Regulator Issues NOV Against Retail Supplier

The Connecticut PURA, pursuant to the provisions of the General Statutes of Connecticut (Conn. Gen. Stat.) §16-41, issued a Notice of Violation and Assessment of Civil Penalty (NOV) against AmericaWide Energy, LLC in the amount of five thousand dollars ($5,000).

AmericaWide is entitled to contest the NOV and request a hearing. The issuance of the NOV does not constitute a final adjudication if such hearing is requested.

The NOV alleges AmericaWide failed to timely comply with regulations concerning any updates to its corporate structure and regarding license renewal. A statement from AmericaWide appears below

Conn. Gen. Stat. §16-245(i) provides, in pertinent part: Each licensee shall notify the authority at least ten days before: (1) A change in corporate structure that affects the licensee…

The NOV alleges, "AmericaWide recently informed the Authority, through written and verbal correspondence, that in May, 2016 changes were made to company management and contact information. On September 7, 2017 AmericaWide informed the Authority, through written correspondence, that changes to the company’s corporate ownership and managing membership became effective on March 15, 2016. The Authority considers such changes within the company as changes in corporate structure. AmericaWide’s notifications to the Authority occurred far beyond the requirement deadline specified in Conn. Gen. Stat. §16-245(i)."

Additionally, Section 16-245-2(f) of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies states: Any license to supply electricity in this state shall be subject to a periodic review which shall occur every five (5) years after the date on which the license was issued or was last reviewed. Not less than forty-five (45) days before the five year anniversary of the date on which the license was issued or was last reviewed, an electric supplier shall file with the department a review application ...

The NOV alleges, "The Authority granted AmericaWide an electric supplier license on September 21, 2011. AmericaWide’s license review application was due no later than August 7, 2016. To date AmericaWide has not filed its review application with the Authority."

AmericaWide Energy's Chief Executive Officer Mary Rizzuto-Galante provided the following statement to EnergyChoiceMatters.com:

"Let me begin with the fact that no AWE customer or AWE’s ability to serve these customers was affected. The notice of violation issued by PURA is related to AWE’s failure to timely file certain administrative information and not a direct violation of any PURA requirements in serving AWE CT customers. The violation to timely inform PURA of the change in corporate structure was cured in September 2017. With respect to the violation to timely file for the five (5) year periodic review, this filing and review is in process currently and expected to be finalized shortly."