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PUC Approves Settlement Under Which Retail Supplier Will Pay $98,000 To Resolve Alleged Overcharging

April 23, 2018

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Copyright 2010-17 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com

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The Pennsylvania PUC approved a settlement between the PUC's Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement (I&E) and Plymouth Rock Energy, LLC (Plymouth Rock or the Company) under which Plymouth Rock Energy, LLC will pay a civil penalty of $98,683 to settle alleged overcharging of customers.

The settlement addressed allegations that Plymouth Rock billed electric generation supply service rates that were higher than the rates promised by the Company.

In a complaint, I&E alleged that the Company violated Section 54.4(a) of the PUC's Regulations, 52 Pa. Code § 54.4(a), by billing customers enrolled in a fixed rate initial-term price offering at a rate exceeding the agreed-upon fixed rate established in disclosure materials. In the complaint, I&E had originally sought that Plymouth Rock pay a cumulative civil penalty of $330,600

As alleged in the I&E complaint, Plymouth Rock billed at a rate exceeding the initial-term fixed rate for customers in the PPL and PECO service territories on 2,476 separate occasions between February 1, 2014, and August 31, 2014, impacting approximately 1,725 customers. I&E had also alleged that the Company failed to provide notice to customers of a change in contract terms to permit rates exceeding the initial-term fixed rate. I&E averred that the Company’s action violated 52 Pa. Code § 54.5(g)(1) prior to and including June 13, 2014, and 52 Pa. Code § 54.10 after June 13, 2014

According to a PUC order adopting the settlement, "Based on billing data provided by Plymouth Rock to I&E via discovery, it was determined that at the beginning of 2014 there were residential customers taking advantage of the fixed rate initial-term price offering [offered by Plymouth Rock]. Those customers were transitioned to variable rate products sooner than provided in the agreement. This resulted in those customers being charged a variable rate that exceeded the initial term fixed rate agreed to in the Company’s disclosure statement during the first several months of 2014."

According to a PUC order adopting the settlement, "Plymouth Rock acknowledged the overbillings; however, it averred: (1) that this occurred due to a malfunction in its enrollment process resulting from a software and administrative error; (2) that it had proactively and promptly issued refunds to those customers equal to the difference between what they had been billed and what they should have been billed; (3) that it had terminated the employment of the individuals responsible for the errors; and (4) that it had completely reengineered its enrollment and billing systems, at a cost of approximately $120,000, to ensure that customers are charged the appropriate rate for the appropriate amount of time on a going forward basis."

Under the settlement, Plymouth Rock will pay a civil penalty of ninety-eight thousand six hundred eighty-three dollars ($98,683) (Settlement Amount) pursuant to 66 Pa. C.S. § 3301. The Settlement Amount consists of the following: eighty-two thousand eight hundred fifty-eight dollars ($82,858) relates to the alleged violations of 52 Pa. Code § 54.4(a), which equates to $34 for each of the 2,4371 invoices at issue in this proceeding; fifteen thousand eight hundred twenty-five dollars ($15,825) relates to the alleged failure to provide notice to affected customers, which equates to $75 per day for 211 days.

Under the settlement, Plymouth Rock agrees that it refunded all the affected customers, approximately 1,725, the difference between the rate they were billed and the agreed-upon fixed rate initial term price offering the customers were entitled to receive pursuant to the Company’s Disclosure Statement. Initial refunds in the amount of $122,601 were disbursed by September 12, 2014, while a final batch of refunds totaling approximately $21,000, was issued on May 4, 2016.

In adopting the settlement, the PUC noted, "According to I&E’s investigation, it appears that Plymouth Rock’s conduct that led to the overbilling errors on the affected invoices was unintentional. Although the Commission deems all overbilling instances such as these to be of a serious nature, especially due to the number of customers that were impacted, we find that the unintentional nature of Plymouth Rock’s conduct in the instant proceeding warrants a lower civil penalty."

C-2016-2579276

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