Negotiators from the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority have reached a settlement with one of the many electricity suppliers operating in Connecticut related to its alleged door-to-door marketing practices.
But Attorney General George Jepsen and Consumer Counsel Elin Swanson Katz opposed the settlement and urged PURA to hold a full public hearing next week on the allegations.
Palmco has sought assurances from PURA that the proposed settlement will be the sole topic discussed in the previously scheduled hearing, which has been delayed since April, according to Jepsen and Swanson Katz.
“OCC and the Attorney General do not support the settlement and object to the signatories’ request to make the settlement agreement the exclusive focus of the July 22, 2015 hearing,” the two said in a July 15 letter to PURA.
Under the proposed settlement, which has not yet received official approval from PURA, Palmco would donate $141,000 to the nonprofit Operation Fuel in lieu of any civil penalty.
PURA began investigating Palmco in February after Palmco said it could not provide records related to complaints from customers who said Palmco declined to supply them with power because they did not meet minimum usage thresholds.
In April, PURA ordered Palmco to cease all door-to-door sales activities, following two complaints from Eversource customers who said Palmco sales agents had claimed to be Eversource employees.
Palmco said in May that it fired the two offending employees.
The proposed settlement would allow Palmco to resume door-to-door marketing, but with third-party monitoring, compliance reviews and retraining of employees. The company has also offered to cease its minimum power consumption rule, which PURA said is technically legal as long as customers receive proper notifications.
“We are disappointed in the OCC’s and attorney general’s unwillingness to participate in settlement discussions, and their objection to the settlement agreement that Palmco reached with the prosecutorial unit of the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority. We look forward to a fair resolution of this matter while we continue providing quality service in Connecticut,” Palmco said in a released statement.
Palmco was one of 10 suppliers targeted by Jepsen and Swanson Katz in a separate case last year after residents with variable-rate contracts experienced spikes in their bills.
Last month, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed legislation making Connecticut the first state in the country to ban residential variable-rate contracts.
