Migliaccio & Rathod LLP is investigating whether CleanSky Energy may be misleading consumers by marketing natural gas plans as “100% carbon neutral” or “200% carbon neutral” when those claims may be supported in part through environmental certificates that do not directly eliminate the emissions from customers’ natural gas use.
CleanSky markets certain natural gas plans as “100% carbon neutral” and “200% carbon neutral.” Its marketing also represents that customers can use natural gas without worrying about their household carbon footprint.
According to CleanSky’s terms, its offset obligations may be satisfied through carbon credits or through the purchase and retirement of renewable energy certificates, or RECs, from carbon-neutral energy sources. The same terms also acknowledge that purchasing these offset products does not actually reduce the carbon dioxide emissions associated with the customer’s natural gas consumption.
RECs are generally associated with renewable electricity generation. Migliaccio & Rathod is investigating whether consumers purchasing a “carbon neutral” natural gas plan reasonably understood those claims to mean that the emissions created by their gas use were actually neutralized, and whether the environmental instruments used to support those claims matched what consumers were led to believe they were purchasing.
Consumers May Have Experienced:
- Enrolling in a CleanSky natural gas plan advertised as 100% carbon neutral;
- Enrolling in an Ultra Clean Gas plan advertised as 200% carbon neutral;
- Believing their natural gas usage would be fully offset;
- Choosing CleanSky over another energy supplier because of its environmental claims;
- Paying more for a carbon-neutral or environmentally marketed plan; or
- Learning that renewable electricity certificates may have been used to support claims about natural gas emissions.
Potential Claims May Include:
- False or misleading environmental advertising;
- Misrepresentation of carbon-neutral claims;
- Deceptive trade practices;
- Breach of express warranty;
- Unjust enrichment; and
- Price-premium damages.
Signs You May Be Affected:
- You purchased natural gas from CleanSky Energy;
- Your plan was advertised as 100% carbon neutral, 200% carbon neutral, or similarly environmentally beneficial;
- The carbon-neutral representation influenced your decision to enroll;
- You paid a premium for the environmentally marketed plan;
- You believed your natural gas emissions would actually be neutralized; or
- You have bills, enrollment materials, emails, screenshots, or advertisements showing the carbon-neutral representations.
If you purchased a CleanSky natural gas plan because of its carbon-neutral representations, we would like to hear from you. Please complete the contact form on this page, send us an email at [email protected], or give us a call.