August 17, 2017

Under a settlement agreement approved by the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) yesterday, electric supply company Palmco Power CT, LLC will pay $5 million to the state of Connecticut and relinquish its electric supplier license for a period of five years. The settlement resolves an investigation initiated in February 2015 regarding Palmco’s business practices. Evidence from the PURA proceeding showed that, from January 2011 to October 2015, Palmco systematically and repeatedly deceived consumers by providing false and misleading information about the company’s rates and engaged in a pattern of abusive sales tactics. Through door-to-door marketing and telemarketing efforts, sales agents often switched consumers to Palmco without authorization, impersonated utility employees and falsely guaranteed savings. In addition, sales agents inaccurately described how the customer’s variable rate prices were determined.