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Update:
- Wisconsin natural gas buyers have been granted final approval in a class action settlement resolving price-fixing claims brought against three natural gas companies.
- On July 11, U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson issued an order granting final approval to the $12 million settlement between the buyers, a prospective group of 1,108 Wisconsin class members, and gas companies the Williams Cos. Inc., Williams Merchant Services Co. LLC and WPX Energy Marketing LLC.
- The plaintiffs allege these companies and others engaged in a conspiracy to artificially inflate natural gas prices by giving false information to publishers of price indices in Wisconsin in the early 2000s.
- Two other defendants, Xcel Energy Inc. and Dynegy Illinois Inc., are still fighting the case in the 7th Circuit.
Natural gas class actions lawsuit overview:
- Who: A Wisconsin federal judge certified two natural gas class action lawsuits.
- Why: The judge found that a lower court erred in its determination that it was too difficult to consider individual damages and said that certification was appropriate.
- Where: The natural gas class action lawsuits were filed in Wisconsin federal court.
(July 4, 2022)
Natural gas class action lawsuits that allege natural gas companies engaged in a price-fixing conspiracy to raise prices in Wisconsin in the early 2000s have been certified, Law360 reports.
On June 26, U.S. District Judge William M. Conley reversed a summary judgment ruling against several natural gas buyers and issued an order certifying a class of commercial and industrial purchasers who bought natural gas in Wisconsin from Jan. 1, 2000, to Oct. 31, 2002.
Natural gas class action lawsuits filed in 2006 allege price-fixing scheme led to inflated prices
Judge Conley’s order applies to two consolidated cases filed in 2006 by natural gas buyers in Wisconsin who say Xcel Energy Inc., Williams Cos. Inc. and others engaged in a price-fixing conspiracy to artificially inflate prices by giving false information to publishers of price indices.
The natural gas class action lawsuits were centralized in multidistrict litigation (MDL) before a Nevada judge. The MDL court previously granted summary judgment in the gas companies’ favor, finding that they had been part of an earlier settlement that involved the same allegations.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the summary judgment ruling in 2018 after finding that the previous settlement did not cover the price-fixing claims. The MDL court did not make a determination on this issue, instead remanding the case to Judge Conley’s court in Wisconsin.
The 9th Circuit also reversed the MDL court’s denial of certification to the class of Wisconsin natural gas buyers. The lower court determined that class certification was inappropriate due to the difficulty of calculating individual damages.
Judge Conley disagreed that calculating individual damages would bar the case from being certified as a class action, concluding that “the amount of damages is invariably an individual question and does not defeat class treatment.”
In related news, natural gas companies Xcel Energy and e-Prime Energy recently reached a $2.5 million natural gas price fixing class action settlement in Colorado. If you purchased natural gas from either of these companies in Colorado from Jan. 1, 2000, to Oct. 31, 2002, you may be entitled to benefits.
Have you been paying higher prices for natural gas? Tell us your thoughts about the natural gas class action lawsuits in the comments below!
Class members are represented by Kohner Mann & Kailas SC, Perkins Coie LLP and Polsinelli PC.
The natural gas class action lawsuits are Arandell Corp., et al. v. Xcel Energy Inc., et al., Case No. 3:07-cv-00076, and NewPage Wisconsin System Inc. v. CMS Energy Resource Management Co., et al., Case No. 3:09-cv-00240, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.
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