The Georgia Public Service Commission (GPSC) unanimously approved a stipulation last week to resolve issues with natural gas marketer Energy America LLC regarding improper disconnections of customers’ natural gas service.

The disconnections resulted from the Stamford, CT-based marketer’s failure to properly credit payments from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to at least 54 customers’ accounts. The terms of the stipulation require the company to pay $54,000 into the state administered LIHEAP fund and to pay a $125 credit to each customer who was wrongly disconnected.

In addition, the company — Centrica’s U.S. retail gas marketing subsidiary — must also pay each customer $5 for each day they were disconnected. The total amount of these payments is $60,750. However, if the commission identifies additional Energy America customers who were disconnected in error, the stipulation requires the company to make an additional $1,000 payment to LIHEAP for each additional customer.

The LIHEAP infractions are not the first time that Energy America has gotten itself into hot water in the peach state. In October of 2003, Energy America announced that it was calling it quits in the Georgia retail gas market after struggling to build its customer base in the state in 2002 and then being hit with a fine and other penalties by the GPSC for slamming (see NGI, Sept. 8, 2003; Oct. 13, 2003).

In September 2003, the GPSC slapped Energy America with a $413,800 fine for 138 allegations of slamming customers, which is switching a consumer’s natural gas marketer without the consumer’s authorization. The commission ordered the company to contribute $400,000 to LIHEAP, with no tax benefits from the contribution, plus $100 in credits to each of the 138 customers slammed for a total payment of $413,800. In addition, Energy America was ordered to pay $5 to each customer for each day that they were not returned to their preferred provider after being slammed. It was the largest fine ever handed down against a Georgia natural gas marketer, and was the fourth fine in 2003 against a retail marketer.

Last month, Scana Energy announced a definitive agreement Thursday to acquire Energy America LLC’s 50,000 customers in the Georgia for an undisclosed amount (see NGI, Dec. 22, 2003). The transaction, subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close by March.

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