Maryland: Wrongful Service Disconnections

Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh announced last week that his office has executed a settlement agreement with two energy utilities relating to their improper termination of service to a troubled condominium complex in October of last year.

In discontinuing service to the building, the two utilities, Potomac Electric Power Company (Pepco) and Washington Gas Light Company (WGL), had cited a history of the building's management not paying their bills, such that large arrearages had accumulated.

The Maryland Public Service Commission had first confronted the issue after numerous tenants complained that they had been afforded but one day's notice prior to disconnection rather than the requisite 14 days' notice set forth in law. The commission had determined that although the residents were not individually responsible for utility bills for their respective premises, they were entitled to full notice of the impending termination of service. The commission deemed the utilities' actions in hastening their disconnections especially egregious in light of the time of year the terminations occurred.

While the commission ordered Pepco and WGL to immediately restore service to all residents, the matter did not end there, as some tenants renewed their complaints with the state attorney general (AG). In investigating the concerns raised, the Consumer Protection Division of the AG's office discovered that Pepco and WGL had repeatedly failed to abide by required notice requirements in other areas of the state as well. The AG reported that the utilities have since been required to refund affected customers more about $1.4 million in wrongfully collected reconnection fees. As to the subject condominium building, the AG said that the settlement calls for Pepco and WGL to pay a sum of $100,000 to the 219 units in the building.

The AG propounded that the residents had not received fair warning that they would soon be without utility service, forcing them to endure significant physical and economic hardship. He asserted that the settlement should help make up for that discomfort.