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PUC Rejects Settlement With Retail Supplier Concerning Alleged Slamming As Inadequate
The Pennsylvania PUC rejected as inadequate a settlement between its Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement and Pennsylvania Gas & Electric under which Pennsylvania Gas & Electric was to pay $75,000 to resolve a PUC Staff investigation into the alleged slamming of 10 customers with over 300 accounts, due to what PaG&E said was an individual subverting PaG&E's internal controls.
The settlement had been first reported by EnergyChoiceMatters.com last year (click here for details)
The settlement stated that an investigation revealed that a telephone sales representative (TSR) employed by a vendor utilized by PaG&E, "was apparently involved in a scheme to obtain third-party verifications by directing the verifications to an accomplice who posed as the customer, thereby enrolling the accounts. Thus, while audio recordings of TPVs were made, the 'authorizing' party on the other end was not the customer."
The settlement noted that, "the TSR did not make calls to the customers that resulted in sales transactions. The TSR skipped the transaction process and proceeded straight to the third-party verification service, with an accomplice who acted as the customer on the telephone line."
"While this is certainly not the first instance of alleged slamming that I&E has prosecuted, it is among the most egregious," PUC Chairman Robert Powelson and Vice Chairman John Coleman Jr. said in a motion adopted by the PUC.
"Moreover, while any supplier could be the victim of a rogue employee or agent, we are troubled that PaG&E did not appear to have any internal controls in place to prevent the volume of slamming that allegedly occurred here," Powelson and Coleman said.
"Most offensive, however, is the fact that Pa. Gas & Electric failed to self-report the violations to the Commission. The documents filed with the Commission state that the Company became aware of irregularities in July 2012 and knew with certainty in August 2012 that slamming had occurred. The Commission, however, did not have any knowledge of the situation until September 19, 2012, when PECO Energy Company brought it to the attention of the Commission's Office of Competitive Market Oversight during a routine conference call," Powelson and Coleman said.
"We have said many times that this Commission will not tolerate behavior that erodes the public trust in Pennsylvania's retail energy markets. Due to the severity of the allegations in this case and the Company's apparent lack of mitigating actions, we simply do not believe the $75,000 civil penalty, even when combined with the corrective actions contained in the settlement, is enough to remedy this situation or to deter potential future violations of the Code or the Commission's regulations," Powelson and Coleman said.
The matter was referred back to the Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement.
Pennsylvania Gas & Electric provided the following statement to Matters: "While we are disappointed in the Commission's decision to not follow the recommendation of its staff, Pennsylvania Gas & Electric will continue to fully cooperate with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission in this matter."
Pennsylvania Gas & Electric is a trade name for Energy Services Providers, Inc. and U. S. Gas & Electric, Inc.
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February 7, 2014
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Copyright 2010-13 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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