He feels deceived and does not give up

Jason Godard of Cedar Hill fell for one of the most common deceptions in what the watchdog organization calls the “Lone Scam State of Texas.”

His electricity contract was about to expire and he went shopping.

It's started off right. Check out the government website – www.PowerToChoose.org – and get an overview of current electricity prices, which are constantly changing.

He typed “Power to Choose” into the Google search bar, but the first four websites that appeared were not government sites. They were power brokers gathering leads for power companies.

They get to the top of the search results by buying advertising and using “Power to Choose” as keywords, which pushes the government site down in the search results.

Godard called a number on the website and was connected to a SaveOnEnergy broker in South Carolina. Godard later told me in interviews that he thought he was still on the government website.

The broker sold him a plan that would give him 11.5 cents per kilowatt hour plus a $100 bill credit if he met his monthly usage goals. The broker promised that his bill would be lower.

Everything was good.

Then came the first bill.

$250 for the first two weeks.

He looked at the bill and saw a kWh charge of 16.7 cents.

“A nightmare”

Most people would get angry, contact the electricity provider and also the broker who found the lead and made the deal. They would make a fuss and maybe lower their rate or get a credit to satisfy the customer.

Godard did all that and more. He filed a formal complaint with the Public Utility Commission, traveled to Austin to argue his case before an administrative law judge, and attended a failed mediation session.

He says there is another hearing in Austin to come, followed by the possible filing of a lawsuit in district court.

“You have to say a clear no,” he told The Watchdog. “It was a nightmare.”

SaveOnEnergy attorney Stephanie Green issued a statement to The Watchdog: “Thank you for contacting us. As per our company policy, we do not comment on ongoing legal matters. SaveOnEnergy remains committed to complying with the law and providing top-notch customer service.”

In legal documents filed by SaveOnEnergy, the company insists it did nothing wrong on the sales call. All of Godard's claims are false, the company says. He received accurate information about the kilowatt-hour price and the monthly bill credit.

Godard told me that all his work has made him “a real expert.” The Texas retail electricity system “is based on deception and they take advantage of the fact that people don't understand how it works.”

His opinion is consistent with the results of a survey I recently reported on that found Texans are probably paying too much for their electricity.

Honesty of the representative?

Perhaps the worst part of this story is that Godard says he asked the SaveOnEnergy representative if he worked at PowerToChoose.org and the representative mistakenly answered yes.

I can't listen to the recording of the phone call to verify this because the company won't release it until Godard signs a non-disclosure agreement. He won't.

Godard told me to call SaveOnEnergy and test it myself.

When I first called, I asked the representative, “Is this the PowerToChoose.org website?”

“This is our website too,” she replied. “This is our… (she paused and repeated) website. That's right, so I can help you too.”

On a second test call, I pretended to be a journalist who writes about the company and asked the same question. He replied that it was not the PTC website.

When I told Godard what had happened, he laughed triumphantly. “See?”

Rob Cantrell, chief executive of Flagship Power, the utility that bought the line from SaveOnEnergy, calls Godard a “crusader.”

“He just seems to be out for blood,” the CEO said.

He said he wished “the conversation had been a little better.”

Both the CEO and the CFO later called Godard and asked, “Hey, what can we do to make you happy?”

Godard wants to teach SaveOnEnergy a lesson. He has been offered refunds and credits, but he insists that part of the settlement includes retraining the phone representatives. SaveOnEnergy is refusing, Godard told me.

I checked with the PUC and learned that neither SaveOnEnergy nor Flagship Power had any regulatory issues.

Godard stubbornly refuses to give in. “The name itself is misleading,” he says.

Repair the system

Godard, who calls himself an expert, has ideas to fix the system.

• Establish rules for termination fees. Currently, fees are scattered all over the place and confusing for buyers.
• Do the same with invoice credits, which are difficult to understand.
• Prohibit electricity providers and brokers from using the term “Power to Choose” as a keyword in search engines.
• The three-tiered presentation of kWh tariffs required by the state has been revised. Now the breakdown is made into 500 kWh, 1,000 kWh and 2,000 kWh consumption per month. This is confusing for consumers.

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