DonÂ’t fall victim to energy fraud at the door

ONTARIO - On April 23, Ontario passed the Energy Consumer Protection Act 2010. This long-awaited law will curtail unethical sales of energy contracts to households.

The Ontario Energy Board logs 100 to 150 consumer complaints a week about the practices of energy retailers, says the energy ministry.

I get almost as many some weeks – and I'm not a regulator, just a journalist and blogger who's been writing about energy marketing abuses for the past decade.

Most of the new rules are expected to come into effect January 1, 2011. Unfortunately, they don't cover door-to-door sales of rental water heater replacements and carbon offset plans to reduce emissions.

Here are some recent stories that made me angry, involving pressure on seniors and misrepresentation by the big three Summitt Energy, Direct Energy and Just Energy.

Bruno Iaboni: A Summitt Energy agent came to his elderly mother's door and persuaded her to replace the water heater and pay $14.99 a month to offset her carbon use. She was caring for a sick husband and couldn't speak or read English. Summitt agreed to cancel its evergreen program after Iaboni appealed to me. It also lowered the rental fee for the water heater to match what his mother was paying before the switch.

Jack Licht: His father is 86 and an Alzheimer's patient, living at home with a caregiver, and is hard of hearing. He signed a contract for carbon offsets when Summitt Energy came to his door. His son called Summitt three times and was told it was a valid contract. Summitt cancelled when he threatened to go to the media, but didn't reverse four months of bills for carbon offsets, adding up to $62.96.

Joy Daniels: She had been with Direct Energy for electricity in 2007, though she didn't remember signing up. Suspecting fraud, the company sent her a recording of a call when she supposedly confirmed the contract. A man had answered although she lives alone and agreed he was Joy Daniels when asked. Direct Energy has now paid back $1,285 in excess charges and also paid $200 in interest once I got involved. Daniels wants to know why the company gave out her personal details to a fraudster.

Peter Blair: He was surprised when Direct Energy sent him a renewal letter on April 1 for his five-year gas contract, since he had never signed up for gas. When he wrote to me, he had waited almost a month to get proof of the contract. Because Direct Energy couldn't retrieve his "voice signature" from the outsourced supplier, it agreed to cancel the contract and send him a refund for any overpayments back to 2005.

Jeff Raymond: He had a five-year contract for electricity with Just Energy, but cancelled after two years because he found his bills 40 per cent higher than before. As instructed, he paid an early termination fee of $169.50 last February. Just Energy cashed his cheque he had proof and sent his account to a collection agency in error. When I got involved, it stopped collections and confirmed his credit rating was not affected.

Malcolm Rowe: An immigrant to Canada from South Africa, he was persuaded to sign for gas and electricity with Universal Energy in 2006 after being told he could cancel at any time. This year, he realized he was overpaying and called to cancel with Just Energy which took over Universal. Because his reaffirmation call couldn't be found, he will be reimbursed for the difference between the contract rates and the regulated utility rates.

Commission-paid energy sellers have committed fraud for years, abetted by weak rules and lack of enforcement by the Ontario Energy Board.

Always ask for identification when someone offers help on behalf of your local gas or hydro utility. They often work for a separate company.

Check your utility bills to see if you have relationships with retailers whose names you don't recognize. And never renew any such contracts without checking their validity.