Middlebury electricity aggregator Positive Energy Electric Supply is under investigation for allegedly falsifying its Connecticut application and delaying and diverting thousands of contracts, costing customers significant discounts.
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Friday the state Department of Public Utility Control will investigate complaints to his office about whether Positive Energy president and CEO Joseph Ventura failed to disclose his $100,000 fine owed to the state Department of Banking for lying on a loan application.
As an aggregator, Positive Energy buys power from suppliers and sells it at a discount to customers.
The DPUC also will investigate, Blumenthal said, whether Ventura told customers they were signing contracts with Viridian Energy Inc., then delayed processing the contracts for months to sign with another supplier, ResCom Energy LLC.
Investigators charge that due to the alleged delay, 30,000 to 40,000 customers didn’t receive their discounts until months later, costing them hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Ventura disputes the claims.
“Despite published reports stating otherwise, Positive Energy gave full and accurate disclosure of each of its current officers and directors when applying to the DPUC to be an electricity aggregator in Connecticut,” Ventura said in a statement. “Additionally, in applying to DPUC, Positive Energy properly disclosed all relevant and pertinent information on its mission for Connecticut and the people involved in it.”
