Credit Reporting Program
In August 2006, DTE Energy began reporting payment information to the major credit bureaus on all of its 2.5 million customers without offering the ability to opt out, making it one of the few utilities in the US to do so. Previously, only seriously delinquent accounts were reported.
Groups, such as the NAACP, protested this change, on the basis that such a policy would benefit those who have no problems paying their bills, but would hurt those who are the most vulnerable economically and most likely to miss a payment, such as the poor, elderly, and disabled. This, in effect, would hurt their credit rating, and further hamper their ability to advance in society.
In January 2007, DTE Energy changed the policy to state that only payments 60 days or more overdue would be reported to the credit bureaus.
Read more about this topic: DTE Energy
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