Retail Suppliers File Bankruptcy Petitions, Court Addresses Petition To Allow Pre-Petition Commission Payments To Brokers (Were Nearly $400,000 In Arrears At Time Of Petition)

NEP Holdings Inc., Northeastern Power and Gas, LLC, and Maven Energy, LLC (collectively, the "Debtors"), recently filed separate voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petitions in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York

NEP Holdings Inc. owns 100% of Northeastern Power and Gas, LLC, and Maven Energy, LLC

The Debtors continue to operate their businesses and manage their properties as debtors in possession

NEP Holdings Inc. listed estimated assets of $0 - $50,000 and estimated liabilities of $1,000,001 - $10 million

Northeastern Power and Gas listed estimated assets of $1,000,001 - $10 million and estimated liabilities of $1,000,001 - $10 million

Maven Energy, LLC listed estimated assets of $500,001 - $1 million and estimated liabilities of $1,000,001 - $10 million

Northeastern Power and Gas listed Axpo U.S. LLC as a creditor with a total claim of $6,900,000 ($5 million of which is unsecured). Maven Energy, LLC listed Axpo U.S. LLC as a creditor with a total claim of $6,900,000 (about $6 million of which is unsecured).

Axpo is the Debtors' wholesale supplier

Among other relief, the Debtors sought authorization from the bankruptcy court to pay previously accrued pre-petition commissions to brokers, and to pay post-petition commissions

Debtors reported being in arrears on commission payments to brokers in an amount of $372,278 as of the date of their Chapter 11 petitions

Debtors said that brokers have not been paid since April 2026

Debtors said that customer contracts representing approximately 60% of the Debtors’ annual load, and approximately $10,000,000 of annualized revenue, are scheduled to expire between now and December 31. The renewal decisions on those contracts are being made now, the Debtors said

"Since the [chapter 11] Petition Date, I and other members of the Debtors’ management have received numerous communications from Brokers regarding non-payment. Many of them are considering leaving the company because they have not been paid and don’t see a way for them to be paid," a declaration from Perry Wilson, President and CEO of NEP Holdings Inc., states

"Brokers are withholding renewals, [and] are being actively solicited by competing suppliers," Debtors said

"The Debtors do not maintain an employee sales force of any material size. As of the Petition Date, substantially all of the Debtors’ customer origination and renewal activity was performed by approximately twenty-two independent brokers and sales agents," Debtors said

"If the Brokers depart, the Debtors have no alternative channel to market. Building an employee sales force, or a replacement broker network of comparable size, licensing and regulatory standing, would in my estimation take approximately a year and require capital the Debtors do not have. The Debtors do not have a year. If the Brokers leave, the customer book will erode month after month with nothing replacing it, and in my business judgment a business that could otherwise reorganize will not survive to do so," Wilson said in the declaration

Debtors said that the pre-petition broker commissions at issue compare to approximately $4.7 million of annualized gross margin generated by the customer contracts the brokers control

Debtors proposed to pay the pre-petition broker commissions over time, with $25,000 upon entry of an authorizing order, $17,000 seven days later, and then $15,000 each week until the arrears is paid off

A bankruptcy court at this time has approved only the payment of $42,000 in pre-petition broker commissions (payable by Sept. 11), and thus far the court has not authorized Debtors' proposed $15,000 weekly payments to pay off the remaining pre-petition arrears in broker commissions

Debtors said that post-petition broker commissions accrue at approximately $11,980 per week; however, such post-petition amounts were included in a cash collateral budget in a prior separate order allowing Debtors to use their cash collateral

Cases 26-11988, 26-11989, 26-11990, United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York