SHOCK: Connecticut PURA to Return Supplier's Customers to Default Service Over License Non-Renewal

The Connecticut PURA has stated an intention to return the customers of South Jersey Energy Co. to default service, after the company's supplier license lapsed for over a year.

South Jersey's electric supplier license expired on February 27, 2013, and the company was required to apply for a renewal of its license by January 13, 2013. As of April 10, 2014, the company had not applied for a renewal of its electric supplier license. PURA notified SJE of the non-renewal in an April 10, 2014 letter, and SJE immediately submitted a renewal application. However, PURA did not accept the renewal application given the lapse of the license.

In a May 7 order, PURA further said that it would re-open SJE's licensing proceeding, "for the limited purpose of determining how South Jersey's customers should be notified and returned to Standard Service or Last Resort Service."

South Jersey Energy has requested a hearing on the matter.

South Jersey Energy provided the following statement to Matters:

"South Jersey Energy has provided outstanding value to our retail customers in the State of Connecticut for many years. We have likewise built a reputation based on trust, integrity and superior customer service. Due to an unfortunate administrative oversight, SJE did fail to file for our license renewal on a timely basis. We regret that oversight. SJE has requested a hearing with the PURA to address the issue and will fully comply with their requests. SJE remains confident that we will arrive at a positive outcome."

As of April 30, 2014, South Jersey Energy was serving 9 Connecticut customers (8 at CL&P and 1 at UI), according to the utility migration reports. CL&P said in an interrogatory response that as of May 14, 2014, South Jersey Energy had a total of 11 commercial accounts, of which 9 were enrolled before February 28, 2013. The remaining two accounts were enrolled in March and April of 2014, CL&P said.