Spark Energy class action settlement receives preliminary approval

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

Spark Energy class action settlement overview: 

• Who: A proposed class action settlement between Spark Energy LLC and plaintiffs Janet Rolland and Michael Harty has been granted preliminary approval. 
• Why: The class action settlement was made to resolve claims Spark Energy enrolled its customers variable rate plans that weren’t competitive with the rest of the industry. 
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in New Jersey federal court. 

A class action lawsuit settlement between Spark Energy and a class of its customers has been granted preliminary approval by a federal court in New Jersey.

The proposed settlement will benefit customers who paid for a supply of electricity at a variable rate prior to Jan. 1, 2016.

All residential persons and businesses that paid Spark Energy for a supply of natural gas on a variable rate prior to Jan, 1. 2016, will also be eligible to benefit from the settlement. 

The court determined the class action settlement was “fair, reasonable, adequate and in the best interest of the class.” 

A fairness hearing for the class action settlement has been scheduled for Dec. 1 to “consider the fairness, reasonableness and adequacy of the Settlement,” among other things. 

Two cases have been put on hold pending the approval of the settlement, including one in Indiana and another in Illinois. 

Spark Energy class action accused provider of engaging in ‘bait-and-switch’ marketing scheme

The class action settlement will resolve claims the company engaged in a bait-and-switch marketing scheme with its customers to cut its own costs for electricity. 

The company, the customers argued, would offer fixed rates for electricity services that would later be converted to month-to-month variable rate plans that turned out to not be competitively priced. 

The customers claimed Spark Energy’s variable rate plans did not take changes in wholesale electricity prices into account, making their prices “substantially higher” than that of their competitors. 

In related energy provider news, last month, First Energy and Energy Harbor agreed to pay $49 million to resolve claims the companies helped cause the price of energy to rise by illicitly influencing the passage of a new law. 

Have you been charged an unfair rate by your electricity provider? Let us know in the comments.

The Spark Energy class action lawsuit is Rolland, et al. v. Spark Energy LLC, Case No. 3:17-cv-02680, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. 

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• Energy department earmarks $45M to protect electric grid from cyberattacks
• U.S. tax credit could increase Canadian electric vehicle production
• PALMco Power overcharges $1.89M class action settlement
• DSL Extreme TrueSTREAM internet false advertising class action settlement