PUC Approves Settlement Under Which Retail Supplier Will Pay $126,000 Forfeiture

July 15, 2020

Email This Story
Copyright 2010-20 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com

The following story is brought free of charge to readers by EC Infosystems, the exclusive EDI provider of EnergyChoiceMatters.com

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio approved a stipulation between Tomorrow Energy Corporation and PUCO Staff under which Tomorrow Energy agrees to a forfeiture of $126,000 to resolve certain alleged violations related to the enrollment process

Tomorrow Energy issued the following statement to EnergyChoiceMatters.com concerning the matter:

"Tomorrow Energy takes matters such as these very seriously. We very much appreciate the work done by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO). Tomorrow Energy believes it has always operated in good faith within the rules. We agreed to this settlement in order to focus our full attention on serving our customers in Ohio and continuing to lead the way in Ohio’s transition to renewable energy."

--- Statement from Tomorrow Energy

In addition to the forfeiture, Tomorrow Energy has, under the stipulation, ceased marketing and enrollments using the "multiple transfer method," discussed below

Tomorrow Energy also agreed to other corrective measures, including an auditing process for enrollments

In a Notice of Probable Non-Compliance from PUCO Staff dated December 9, 2019, Staff had alleged that, "After reviewing sales calls, third-party verification (TPV) recordings, and responses from Tomorrow Energy, Staff determined that Tomorrow Energy is misleading customers during the enrollment process. During the investigation, Staff identified numerous calls where a customer was transferred from an initial sales call to an energy consultant, without any enrollment terms stated. The customer was then asked by the energy consultant for account information, and then transferred again to complete Tomorrow Energy’s TPV process. There is evidence that during this initial, sales call, the agents representing Tomorrow Energy are making misleading statements to customers prior to the call recording, then customers are being transferred to an 'energy consultant' followed by the TPV process. Additionally, several customers reference promotions or benefits promised during a call that were not stated in the sales or TPV calls provided."

Staff had initially proposed a forfeiture $140,000

ADVERTISEMENT
NEW Jobs on RetailEnergyJobs.com:
• NEW! -- Billing Specialist -- Retail Supplier  -- Texas
• NEW! -- Director - Distributed Generation, Demand Response, & Market Participation -- Houston
• NEW! -- Retail Energy Account Executive -- Houston
• NEW! -- Business Development Manager