Electricity Is Necessity so Utilities Deserve TCPA Relief, EEI Says
The Edison Electric Institute fired back against arguments by the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) and other groups against granting EEI the relief it sought from class-action lawsuits against its members for violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. EEI and…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
the American Gas Association said in a February petition that utilities should be able to provide information on planned or unplanned outages, repair work, service cancellation, service restoration and energy efficiency to their customers without risking suits alleging they violated the TCPA (see 1503270020). Allowing the relief requested in the petitions would “legalize many more automated and prerecorded phone calls” to cellphones, NCLC said in comments filed at the FCC last month. “The extent to which this relief should be granted should be analyzed through a filter which examines the impact of so many more calls on the most vulnerable wireless cell phone customers who have limited minutes, especially those low-income customers who rely on the Lifeline program.” EEI countered that the consumer group gets the dynamic of its request wrong. NCLC "just assumes" that energy consumers have little interest in hearing from their electric utilities, EEI said. Electricity isn't an ordinary good or service, the utility group said. “Electricity is a necessity to survive in a modern society: it provides heat, light, and cooling; it is needed to keep food and to cook food; it allows one to connect to the outside world through the internet and through the use of mobile phones; and in rural areas it is often necessary for access to water.” The filings were in docket 02-278.