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Texas Retail Provider To Pay $74,000 Under Settlement With PUC Staff
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TriEagle Energy LP would pay $74,725 under a settlement with Staff of the Texas PUC to resolve alleged violations of 16 TAC § 25.480(h)(2), relating to reconciliation of over-payments on average payment plans
Under 16 TAC § 25.480(h)(2), a REP shall reconcile any over- or under-payment consistent with the applicable terms of service (TOS), which shall provide for reconciliation at least every twelve months. For a customer with an average payment plan, a REP may recalculate the average consumption or average bill and adjust the customer's required minimum payment as frequently as every billing period. A REP may collect under-payments associated with a level payment plan from a customer over a period no less than the reconciliation period or upon termination of service to the customer. A REP shall credit or refund any over-payments associated with a level payment plan to the customer at each reconciliation and upon termination of service to the customer. A REP may initiate its normal collection activity if a customer fails to make a timely payment according to such a level or average payment plan. All details concerning a level or average payment program shall be disclosed in the customer's TOS document.
Reconciliation of an average payment plan occurs on the earlier of the twelfth month billed under the average payment plan, the end of the average payment plan's term, or the final bill prior to the customer leaving TriEagle.
In response to a complaint from the PUC's Consumer Protection Division, TriEagle
discovered that between February 2014 and June 2024, bill credits owed on certain average
payment plans following a reconciliation triggering event had not been properly applied.
In each instance, the affected customer had opted out of an average payment plan before its
natural termination date but otherwise remained a TriEagle customer.
Specifically, TriEagle failed to apply bill credits or refunds owed to customers after reconciliation of their average payment plan when the customers had voluntarily terminated their average payment plan but had chosen to remain a customer of TriEagle.
TriEagle identified a total of 427 affected customers.
As of July 26, 2024, TriEagle has
issued $28,140 in bill credits or refunds, including applicable interest, to all affected
customers.
TriEagle has implemented a solution designed to
prevent violations of this nature from recurring, including implementation of an automated process
Docket 58010
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May 2, 2025
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Copyright 2025 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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