Direct Energy Hit with Class Action Over Alleged Robocalls Advertising Solar Panels

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Direct Energy, LP faces a proposed class action over its alleged practice of placing telemarketing calls to consumers’ cell phones without securing their prior express consent to be contacted.

The lawsuit alleges Direct Energy has attempted to market its utility services to consumers in its Northeast region by engaging in a “wide-scale calling campaign” whereby the company has placed telemarketing calls utilizing a prerecorded message to individuals who never consented to receive such calls.

Per the suit, the calls violated the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), a federal law that prohibits the use of prerecorded messages to place non-emergency telemarketing calls to wireless numbers unless the caller has secured the recipient’s prior express consent.

The plaintiff, a Prince Frederick, Maryland resident, claims to have received an unsolicited call from the defendant in January 2019. Upon answering the call, the plaintiff heard a prerecorded message “regarding an electric bill,” and was thereafter connected with a live representative who attempted to sell her Direct Energy solar panels, according to the suit.

The lawsuit alleges the plaintiff never provided prior express consent to be contacted by Direct Energy with a prerecorded message and has never been a customer of the defendant. 

Per the case, the defendant’s calls caused the plaintiff to suffer “concrete harm,” including lost time spent fielding Direct Energy’s calls, loss of the use of her cell phone during the calls, invasion of privacy and intrusion on her seclusion.

The plaintiff looks to represent anyone in Direct Energy’s Northeast region to whom the defendant placed an artificial or prerecorded voice call within the past four years and through the date of class certification and who never provided consent for their cell phone number to be called.

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