ACN Energy, a gas supplier to thousands of consumers inCalifornia, issued a statement last week accusing SouthernCalifornia Gas Co. (SoCalGas) of mailing ACN customers statementsthat falsely imply SoCalGas is their gas provider. ACN has calledfor an immediate end to the practice and is seeking monetaryretribution for the resultant loss of customers.

“SoCalGas has been sending our customers ‘information only’statements that resemble bills, in which SoCalGas refers repeatedlyto charges for ‘gas,’ when in fact the only cost incurred bySoCalGas is for distribution. The result is understandableconfusion and concern among our customers, who believe that theyare paying too much for gas,” said Williams.

The confusion stems from a 1994 settlement between utilities(one of which is SoCalGas), and the California Public UtilitiesCommission (CPUC). In that settlement, the parties agreed toregulations requiring the utilities that own distributionfacilities to provide consumers who get their energy from acompetitor with a “distribution fee” statement.

Denise King, a SoCalGas spokesperson said the company “was verysurprised that this practice, which has been in place for fiveyears, is being so hotly contested now. The items in the statementwere required by the CPUC. We are willing to work with ACN Energyto correct the problem, and this whole situation might have beenavoided with better communication.”

The incident with SoCalGas marked the second time last week thatACN Energy announced it is experiencing trouble in one of itsmarket areas. Earlier, ACN Energy admitted to wrongfully signing2,300 customers in East Ohio Gas’ (EOG) service territory, due toconfusion over EOG’s pilot program boundaries (see Daily GPI, Sept.16). In each case, ACN Energy has sent a letter to its customersexplaining the situation.

ACN Energy is a subsidiary of American Communications Networks.Besides Ohio and California, it has energy marketing operations inGeorgia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia andWashington D.C.

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