News Stories

From NOV:

In January 2023, EOE’s Consumer Affairs Unit began receiving complaints from customers alleging slamming by Major.  EOE issued interrogatories to inquire about the slamming.  In response, Major indicated that it had accepted the customer enrollments from Utiliz.  Utiliz was acting as an agent on behalf of Major.  Major accepted enrollments from Utiliz for 786 customers in December 2022 and 144 in October 2023.  Utiliz requested to voluntarily relinquish its Aggregator Certificate on March 24, 2023, which the Authority granted on March 30, 2023. Accordingly, from July 6, 2022, to March 30, 2023, Utiliz held an Aggregator Certificate and, as such, was not permitted to act as an agent for Major. As of March 30, 2023, Utiliz could enroll customers only as an agent of specific suppliers and could not serve as a customer’s agent any longer.

From Order: 

As a result of the Authority’s investigation into this matter, the Authority orders as follows: 

1. The Company shall pay a total civil penalty of three million dollars ($3,000,000). Two million nine hundred thousand dollars ($2,900,000) shall be payable to Operation Fuel, Inc. (Operation Fuel), to provide financial assistance to electric customers experiencing difficulties paying their utility bills.30 Such payment shall be made via electronic transfer no later than 20 days from the date this Notice and when the Company arranges such payment it shall directly inform the Authority of the pending transfer via a compliance filing in the present docket and shall inform Operation Fuel by emailing the Chief Financial Officer, Yana Abramovich, at finance@operationfuel.org, Policy and Public Affairs Associate, Mike Turaj, at mike@operationfuel.org, and Chief Programs Officer, Gannon Long, at gannon@operationfuel.org. The email notification shall include the Docket Number from this proceeding. The Company shall pay the remaining one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) by certified check, company check, bank check or money order, payable to the order of “Treasurer, State of Connecticut”, or by wire transfer. If the Company makes payment by check, it shall agree to pay any fees associated if the check does not clear and an interest fee of 1% per annum until the civil penalty is paid in full. If the Company intends to make payment by wire transfer, the Company should contact PURA for instructions. This civil penalty shall be transferred or delivered to the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, Ten Franklin Square, New Britain, CT 06051 no later than 20 days from the date of receipt of this Notice. The payment shall be identified as “14-03-03 NOV Compliance”. The Company shall provide advance notice of such payment to the State by email to DEEP.AccountsReceivable@ct.gov stating the Payer, the amount of payment, and the Docket Number and/or Case Identification Number. Documentation of both payments shall be contemporaneously submitted as a compliance filing in this proceeding. The entire penalty, including any portion paid to Operation Fuel, is assessed as a result of a violation of law and not for purposes of remediation or restitution. Therefore, the entire penalty amount is nondeductible for tax purposes.
2. Major shall not accept enrollments from Utiliz for three years from the date of this Notice. Before accepting enrollments from Utiliz again, Major shall train Utiliz and ensure that Utiliz has a process in place that prevents it from using the account information it acquired during the time it held an Aggregator Certificate.
3. Within ten days of the date this Notice is final, Major shall return to standard service any customer enrolled by Utiliz that is currently contracted with Major on a rate greater than the standard service rate (whether the customer is on the original enrollment contract or a renewal contract), and shall reimburse the customer the difference between the rate the customer paid and the standard service rate for the entirety of the time the customer’s rate has been greater than standard service. Major shall accomplish this as a bill credit issued through the EDCs in accordance with the implementation plan in the Authority’s January 22, 2020 Interim Decision in Docket No. 18-12-22, Investigation into Amnesty for Suppliers for Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16-245d(a)(2) Next Cycle Rate Violations, and Major shall reimburse the EDCs all costs associated with the issuance of the bill credits.

Major has the right to request a hearing.  

NOV (05/21/2024) 
14-03-03 (03/12/2014) 
Application Of Major Energy Electric Services, LLC For An Electric Supplier License