Lawsuit: Agway Energy Services Deceives Customers with Low 'Teaser' Rates

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A proposed class action has been filed against Agway Energy Services, LLC over claims that the energy company deceived its customers into switching from their local utility providers with introductory “teaser” rates only to significantly raise their rates once the introductory period was over. The plaintiff in the case claims the defendant baited her with promises of energy savings and a low initial rate that would be changed to the “variable market rate” after two months. The woman found after switching, however, that the defendant’s rates were “substantially higher” than local utility rates, the complaint says, and were sometimes more than double the amount she would have paid with her previous energy provider.

Contrary to the defendant’s representations, the suit argues that the company does not, in fact, charge rates based on market costs of wholesale electricity. The complaint explains that the defendant’s prices do not reflect the changes evidenced in local utility price trends and claims that they are “untethered from market conditions.” As a result, the case says, consumers such as the plaintiff were deceived with false promises into paying more money for energy than they should have been charged.