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CT AG Settles with Town Square Energy for $400K Over Deceptive Marketing

Town Square EnergyJuly 30, 2021Connecticut Attorney General

Penalty Amount

$400,000

Summary

Connecticut Attorney General and agencies settled with Town Square Energy for deceptive marketing, including misrepresenting rates and enrolling customers without consent. Town Square must pay $400,000 to Operation Fuel and cease in-person marketing for 15 months.

Remedy

Town Square Energy must pay $400,000 to Operation Fuel and cease all in-person marketing, including door-to-door and tabletop sales, for 15 months.

Monetary PenaltyInjunction

Contract Impact

In-house legal teams should review vendor agreements with third-party energy suppliers, customer enrollment contracts, and marketing services agreements. Key clauses to examine include: (1) consent mechanisms ensuring explicit, documented customer authorization before enrollment; (2) rate representation warranties prohibiting misrepresentation of standard service rates; (3) marketing channel limitations banning in-person/door-to-door solicitation; (4) language access requirements for non-English speakers; and (5) compliance with 'no trespassing' policies. Potential changes may involve adding opt-in consent verbiage, clear rate comparison disclosures, explicit prohibitions on door-to-door/tabletop sales, multilingual notice obligations, and audit rights to monitor marketing practices.

Contract Search Terms

customer consent clauserate disclosure requirementsmarketing channel restrictionsdoor-to-door sales prohibitionlanguage access clausethird-party supplier agreementenrollment verification processfalse representation warrantytrespassing compliancesolicitation restrictions

Violation Types

Entity Details

Entity

Town Square Energy

Industry

Other

Official Sources

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