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Retail Supplier To Drop Certain Customers To Default Service, Pay $400,000, Provide Customer Refunds Under Settlement
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Major Energy Services LLC ("Major Energy" or "Company") would contribute $400,000 to a utility bill payment assistance fund while providing refunds to certain customers under a settlement with Staff of the PUC of Ohio and the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel
Major Energy would also drop certain customers to default service under the stipulation, as further detailed below.
Major Energy provided the following statement concerning the matter:
"We are pleased to have worked collaboratively with the Staff of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel to resolve this matter. We are committed to providing first-rate customer service to our Ohio customers and ensuring our operations are compliant with state regulations."
--- Statement from Major Energy
The stipulation would resolve allegations from a prior PUCO Staff Notice of Probable Noncompliance issued to Major Energy. The Notice of Probable Noncompliance was not included in the version of the stipulation posted to PUCO's docket site as of publication time (nor was it posted separately)
Via Renewables, the ultimate parent of Major Energy, had last year disclosed that it had received a notice of probable non-compliance from Ohio regulators, though Via's disclosure also did not specify the nature of the alleged non-compliance, other than that the notice of probable non-compliance related to 55 customer complaints
Based on certain terms in the stipulation discussed further below, it appears, but it could not be confirmed, that the notice of probable non-compliance may have related, at least in part, to alleged fraud by third-party vendors in enrolling customers, potentially including alleged alteration of sales calls
The settlement provides that Major Energy agrees to continue its suspension of telemarketing in Ohio for a period of eighteen months from the date of Commission approval of the Stipulation.
Major Energy also agrees to continue its suspension of door-to-door (D2D) marketing in Ohio for a period of eighteen months from the date of Commission approval of the Stipulation
Under the settlement, Major Energy will submit a revised D2D enrollment process and documents for the Ohio market to OCC and Staff, six months before resuming D2D enrollment.
Prior to resuming telemarketing or D2D marketing, Major Energy will notify OCC and Staff of its intent to resume marketing, including what vendors/contractors Major Energy will be using and the locations where D2D marketing is planned.
The settlement provides that, within two years of a PUCO order approving the stipulation, Major Energy will present at a "national supplier conference" about, "potential fraud related to use of vendors and marketing, with a specific focus on the alteration of sales calls."
The settlement provides that Major Energy will implement immediate changes to sub-contracted sales groups and fraud prevention, including, but not limited to, supplementing current quality assurance processes with service providers or software that identifies potential fraud (by methods including, but not limited to, pattern recognition using AI, geolocation technology, and photographic uniform compliance)
Major Energy will investigate and track interactions identified as potential fraud in Ohio and report such to PUCO and the OCC, for a period lasting until 18 months after Major Energy resumes D2D marketing and telemarketing in Ohio
The stipulation provides for customer refunds as follows:
• Major Energy will re-rate all customers enrolled with Major Energy by two specific vendors named in the stipulation, and return such customers to the utilities’ standard service. This re-rate, which will reflect the difference between the default service rate and Major Energy's charged rate, will result in restitution payments to Ohio consumers of approximately $98,807 in the aggregate.
• For the 249 Ohio customers that enrolled with Major Energy on its flat-fee product and were subsequently dropped from the flat-fee product by Major Energy, Major Energy agrees to make a restitution payment to those customers for six billing cycles after the customers were dropped by Major Energy. Major Energy will calculate the restitution payment as the difference between the utility’s standard service offer or default rate and what those customers would have been charged if they had remained on the flat-fee product rate for six additional billing cycles. This payment will result in restitution payments to Ohio consumers of approximately $142,277 in the aggregate.
• For the 55 customers that contacted the PUCO Call Center about Major Energy, unless the customers will receive a re-rate pursuant to either provision listed above, Major Energy will re-rate the customers if a credit is owed to the customer. This re-rate will result in restitution payments to Ohio consumers of approximately $12,157 in the aggregate. These re-rates will reflect the difference between the default service rate and Major Energy's charged rate
• Major Energy will re-rate all customers who filed a complaint with the Commission, Major Energy, or any other entity (e.g., Better Business Bureau and local utility) disputing their enrollment with Major Energy from July 2022 to the date the settlement agreement is fully executed. These re-rates will reflect the difference between the default service rate and Major Energy's charged rate
Under the stipulation, Major Energy agrees to make a one-time donation of $400,000 to the Dollar Energy Fund to fund grants to be used for bill payment assistance programs for Ohio consumers
Case 25-0841-GE-UNC
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August 28, 2025
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Copyright 2025 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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