ALJ Denies Sanctions Sought by PSC Staff on Retail Supplier, Agrees Issues Previously Litigated

A Public Utility Law Judge has concluded that sanctions sought by Staff of the Maryland PSC against Starion Energy are not supported by any evidence, and that the activity to which Staff objects has already been litigated and settled.

Staff had sought an order requiring Starion to cease services in Maryland, or, if allowed to continue, asked that Starion be denied the use of utility consolidated billing.

Staff requested these sanctions after Staff interpreted ongoing complaints against Starion as indicating that the company continued to engage in deceptive marketing practices, despite a prior settlement with the PSC over such behavior

As noted by the PULJ, "They [Staff] base this on the large number of complaints in the six months under review. Staff acknowledged that it did not have any other evidence of new marketing being done by Starion. It relies upon what was seen in the report of complaints filed by Starion."

However, Starion explained, and the ALJ confirmed, that all the complaints at issue related to prior marketing activity by Starion prior to the entry of a settlement and PSC order concerning such activity. The complaints did not result from new marketing activity.

The PULJ found that all the complaints under review in a status report, "were for accounts which were entered into prior to the Commission Order."

"The issues here are identical to those which the Commission reviewed in the initial hearing," the PULJ said.

"I find that Staff's request for sanctions is not supported by any evidence of current violations but was based upon matters already handled by the Commission's prior Order," the PULJ said.

"Both OPC and Staff have taken issue with Starion's customer service in handling the complaint's under review. I find that the evidence shows that Starion is trying to properly handle incoming consumer inquiries. The recordings show a normal variance in quality of Customer Service Representatives with some doing a superior job and others being confused on somewhat obstinate. This is a circumstance with is probably mirrored in all customer service departments of other suppliers or in other industries. I find that Starion is making good initial efforts and only time will tell (after review of additional reporting periods) if the customer service of Starion proves acceptable," the PULJ said.

The PULJ did clarify what constitutes a complaint for purposes of the status reports, and directed Starion to make an audio recording of all complaint incoming phone calls

Case 9324