Vitale v. USG&E Settlement

Welcome to the Information Website for the Vitale v. USG&E Settlement

If you are in New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, the District of Columbia, and Pennsylvania, and you switched gas and/or electric service to U.S. Gas & Electric, Inc. and/or Energy Services Providers, Inc. or their subsidiaries, a class action Settlement may affect your rights.

You Are Not Being Sued.

The U.S. District Court in the District of New Jersey has authorized this website.

• This website concerns a class action lawsuit in New Jersey federal Court against two Defendants, U.S. Gas & Electric, Inc. and Energy Service Providers, Inc. and their subsidiaries. In this lawsuit, Plaintiffs allege that Defendants misrepresented and failed to disclose material facts regarding the true nature of their pricing for gas and/or electric services when marketing and selling those services to persons and entities in certain states. For example, Plaintiffs allege that Defendants represented that their pricing was “competitive” with local utilities that provided such services when, in fact, it was not competitive with, but actually far higher than, the charges of such other companies during periods of extreme or protracted bad weather, which Defendants allegedly knew would be the case. Although this lawsuit is being settled, Defendants deny all of Plaintiffs' allegations.

• A settlement is a compromise of the parties' respective positions. In this lawsuit, the Parties have agreed that Defendants will establish a Settlement Fund of $1,825,000, from which each Settlement Class Member will be sent a check in an amount equal to the Settlement Fund plus any accrued interest, divided by the number of Settlement Class Members. Settlement Class Members do not need to do anything in order to receive payment from the Settlement Fund. No claim or other action is necessary.

• Settlement Class Members include all persons or entities in the States of New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, and the District of Columbia who, from January 1, 2008, to February 10, 2017, entered into a gas and/or electric supply service plan with U.S. Gas & Electric, Inc. and Energy Services Providers, Inc. or either of them, or their subsidiaries, as well as all persons or entities in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania who entered into a gas supply service plan with Defendants or either of them or their subsidiaries.

• Read this website in its entirety carefully, because your legal rights will be affected whether you act or not.

• For more information, call 1-866-800-6755.

SUMMARY OF YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AND OPTIONS IN THIS SETTLEMENT
DO NOTHING	If you are a Settlement Class Member, then you do not need to do anything to receive payment. However, you must understand that this means you are giving up your right to pursue any claims in the future against U.S. Gas & Electric, Inc. and Energy Services Providers, Inc. or their subsidiaries, related to their marketing and sales practices for gas and electric services up until now.
OPT OUT	Write to Vitale v. USG&E Settlement Administrator, P.O. Box 3775 Portland, OR 97208-3775 if you do not want to be included in the Settlement. The answers to the questions below set forth the information that your writing must include. Your exclusion request must be postmarked no later than June 15, 2017.
OBJECT	Write to the Court and to the lawyers for Plaintiffs and Defendants if you do not like the Settlement. As set forth in the answers to the questions below, you may attend a hearing on the fairness of the Settlement if you give adequate notice of your objection. Your objection must be postmarked no later than June 15, 2017.




• These rights and options – and the deadlines by which to exercise them – are explained on this website.

• The Court that is supervising this lawsuit granted final approval on July 18, 2017. The period for appeals has now expired, and Settlement benefits will be distributed on August 22, 2017.