By Valencia Grant
Centretown residents may be solicited by electricity salespeople asking them to change their accounts. Account changeovers to newly licenced energy retailers will take effect when the market is deregulated this fall.
Hydro Ottawa says customers are complaining about “less than scrupulous” sales tactics employed by a few salespeople.
Almost a year ago, the Ontario Energy Board in Toronto gave electricity retailers the green light to compete with the distributor, Hydro Ottawa, by signing up its customers.
“We started licensing them last March because the competitive electricity market was supposed to open in November 2000, so that’s why they’re out there,” says Linda Cooper, an Ontario Energy Board spokeswoman.
She adds the board may give one or two Ottawa electricity retailers the axe if the complaints streaming into the offices of Hydro Ottawa and the Better Business Bureau of Ottawa & Hull prove to be true.
Owen Mahaffy, customer relations manager at Hydro Ottawa, says he gets several dozen inquiries per day. “ ‘Who are they?’ ‘I don’t know who they are.’ ‘What relationship do they have to you?’ That sort of thing.”
Mahaffy says Hydro Ottawa customers are confused because a few retail salespeople employ “less than scrupulous tactics” and misrepresent themselves as Hydro Ottawa employees.
“What I’ve heard is that some customers are told by some energy retailers: ‘We work with Hydro Ottawa.’‘We are just like Hydro Ottawa.’ ‘You’ll still be with Hydro Ottawa if you sign our contract.’ ‘I need to see your bill to give you a discount.’ ‘Rates are going up and our offer will save you money.’ These statements are all false and mislead the customer.”
Mahaffy says a retail salesperson needs the account number of a Hydro Ottawa customer to validate the contract. He adds that a salesperson has a fairly heavy incentive of around $9 for each contract signed.
The Ontario Energy Board says customers can access a code of conduct and a list of licensed electricity retailers on its Web site, http://www.oeb.gov.on.ca/ .
Cooper adds that a company found to be misrepresenting itself will lose its licence.
“If somebody has a problem, we encourage them to first try and resolve it with the retailer. Failing that, they can contact our customer service centre and they will deal with it,” says Cooper.
Shane Pospisil, communications director at the Ontario Ministry of Energy, Science and Technology says, “If people come up to the door and represent themselves as employees of Hydro Ottawa and they’re not, but they’re with a retailer, I wouldn’t sort anything out. I would phone the Ontario Energy Board, if not the police.”
The best way to avoid any problems is to ask to see a form of identification, he says.
Hydro Ottawa recently started a radio information campaign. Later this month, the company will take out newspaper ads to explain what the deregulation of the electricity market will mean for customers. It also has information on its Web site, http://kanatahydro.on.ca/ . Hydro Ottawa’s Web site says customers should seek legal advice before signing an agreement with a broker.