DALLAS ? TXU Energy (TXU) plans to begin pegging some of its customers’ electricity rates to their credit scores, charging them more if they have fallen behind on telephone, power or cable television bills in the past.
The new rate structure, scheduled to take effect Sept. 27, will affect customers outside of North Texas who switched to TXU to save money on their electricity bills.
Under the plan, South Texas customers with the best credit histories will be offered an electricity rate 8% lower than the rate offered by the local incumbent utility, an amount known as the price to beat.
Fifteen percent of customers will be charged a rate that is 4% better than the price to beat. The 15% with the worst credit histories will be charged the price to beat, meaning they will have saved no money by switching providers.
But consumer advocacy groups say the rate plans are misleading and violate rules for the state’s three-year-old deregulated electricity market, The Dallas Morning News reported.
“It’s unfair to charge you a price for electricity based on a payment history you may have made to an unrelated industry,” Laurie Pappas with the Office of Public Utility Counsel, the state-appointed consumer advocate, told the News.
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