Initial Decision Would Fine Retail Supplier $2,500, Order Refund

An initial decision from a Pennsylvania ALJ would impose a civil penalty in the amount of $2,500 on Blue Pilot Energy, Inc., and require the company to issue a refund, in granting a customer complaint

The initial decision is not final and may be appealed.

In the complaint, the customer alleged that he enrolled in a one year fixed rate plan with Blue Pilot in May, 2014, at an introductory rate of 8.49 cents per kilowatt-hour, and alleged that, with no prior written notification, he was charged higher rates up to 25 cents per kilowatt-hour during the months of June, July, and August 2014.

Although Blue Pilot responded to a complaint (a respond which the ALJ called procedurally deficient), Blue Pilot failed to attend a hearing on the complaint, the ALJ said

Therefore, the ALJ would conclude that the complainant's, "unrefuted testimony is sufficient to bear his burden of proof by a preponderance of evidence that Blue Pilot violated the Commission’s regulations."

"The unrefuted testimony of Complainant is sufficient to meet his burden of proving by a preponderance of evidence that Blue Pilot failed to bill prices to reflect the marketed prices when Complainant enrolled with Blue Pilot in May, 2014. Further, I find the incorrect billing occurred three times (in June, July and August 2014) in violation of 52 Pa.Code § 54.4(a). Further, Complainant’s testimony that he never received terms of agreement or a welcome letter from Blue Pilot is sufficient to meet his burden of proving Blue Pilot failed to give him the requisite disclosure statement pursuant to Section 54.5. As a result, pursuant to 66 Pa.C.S. § 3301, Complainant is entitled to a refund in the amount of the difference between what he was actually billed and what he should have been billed, a rate of 8.49 cents per kilowatt hour during the months of June, July and August, 2014," the ALJ would find.

Additionally, the ALJ would impose a civil penalty equaling $500 per overbilling occurrence plus a civil penalty of $1,000 for failure to provide a disclosure statement

Docket F-2015-2500535