The Connecticut House Energy and Technology Committee Committee discussed legislation on Feb. 22 that would better define the requirements imposed on electric suppliers regarding telesales calls and face-to-face marketing as well as empowering the state regulator to enforce them.

• The bill defines telesales calls and face-to-face marketing, setting rules for these interactions with customers such as recording the entirety of the conversations, criminal background checks on all door-to-door marketers and mandatory information that must be provided to customers prior to initiating the sales pitch.
• The bill also creates appropriate restitution for customers in case these provisions are violated and allows the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to enforce them.
• The State Consumer Counsel and other consumer advocates have recently pushed legislators to better regulate suppliers that sell electricity to residential customers due to what they call deceptive business practices.