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Regulator Issues Notice of Violation Against Retail Supplier For "Multiple" Incidents Said To Constitute Deceptive Practices, Slamming
The Connecticut PURA issued a Notice of Violations against Liberty Power Holdings, LLC for what the PURA notice says are multiple instances of unauthorized switches and practices which are misleading or deceptive.
PURA is seeking a $13,000 civil penalty against the company
Liberty Power Holdings, LLC may seek a hearing on the Notice of Violation before the notice becomes final.
In the NOV, PURA states, "Liberty’s multiple violations of regulatory requirements as set forth in this notice indicate a broad and intentional disregard for regulatory, public policy and consumer protection policies."
In one instance, the NOV states that a Liberty Power Holdings, LLC sales representative, "misinformed the customer as to the nature of the standard service offer," by describing the six-month fixed standard service price as an, "open market rate."
The NOV further states in this instance that, "Liberty’s sales representative never represented that its 'price protected' thirty-six month rate (.12376 cents per kWh) could ever be greater than the six-month fixed standard service offer, which it would be as of July 1, 2015. While it is true that had the customer remained with Liberty Power for the first six months of 2015, a savings of 0.253 cents per kWh would have been realized. However, by July 1, 2015, under Liberty’s 'price protected' rate, the customer would have been paying an additional 4.148 cents per kWh above the six-month fixed standard service offer."
The NOV also cited another sales call in which the Liberty Power Holdings, LLC sales rep informed the customer that they were paying 13-14¢/kWh for power (presumably based upon the default service rate) when, in fact the customer was with another competitive supplier and paying 8.5¢
The NOV also noted other "inconsistencies" within this sales call, noting that, "the Liberty sales representative never stated that she represented Liberty Power until almost ten minutes into the Sales Call."
The NOV also cites three instances of slamming. In one case, the NOV states that, upon review, the signature of the contract did not match that of the customer.
In a second instance, the NOV states that four TPVs conducted for the account were invalid as in three of the TPVs the customer never authorized enrollment with Liberty Power Holdings, LLC, while the NOV states, "A review of all four recordings indicated that customer voice in TPV Nos. 2, 3 and 4 does not match the customer voice in TPV 1."
"Furthermore, in TPV Nos. 2, 3, and 4, the 'customer' is incapable of providing her own physical service address. Liberty failed to obtain independent third-party verification of this enrollment," the NOV states
The same sales agent, who worked for a vendor, was responsible for both of these unauthorized switches, Liberty Power Holdings, LLC told PURA, and such agent was terminated
The NOV also faults Liberty Power Holdings, LLC's TPV process. "At no time during the verification process was the customer informed of, or asked to confirm the rate or term of Liberty’s offer. At no time during the verification process was the customer instructed what would occur at the expiration of Liberty’s offer. Finally, at no time during the verification process was the customer provided information regarding his three-day right of rescission pursuant to Conn. Gen. Stat. §16-245o(f)(2)," the NOV states
Liberty Power provided the following statement to EnergyChoiceMatters.com:
"Liberty Power takes very serious its obligation to fully comply with all PURA and state consumer protection rules. These 5 complaints are atypical and not representative of how we conduct our marketing activities. Liberty Power is proud to serve tens of thousands of satisfied customers in Connecticut today. We regret any inconvenience to these customers and have already resolved their issues. We look forward to fully cooperating with PURA on this matter."
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September 22, 2015
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Copyright 2010-15 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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