Utility agrees to $150,000 settlement for "slamming"

Oct 02 - Public Opinion (Chambersburg, PA)

An energy supplier has agreed to refund customers whose services were switched to the company without their authorizations.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission on Thursday unanimously approved a $150,200 settlement with Pennsylvania Gas & Electric (PaG&E), a PUC-licensed electric generation supplier and natural gas supplier, over the company's enrollment practices in 2012.

Several energy suppliers have been accused of similar "slamming" of customers, who then paid for spikes in variable electric rates during the harsh winter of 2014.

As part of the approved settlement, PaG&E will provide a refund to customers whose accounts were physically switched to PaG&E. The refund will be for the entire electric generation or natural gas supply portion of their bills for the period of time they were served by the company. Other provisions of the settlement include:

-- Background checks for all potential independent contractors.

-- A courtesy call procedure to verify sales transactions involving more than five accounts per commercial or residential customer.

-- Retraining of agents about PUC regulations pertaining to consumer protection and the prohibition on slamming.

The commission's independent Bureau of Investigation & Enforcement began an informal investigation into the company after the commission had received complaints about PaG&E's marketing and allegations that the electric and natural gas accounts of large commercial customers were switched without customer authorizations.

Investigators allege that one telephone sales representative was responsible for the attempted unauthorized switching of several hundred commercial electric and natural gas accounts to receive PaG&E supply services. The person "willfully circumvented the quality controls of PaG&E's sales system." The person worked for a third-party vendor that contacts businesses with multiple locations to enroll them in PaG&E's programs.

The incidents that were part of this settlement occurred prior to winter 2014.

The commission in rejecting a proposed settlement on Feb. 6 said "PaG&E did not appear to have any internal controls in place to prevent the volume of slamming that allegedly occurred here . We have said many times that this commission will not tolerate behavior that erodes the public trust in Pennsylvania's retail energy markets."

The PUC balances the needs of consumers and utilities in Pennsylvania .

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