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Government Actions

NY AG Secures Over $2 Million for Consumers Deceived by Energy Service Company

The following describes a government action that has been resolved by either a settlement or a decision by a court or administrative agency. If the matter is being appealed, it will be noted below.

On 3/14/2022, the New York Attorney General announced $2.15 million in restitution had been secured from an energy services company, Family Energy, for deceiving and misleading thousands of New Yorkers across the state. An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) found that Family Energy’s dishonest business practices resulted in New York consumers paying more for their gas and electric services — sometimes hundreds of dollars more per year — than they would have paid to their utilities. As a result of Attorney General James’ agreement, Family Energy is required to stop its deceptive practices.

Family Energy is an energy services company that offers electric and gas products throughout the state. An OAG investigation found that it lured consumers with false promises of savings, and then charged them significant early termination fees when they tried to get out of their contracts. Many consumers did not even realize they had been enrolled with Family Energy, since sales representatives falsely claimed to represent the consumers’ utility and even enrolled consumers without their consent. Hundreds of consumers complained about Family Energy’s practices to the New York Public Service Commission (PSC). In fact, Family Energy had the highest volume of PSC complaints in both 2020 and 2021.

As a result of OAG’s agreement with Family Energy, the company is required to pay $2,150,000 in restitution to impacted consumers. In addition, Family Energy is required to take measures to prevent deceptive practices in the future, including adequate training of customer service representatives, recording telephone communications between customers and sales representatives that result in a sale, refraining from misleading marketing and advertising that implies savings, regularly monitoring sales calls, and implementing appropriate disciplinary procedures for violations of the law.

New Yorkers who bought electricity from Family Energy may be eligible for a refund if they were subject to certain deceptive practices. New Yorkers can submit a complaint online or call (800) 771-7755 to receive a complaint form by mail and return it to the Consumer Frauds and Protection Bureau at 28 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10005.