Maryland PSC Defers Action on Supplier License Application, Requires Report on Complaints

The Maryland PSC deferred action on the application of Clearview Electric, Inc. for a natural gas supplier license, deciding to wait six months to determine if Clearview maintains a lower level of electric complaints.

Clearview, which is a licensed electric supplier in Maryland, recorded a spike in customer complaints in March 2013 when initiating a new active marketing campaign.

Customers alleged that they were slammed and that agents misrepresented themselves as from the utility. Clearview terminated its third-party agent engendering the complaints, added a TPV requirement for written contracts, and ameliorated any issues resulting from the slamming allegations.

Complaints subsided in May, and Clearview said that it did not record a slamming complaint in the last two months. However, Commissioners did not believe this was a long enough period on which to evaluate any remedial actions.

The Commission therefore deferred consideration of the gas application for six months, and directed the company to submit a report following the six month period providing updated information on the number, nature, and resolution of the company's customer complaints during this time period in all jurisdictions in which it operates.

"If the Commission finds that the Company's complaint history during this period is satisfactory, the Commission will reconsider the Company's application," the PSC said.