Portsmouth, Exeter Lawmakers Condemn Consumer Protection Bill

State Representatives Christopher Serlin (D-Portsmouth) and Marshall Lee Quandt (R-Exeter), condemned the House’s passage of a reckless bill that will severely weaken consumer protection in New Hampshire.  

HB581 as originally written would strengthen protections for consumers and businesses contracting for fuel oil pre-buy programs, should the supplier ultimately fail to deliver according to terms. However, in a perverse shift away from the sponsors' original intent, as modified and passed by the House today, the revised bill not only does not expand those protections, but it eliminates entirely any possible guarantee that families, small businesses, and local towns might have that they will actually receive the fuel they have paid for.

“Originally when drafting this bill, we worked with the Attorney General's Office, industry leaders and the Oil Heat Council of New Hampshire to strengthen protections for New Hampshire consumers and businesses without negatively impacting oil suppliers themselves. And we had the support of those business leaders, like that of Donna Buxton, CEO of Buxton Oil.  But the version that was passed today does the exact opposite.  

"Instead of requiring oil companies to put 75 percent of their prebuy oil contract money into an escrow account dedicated to the purchase of customers' fuel oil, so customers can be reimbursed should a supplier fail to deliver according to contract, it weakens consumer protections leaving New Hampshire citizens, business owners and even municipalities out in the cold,” said Representative Quandt.

“Sadly, this reckless bill now requires only that the following language be put into all pre-buy contracts: ‘a pre-paid contract is not a guarantee… and you are at risk of losing some or all of your payment.’  "Not a guarantee?! What is the point of anyone in New Hampshire ever entering into a contract if there is no guarantee that goods and services will be delivered?” asked Representative Serlin.

"Does the New Hampshire House no longer believe in the fundamentals of contact law? Do we now, as a legislative body, turn our backs on our citizens and business owners, preferring instead to tacitly allow the occasional theft of money from hard-working Granite staters by unscrupulous or mismanaged fuel oil suppliers? We should be helping to protect families, businesses, and local towns that budget responsibly and purchase their heating fuel in advance, by their own choice, so that they can mitigate the uncertainties of the fuel markets.  

"Instead, today House leadership turned its back on those individuals.  That simply isn’t right. It isn’t the way we should be doing business in New Hampshire,” Serlin said.

“HB581 wasn’t supposed to be about politics. This was a common sense idea.  It was an idea that both Democrats and Republicans could get behind. If you pay for heating oil to keep your family or small business warm in the winter, that fuel should be delivered. And if for some reason that does not happen, your money should come back to you. Families and businesses should not be forced to simultaneously deal with the loss of prepaid monies as well as having to scramble to find new money to pay for oil that you should have had in the first place all in the dead of winter” added Serlin.

Submitted by Rep. Chris Serlin, D-Portsmouth