Electric provider Glacial Energy, which was fined $235,750 last week for overbilling customers, should have its license revoked because its owner did not disclose his connection to a previous company that failed, the staff of the Texas Public Utility Commission recommended Tuesday.
PUC staffers claim Glacial’s application in January 2006 to do business in Texas had “material omissions” because owner Gary Mole failed to report that he had also owned Franklin Power Company.
At the time, Franklin had pending complaints from two larger electric companies -- TXU Electric Delivery Company and CenterPoint Energy Houston -- that it had not paid its bills, the petition said.
Franklin’s certificate was revoked in July 2006.
If the PUC had known about Mole’s connection to Franklin, it “would have likely resulted in the rejection of Glacial’s application,” the petition said.
Glacial attorney Suedeen Kelly has not returned phone calls for comment, but Glacial did alert NBC 5 to this blog post which addresses the PUC recommendation.
The PUC has revoked 19 licenses of companies since electricity was deregulated in Texas in 2002, said PUC spokesman Terry Hadley. Some of the companies involved the same ownership groups, he added.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
The full commission must vote on the revocation, and Glacial can ask for a hearing, Hadley said.
A lawsuit in federal court in Dallas accused Glacial of being a “racketeering enterprise” which laundered millions of dollars in a mining operation in a part of Africa known for “blood diamonds.”
In a court hearing, a Glacial attorney called the suit “frivolous.”
Glacial’s website describes the company as “one of the fastest growing national retail energy marketers selling electricity and natural gas.” It does business in Texas and 15 other states.
Glacial was founded in Dallas but is now based in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Click here to read the PUC staff's recommendation to revoke Glacial's permit.
