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<i>TXU Energy 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.
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.
Another issue: TXU did not tell customers of the credit plan...</i> [read more at <A HREF="http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2004-09-09-txu_x.htm">usatoday.com</A>]
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.
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.
Another issue: TXU did not tell customers of the credit plan...</i> [read more at <A HREF="http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2004-09-09-txu_x.htm">usatoday.com</A>]