselves with electricity according to their own needs.
3.
The right of consumer-owned
not-for-profit systems to be treated fairly and recognized as a unique form of
business. Electric cooperatives (co-ops)
are independently owned business enterprises incorporated under the laws of the
state in which they operate. Electric
cooperatives are owned and controlled by the consumers they serve. The co-op difference resides in consumer
ownership and control. Thus, for co-ops
to be treated fairly by government regulation, they must be recognized as a
unique form of business, different from investor-owned or community-owned
systems. As recognized by the federal
courts, since the consumer owns the
cooperative, there is no motive for the cooperative to mislead, cheat,
overcharge, or act in any way that is not in the consumer-owners’ interests.
4.
The right to elect
representatives to manage their consumer-owned form of business to best meet
their needs. Electric cooperative
consumers (members) participate in the operation of the co-op by electing a
board of directors from among its co-op consumers to establish the co-op’s
basic policies, goals and strategies, as well as to determine the rates and
types of service (s) they wish to receive.
In a competitive environment, consumer-owned and controlled cooperatives
will be a more important discipline in the marketplace and a more important
force for innovation as long as local ownership, local autonomy are not abridged
through unnecessary government regulation.
5.
The individual right to
privacy that assures information about consumers will not be released without
their prior express consent. Historically, consumer-owned
cooperatives have advocated levels of information disclosure beyond industry
standards but necessary for judging the performance of utility systems. Recently, however, discussions on energy
policy have included the idea that utility systems should be required to collect
and divulge extraordinary consumer specific information. Consumers should have the right to determine
how information collected about them is used.
Consumer-owned cooperatives should not be required to collect of divulge
consumer specific information.
6.
The right to determine the
scope of energy services to be furnished through their consumer-owned
not-for-profit utilities. In a competitive
environment, consumer-owned cooperatives, with their local ownership, local
control and local autonomy provide a fast, efficient, and flexible way for
consumers to address their needs.
7.
The right to use
consumer-owned not-for-profit utilities to provide additional services that
meet the needs of their consumers and communities. All
electric consumers must have the right to join together to establish and
operate a consumer-owned electric system, if they so choose. In addition,
consumers must retain the right to use their cooperative as a means to meet
their needs and expectations over time.
8.
The right to work in
cooperation with other consumer-owned entities with common goals. Consumer-owned cooperatives should be able to work
together to provide a countervailing balance of power in the marketplace to the
huge investor-owned combines that are likely to result from deregulation. Consumer-owned cooperatives should be able
to work together to provide an open window into the operation of a competitive
electric market for all consumers.
Consumer-owned not-for-profit cooperatives should be able to work
together to provide a “yardstick” by which all consumers can measure the
performance of the market and market participants.
This Electric Energy Consumer Bill of Rights was overwhelmingly approved by the membership of NRECA at its 57th Annual Meeting in March, 1999.