Attorney General, Retail Supplier to Enter Settlement Discussions Over Investigation

George Jepsen, Attorney General of the State of Connecticut, will discuss with North American Power the potential of settling a Connecticut PURA investigation into North American Power's trade practices.

Jepsen asked PURA to grant a 60-day extension in the deadline for the submission of post-hearing briefs in the PURA proceeding. The Office of Consumer Counsel and North America Power joined the AG in the request

"The purpose of the extension of time is to allow the participants to discuss the potential for settlement," the AG said.

The AG noted that, "the Connecticut legislature has just passed new legislation that will address a number of issues presented in this matter going forward. See Public Act 14-75, An Act Concerning Electric Customer Protection."

As noted by RetailEnergyX.com (click here), Rep. Lonnie Reed, Co-Chair of the Energy & Technology Committee, recently said that she expects a settlement with an unnamed electric supplier, which is still in negotiations, to, "bring in millions of dollars to the state, [and] will help the Public Utility Regulatory Authority hire three to four more people to enforce the new regulations."

RetailEnergyX.com noted that, at the time of Reed's observation, RetailEnergyX was only aware of ongoing settlement discussions among consumer representatives and a retail supplier in one case -- a PURA investigation into Energy Plus Holdings. RetailEnergyX did note that PURA had an ongoing investigation into North American Power, but noted that settlement discussions were not apparent in that case. Now, such settlement discussions in the North American Power case appear imminent.

It remains to be seen to which case Reed was obliquely referencing.