Retail Supplier To Pay $6,000 Under Agreement With Attorney General Over Marketing Practices

Ethical Electric has entered into an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance with the Pennsylvania Attorney General to resolve allegations, as stated by the AG, that the company, "misled consumers through its marketing practices."

The Assurance of Voluntary Compliance requires Ethical Electric, Inc. to clearly state in future marketing pieces that consumers would be switching from their default utility service by signing with Ethical Electric, the AG said

The Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection received complaints from consumers who claimed to be confused by the solicitation and marketing pieces mailed by Ethical Electric, the AG said.

The AG alleged that, "The solicitation pieces placed the default utility companies' names, such as PECO, PPL, or West Penn Power, on top of the letter as if the marketing piece was from the utility companies directly. Consumers were left with the impression that they were participating in a program through their utility company."

"Moreover, solicitation pieces were marked with terms of urgency, such as 'Second Notice' and 'Important,' which likely caused confusion," the AG alleged.

"The Bureau of Consumer Protection determined the solicitation pieces did not adequately state the correspondence was from an electric generation supplier," the AG said

Under the terms of the Assurance of Voluntary Compliance, Ethical Electric has agreed to comply with the Consumer Protection Law.

The Assurance of Voluntary Compliance also requires Ethical Electric to make a payment of $6,000 to the Attorney General's office.