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PSC Commissioner: 80 Complaints Against Retail Supplier In Five Years Is "A Lot"
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How many complaints are considered "a lot" for a retail energy supplier?
For Maryland PSC Commissioner Bonnie Suchman, 80 complaints over five years is a lot
Suchman made the pronouncement as the Commission addressed a filing by Major Energy in which Major informed the PSC that Major had been assigned customers contracts from Tomorrow Energy (story here)
Major Energy provided the following statement concerning the matter:
"Major Energy will continue to cooperate with the PSC to address its concerns regarding the assignment of contracts from Tomorrow Energy."
--- Statement from Major Energy
While the PSC does not rule on the actual customer assignment agreements (and typically takes "note" of such informational updates by suppliers), the required notice to the PSC of the assignments does provide a forum for the PSC to review supplier compliance and for the PSC to adopt various reporting or other obligations as a result of the assignment, as the acquiring supplier serves, typically, a significant amount of new customers. The PSC has routinely adopted various measures such as reporting requirements in addressing assignment notices
Per PSC Staff, customers filed with the PSC's Consumer Affairs Division (CAD) 81 complaints against Major Energy between January 2018 and October 2023, covering both gas and electricity
Suchman stated, "I have to say, that approximately 80 complaints over a five-year period seems like a lot of complaints".
However, in 38 of these complaints, the PSC's Consumer Affairs Division (CAD) found in Major's favor, while CAD found in the customer's favor in 26 of the complaints. The remaining complaints were defined by CAD as "Undetermined" or "Not Applicable"
Still, Suchman contrasted Major's number of complaints to that of other suppliers, which may have 7 to 10 complaints
Additionally, approximately half of the complaints (about 40) were recorded during the narrower period from about September 2022 to May 2023.
Counsel for Major Energy cited a sales push during such time, with a new vendor or vendors, for the increase in complaints. According to PSC Staff, Major Energy, in addressing the complaints, ceased operations with a vendor that had previously generated a significant number of complaints.
No complaints against Major Energy have been filed with CAD in Maryland since November 2023.
Commissioner Michael Richard noted that the spike in complaints occurred, in part, during the PSC's publicized "maximum enforcement" period (story here) and during a time in which the legislature was closely monitoring the retail energy market, with Richard questioning how the company could become so "tone deaf" to such developments
"It just seemed like it was almost a finger in the eye to the Commission at that point," Richard said
Suchman was "concerned" about Major serving a significant number of additional customers due to the assignment, and said that the Commission needs to have "eyes open" on the company
The PSC ultimately took the matter under advisement, but largely to develop specific language concerning consensus obligations that will be imposed on Major (and Tomorrow), which no party, including the suppliers, objected to, as the PSC is expected to note the assignment filing with such conditions
Commissioners generally agreed that Major should be obligated to file quarterly reports on complaints. Suchman said that such reporting should continue for "several years", and requested that the reports be "robust", with a specific break-out of complaints from former Tomorrow customers who are assigned to Major
Suchman said that the PSC would take any new complaints, "very seriously".
PSC Commissioners also generally agreed that Tomorrow Energy
should maintain its supplier license and all of its existing
bonds for a minimum of three years, which is intended to cover any potential liability related to the former Tomorrow customers transferred to Major. Tomorrow did not oppose this requirement, which had been proposed by the Office of People's Counsel. A similar provision had been adopted in the PSC's consideration of another recent assignment
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Commissioner: Complaints Which Came During PSC's Maximum Enforcement Period Seem Like "A Finger In The Eye" To PSC
January 8, 2025
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Copyright 2025 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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