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Can-Spam: A Primer For Utilities
We are not offering legal advice. This guide and any information provided herein is for informational purposes only. Please consult your own legal counsel
for guidance as to the possible application of this information to your marketing efforts. Questline, Inc. does not warrant this document or any information
contained herein for any particular purpose.
The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 went into effect on January 1, 2004, establishing the United
States’ first national standards for the sending of commercial email. Each separate email
that is in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act is subject to penalties of up to $16,000.
How does this law apply to your utility when communicating
with existing customers? Contrary to popular belief, CAN-SPAM
does not contain a “prior business relationship” clause. The
“transactional or relationship messages” that are referenced
throughout the statute relate to single transactions, which
are determined by the primary purpose of each individual
email. The law does not refer to a broad, underlying
customer-to-provider affiliation.
What that means for you is that prior business relationships
don’t matter. Content is still King. If your email content furthers
the transactional relationship that has already been defined,
then you’re okay. But if your content is general marketing, it
doesn’t matter how well-established, how deep, or how long
you have had a relationship with your customer, the email
still has to comply with CAN-SPAM in all of its particulars.
The CAN-SPAM Act can be divided into three areas of compliance:
1. Content
Unsolicited emails must be clearly
identified as advertisements for
products or services. Email must
not use deceptive subject lines, “from
names” or other misleading content.
A valid physical postal address is
also required.
2. Opt Outs
Tell customers how to unsubscribe
from future emails; make the process
clear and easy to use. They must not
be required to enter any information
other than an email address. Honor
those opt outs as quickly as possible,
but always within 10 business days.
3. Sending Behaviors
Messages cannot be sent to harvested
email addresses or sent through an
open relay (a mail server configured
in a way that allows anyone to send
emails through it). Headers and routing
information cannot be falsified.
“Forward to a friend” messages must
come from the utility.
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Some common utility communications and their classification
Transactional or Relationship Message
Commercial Message
Welcome and new service activation emails
Newsletters
Billing and payment notifications
Energy-efficiency tips
My Account notifications
Incentive and program promotions
Rate and rate case communications
Energy audit service promotions
Outage communications
Smart Grid education
Tree trimming and other service notifications
Community outreach announcements
Customer service responses
Event invitations
Does CAN-SPAM apply?
When determining if a particular message falls under the
authority of CAN-SPAM, the key is to evaluate “the primary
purpose” of the message. To determine the primary purpose,
critically evaluate whether the email contains:
+Commercial content that advertises or promotes a product
or service;
+Transactional or relationship content which facilitates a
pre-existing transaction, updates a customer about an
ongoing transaction or delivers goods and services as part of
a transaction to which the recipient has already agreed; or
+Other content which is not commercial, transactional or
relationship driven.
If the message contains only commercial content,
its primary purpose is commercial and it must comply with the
requirements of CAN-SPAM. If it contains only transactional or
relationship content, it must not contain misleading information,
but is otherwise exempt from most provisions of the
CAN-SPAM Act.
It is much easier to follow the requirements of CAN-SPAM for all
customer email communications than it is to wade through law
books to determine whether or not each individual message has
to comply. Fortunately, compliance is fairly easy to implement.
Use the checklists on the following page to ensure that every
email is in compliance and your utility will be protected.
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Checklist for Commercial Email
Double Check...
CAN-SPAM Requires…
Watch For…
The From Name must identify the sender of the email.
This should be the utility name, OpCo, or a recognizable
individual such as an account manager.
Does the From Name identify the sender of this message?
From Name
The subject line must not mislead the recipient and
must accurately describe the primary purpose of
the message.
Does the subject line match the content of the message?
Subject Line
Is the unsubscribe mechanism clearly visible?
Unsubscribe Options
The ability to unsubscribe must be clearly displayed and
function for at least 30 calendar days. It must allow the
recipient to opt out of all commercial emails from the
sender identified in the From Name.
Unsubscribe Suppression
Senders must honor all unsubscribe requests
made within 10 business days.
Postal Address
The email must include a postal address for the sender.
Is a physical postal address or PO Box included in the
email template?
Forward to A Friend
If the recipient is incentivized to forward the email, the
“friend” message must be sent from your utility and
scrubbed against your unsubscribe list.
Does the forwarded message appear to come from your
utility and comply with CAN-SPAM on its own?
Double Check...
CAN-SPAM Requires…
Watch For…
From Name
The From Name must identify the sender of the email.
This should be the utility name, OpCo, or a recognizable
individual such as an account manager.
Does the From Name identify the sender of this message?
Subject Line
The subject line must not mislead the recipient; it
must accurately describe the primary purpose of the
message.
Does the subject line match the content of the message and
accurately reflect the transactional portion of the message?
Content
The content of the email must not promote a product or
service and must focus on a transaction, communicate
required service information, act as an account
statement or provide promised goods or services.
Could the recipient contact them to be unsubscribed
if needed?
Could a reasonable person determine whether the email is
commercial, transactional or personal by the subject line?
Does it allow a customer to opt out of all commercial
messages?
Are unsubscribes automatically suppressed from
future mailings?
Was the list pulled from the source database and scrubbed
of unsubscribes within the last 10 days?
Checklist for Transactional Email
Does the email contain any commercial content? If so, is the
non-commercial content near the beginning of the message,
making up the most significant portion of the email?
Does the recipient expect to, or need to, receive this email?
Do my customers care about CAN-SPAM?
In the end, spam is in the eye of the beholder. CAN-SPAM
compliance isn’t enough to build great customer relationships
and regardless of what the law allows, it’s important to be
aware of what your customers consider spam and respect their
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contact preferences. Grow your list using an organic permissionbased approach and watch your key email metrics and overall
customer satisfaction rise.
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