In January, Retail Energy Buyer reported that Massachusetts is looking to develop a web portal to provide retail energy buyers with standardized information on suppliers to help them shop for energy. According to an article in Energy Choice Matters last week, the website could include supplier reviews similar to those employed by rating websites like Yelp and ecommerce sites like Amazon. Under the proposed rating system, each supplier would be rated on a five-point scale based on a combination of customer reviews and complaints about the supplier. In addition, the website would provide a report detailing the nature of specific complaints, similar to Illinois’ complaint platform, and publish both “initial” and “escalated” complaints.
Retailers participating in a working group to help develop the platform expressed mixed support for the measure. Some lauded it for seeking to move beyond simple complaint statistics, while others were concerned that it would be cumbersome to oversee the site and vet customer posts.
