Controversies
Former Enron executives James Lewis and Deborah Merril led Just Energy as Co-CEOs from 2014 to 2018 [14]
San Francisco's KPIX-TV news reported in June 2013 that there had been tens of thousands of complaints across the U.S. from consumers saying they were misled into signing up with Just Energy, and instead of saving money on their monthly bills as advertised, the cost went up. The complaints led to a consumer fraud lawsuit filed by the state of Illinois, and investigations in New York, Ohio, and Canada. Just Energy settled each of these cases, paying large fines and promising to change its sales practices.[15]
In June 2003, the Toronto Star reported that both Direct Energy and the Ontario Energy Savings Corp., a subsidiary of the Energy Savings Income Fund, had been charged with fraud as a result of its agents having forged energy contracts, and had been fined.[16] In 2010, three former Just Energy salespeople were charged in Alberta, Canada with having forged customer signatures on fraudulent energy contracts. The three defendants pleaded guilty and were fined a total of $6,800.[17][18][19]
In July 2008, the Attorney General of New York state brought action against U.S. Energy Savings (now Just Energy) for deceptive sales practices. The company was obliged to pay $200,000 in penalties and costs to the state.[20]
"U.S. Energy Savings (now Just Energy) is purposely deceiving consumers", Attorney General Madigan said. "Many of these families signed up for this program based on the false claim that they would save on their monthly utility bills. Instead, U.S. Energy locked them into a contract that actually charged them more for natural gas."[21]
In response to criticism, Just Energy's CEO Ken Hartwick said in an interview with Report on Business magazine in 2013 that Just Energy dropped the savings claim years ago. Hartwick claims the company has taken steps to ensure that consumers know that they are purchasing what equates to an insurance product. He further claims all sales are followed up with a verification phone call by a third party to mitigate against any aggressive sales tactics.[10] However, Just Energy salespeople are still making claims of savings, despite the vast majority of customers paying more.[22] Since Hartwick's claim, Just Energy has been cited by the Ontario Energy Board in November 2013 and November 2014, and by the Attorney General of Massachusetts in January 2015, for continued infractions, including widespread deceptive sales practices.[23] Hartwick left the company in 2014. James Lewis and Deborah Merril, who helped to found the company in 2002, are now joint CEOs.[24]
Rebecca MacDonald, Just Energy's executive chair, has been accused of falsifying her credentials and her biography. Additionally, forensic accounting firms have determined that Just Energy uses questionable accounting practices and has misled investors as to their financial condition.[25]
In September 2014, the police department of Sudbury, Ontario, issued a warning to the city's residents regarding the aggressive and illegal door-to-door sales activities of Just Energy sales representatives, and advised contacting the police if salespeople refuse to leave when requested.[26]
In November 2014, the Canadian Federal Competition Bureau says a subsidiary (National Energy Corp, which operates as National Home Services) of Just Energy Group Inc. has agreed to pay $7 million in penalties, restitution and other costs related to complaints over its door-to-door water heater marketing practices in Ontario and Quebec. Finding by the bureau that sales staff were misleading customers about their identity and the purpose of their visits.[27]
In January 2015, the Attorney General's Office of Massachusetts announced that Just Energy had agreed to pay $4 million to settle allegations of deceptive marketing and overcharging consumers. According to the settlement, Just Energy charged rates that were higher than the rates for the electricity supply provided by NSTAR and National Grid, and induced elderly and non-native English speakers by continuing to offer electricity supply services even after it became clear that they did not understand the terms of the contract. Consumers were also switched to Just Energy without authorization, and termination fees worth tens of thousands of dollars were charged to small business owners who weren't advised of the charges.[28][29]
A class action brought against the Just Energy group in May 2015 claimed it unlawfully denied the minimum protections of Ontario's Employment Standards Act to its door-to-door sales agents by miscategorizing them as independent contractors instead of employees.[30]
Following the 2021 Texas power crisis, a Just Energy executive was among the out-of-state directors who resigned from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas board.[31]
