Last month, Sofía Owen, our Staff Attorney & Director of Environmental Justice Legal Services, spoke at a community meeting sponsored by Boston City Council President Kim Janey about the predatory behavior of these companies, and the burden they’re imposing on Roxbury and other Black, Brown, and low-income communities. These tactics -- even without a pandemic -- should be banned. We were grateful when, in March, the DPU banned door-to-door marketing, due to the pandemic. But they lifted that ban in July, and it remains lifted, even though this wave is now as bad as the first. ACE learned that sales reps for at least two companies, Resident Energy and Inspire Energy were going door-to-door in late October in Chelsea at a time when the city was rated “red” for COVID transmission. And things were bad enough that Chelsea’s leaders were discouraging anyone from going door-to-door to celebrate Halloween or Día de los Muertos. This same company has been investigated in three states for discriminatory and misleading marketing. And before the pandemic, we heard of these salespeople forcing their way into homes and refusing to leave without a signed contract, claiming to work for a utility company like Eversource, promising “the lowest rates” when that was not the case, and harassing residents repeatedly. Sign on now, and help us make sure the DPU does the right thing and restricts door-to-door marketing. These predatory utility sales tactics must end. |
