Regulator Adopts Assurance of Voluntary Compliance with Retail Supplier Over Contract Audit

The Ontario Energy Board has accepted an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance filed by Summitt Energy Management Inc. concerning the result of a Board staff review of customer contracts.

The Staff review alleged:

• In 1 of 60 contracts tested, an outdated version of a price comparison template was provided by Summitt Energy to a consumer at the time of sale.

• In 55 of 60 contracts tested, Summitt Energy did not disclose each element of the contract price separately on the price comparison template. Specifically, an administration fee of $1.38 was not broken down into each element of the contract price as described in the contract terms and conditions but was presented as a single line item on the price comparison. The administration fee is composed of fees charged to Summitt by the utility, including a onetime enrollment and de-enrollment fee, an Electronic Business Transaction ("EBT") hub service fee, and regulatory fees charged to Summitt by government/regulatory agency .

• In 4 of 60 contracts tested, the price information in the price comparison template provided to the consumer did not match the price and structure of the product selected by the consumer under the contract. The price comparison given to the consumer indicated time of use prices as opposed to fixed and variable price.

Summitt Energy assured the Board that it has voluntarily taken and will continue to take the following steps with respect to each of the findings noted above:

1. With respect to Summitt Energy's failure to provide the correct version of the price comparison to the consumer, Summitt Energy has informed Board staff that this was a processing error of a sales agent and confirms that it has cancelled the contract identified as having the outdated price comparison. Summitt Energy also confirms that as of September 25, 2013, it has made changes to its price comparison verification process to ensure that correct versions of the forms are provided to consumers.

2. With respect to Summitt Energy's failure to disclose each element of the contract price, Summitt Energy has informed Board staff that as of September 25, 2013, it has amended its price comparison forms to include a breakdown of the administration fee to be consistent with the description of the administration fee in the contract and terms and conditions as required.

3. With respect to Summitt Energy's failure to provide the correct price comparison form, Summitt Energy has informed Board staff that as of September 25, 2013, it has reviewed the price comparison forms for all commercial contracts and changed the structure of the price comparison form to match the product selected.

Summitt Energy and Board staff are satisfied that the matters arising from the contract inspection are appropriately resolved by the filing of the Assurance of Voluntary Compliance, and the Board accepted the agreement.