PURA hits Connecticut electric company for violated marketing laws

The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) approved a motion that penalizes Clearview Electric for violating state electric supplier marketing laws.

As a penalty, Clearview Electric must pay a fine of $500,000, voluntarily withdraw from the Connecticut electric supplier market for six years and reimburse certain customers to resolve the violations of electric supplier marketing laws. Further, Clearview must provide PURA with advanced notice if and when it seeks to re-enter the Connecticut market. If it does re-enter, it will be under increased regulatory oversight.

The settlement agreement was requested by the Authority’s Office of Education, Outreach, and Enforcement (EOE). EOE has led enforcement of more than $1.73 million in electric supplier settlement payments and more than $52,000 in restitution credits to customers since it commenced operations in July 2020.

“In just one short year since its inception, the Authority’s Office of Education, Outreach, and Enforcement has successfully executed on its multi-part mission, yielding tangible relief for Connecticut customers harmed by deceptive marketing practices,” PURA Chairman Marissa Gillett said. “As EOE’s momentum continues to build, ratepayers can be assured that Authority orders will be enforced on a consistent basis moving forward. Equal resources will be devoted to education and outreach efforts as well, to ensure that the programs and decisions codified by the Authority are meaningfully implemented.”

In 15 months of operation, the EOE has fielded more than 5,500 complaints and fully processed 655 applications and licenses. The office is also focused on providing relevant educational materials for PURA’s investigation into redesigning electric bill formats for Eversource and UI customers.