‘Fraud!’ Consumers speak out against misleading marketing at ICC
 Renee Green's gas bill tripled after signing up with Just Energy. "I was snowed," she said. |
 Linda Applewhite fought through arthritis pain to tell the ICC about a Just Energy plan that "sounded good," but sent her bill skyrocketing. |
 "I had to use words I can't repeat," said Jose Cortez, regarding a heated phone conversation he had with a Just Energy sales representative. |
 Lillie Johnson rejected Just Energy's offer, but was switched anyways. "That's fraud!" she told the ICC and CBS 2's Pam Zekman in an investigative report. |
Green said the salesman told her he could make sure her gas price would never rise above 79 cents per therm, so she signed up.
Her gas bill tripled.
“I was snowed,” Green said. “He totally misled me.”
Green, who at the time was paying 33 cents per therm with the regulated utility, Nicor Gas, said she was switched to a plan charging her 79 cents per therm, plus another 25 cents per therm for a “Green Energy Option,” for a grand total of $1.04 a therm.
She wasn’t the only one. A parade of consumers urged the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) at a recent bench session to stop Just Energy, an unregulated natural gas supplier, from using deceptive sales tactics.
CUB filed an ICC complaint against Just Energy in 2008, sparked by thousands of consumer complaints accusing the company of misleading marketing.
The consumer group argued that the company should be kicked out of Illinois if it can’t improve its marketing program. An ICC judge recently recommended the state fine the company $185,000 for 16 violations of state law and make it pay for an audit of its sales operations. The ICC is expected to rule this spring.
Linda Applewhite, a Chicago grandmother who suffers from arthritis, grasped her cane and fought through the pain to tell state regulators about a Just Energy salesman who promised her a cheaper rate.
“Me being on disability, that sounded real good,” said Applewhite, who signed up for a much higher rate with Just Energy.
Her daughter, Nicole, a sheriff’s deputy, signed up too. She was paying her utility 33 cents per therm at the time, but was roped into a 5-year contract at 89 cents per therm. “They really got me,” she said.
Through a translator, Jose Cortez told state regulators that a salesman approached his Chicago home in September, promising to save him money. Instead, his bill more than doubled.
In a heated phone conversation with a Just Energy sales representative, Cortez was told he’d have to pay a $50 fee to cancel his contract. “I told them I didn’t care. I’d pay $100!” Cortez said.
“I had to use words I can’t repeat,” he told commissioners, sparking laughter from those in attendance.
Lillie Johnson rejected a Just Energy salesman’s offer, but was still switched to the company after the salesman got a hold of her Peoples Gas account number.
“That’s fraud,” she told state regulators. “Please stop this company from taking advantage of other Illinois consumers like me.”
CUB’s Gas Market Monitor, which tracks unregulated offers in Illinois, has found that 99 percent of Just Energy’s plans have lost or are losing money, to date. CUB urges consumers to read the fine print before signing up with any unregulated plan.
Hours after she spoke to the ICC Wednesday, Renee Green notified CUB that she had had a visitor at her door. “I just thought you would get a laugh, but Just Energy just came to my house to try to sign me up,” Green wrote.
She said no.