Virginia Administrative Code › Title 20 - PUBLIC UTILITIES AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS › Agency 5 - STATE CORPORATION COMMISSION › Chapter 312 - RULES GOVERNING RETAIL ACCESS TO COMPETITIVE ENERGY SERVICES › Section 20VAC5-312-30 - Codes of conduct

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A. An
				affiliated competitive service provider may use the name or logo of its
				affiliated local distribution company in advertising and solicitation
				materials. A disclaimer shall be used when an affiliated competitive service
				provider offers services in the certificated service territory of its
				affiliated local distribution company. Such disclaimer shall clearly and
				conspicuously disclose that the affiliated competitive service provider is not
				the same company as the local distribution company. Disclaimers shall not be
				required, however, on company vehicles, clothing, or trinkets, writing
				instruments, or similar promotional materials. Upon complaint of any interested
				person, the Attorney General, staff motion, or on its own motion, the State
				Corporation Commission may, after notice and an opportunity for hearing, make a
				determination whether any such usage is misleading, and if so, take appropriate
				corrective actions.
B. An
				affiliated competitive service provider shall operate independently of its
				affiliated local distribution company and shall abide by the following
				provisions with respect to any competitive energy service it offers in the
				certificated service territory of the affiliated local distribution company:
1. Each affiliated competitive service
				provider shall implement internal controls to ensure that it and its employees,
				contractors and agents that are engaged in the (i) merchant, operations,
				transmission, or reliability functions of the electric generation or natural
				gas supply systems, or (ii) customer service, sales, marketing, metering,
				accounting or billing functions, do not receive information from an affiliated
				local distribution company or from entities that provide similar functions for
				or on behalf of its affiliated local distribution company or affiliated
				transmission provider as would give such affiliated competitive service
				provider an undue advantage over non-affiliated competitive service providers.
				For purposes of this subdivision, "undue advantage" means an advantage that is
				reasonably likely to adversely affect the development of effective competition
				within the Commonwealth.
2. An
				affiliated competitive service provider shall file with the State Corporation
				Commission a revised listing and description of all internal controls required
				in subdivision 1 of this subsection within 10 days of any modification to such
				controls as was originally provided under
				20VAC5-312-40 A 8 as part of the
				requirements of the affiliated competitive service provider's application for
				license.
3. An affiliated
				competitive service provider shall document each occasion that an employee of
				its affiliated local distribution company, or of the transmission provider that
				serves its affiliated local distribution company, becomes one of its employees
				and each occasion that one of its employees becomes an employee of its
				affiliated local distribution company or the transmission provider that serves
				its affiliated local distribution company. Upon staff's request, such
				information shall be filed with the State Corporation Commission that
				identifies each such occasion. Such information shall include a listing of each
				employee transferred and a brief description of each associated position and
				responsibility.