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Commitments and Contingencies

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2020

Commitments and Contingencies [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

Note 18—Commitments and Contingencies

Legal Proceedings

On October 5, 2018, named plaintiffs Scott Mackey and Daniel Hernandez filed a putative class action complaint against IDT Energy in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227 et seq. The named plaintiffs filed the suit on behalf of: (1) a putative Cell Phone class consisting of all persons in the U.S. to whom IDT Energy and/or a third party acting on IDT Energy’s behalf allegedly made one or more telemarketing calls promoting IDT Energy’s goods or services to their cellular telephone number through the use of an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice within the four year period preceding the filing of the complaint and (2) a putative Do-Not-Call class consisting of all persons in the U.S. who allegedly received more than one call from IDT Energy and/or some party acting on IDT Energy’s behalf promoting IDT Energy’s goods or services in a 12-month period on their cellular phone or residential telephone line and whose number appears on the National Do-Not-Call registry within the four year period preceding the filing of the complaint. On October 31, 2019, the court granted IDT Energy's motion to bifurcate individuals and class claims to expedite discovery and dispositive motions related to the named plaintiffs. On January 9, 2020, the court granted IDT Energy's motion for summary judgement to dismiss one of the named plaintiffs for lack of personal jurisdiction. The remaining named plaintiff filed a motion to compel class discovery which IDT Energy has opposed. On July 14, 2020, IDT Energy filed a motion for summary judgment to dismiss the remaining named plaintiff. IDT Energy denies the allegations in the complaint, which it believes to be meritless and plans to vigorously defend this action. Based upon the Company’s preliminary assessment of this matter, a loss is not considered probable, nor is the amount of loss, if any, estimable as of June 30, 2020.

On February 18, 2020, named Plaintiff Danelle Davis filed a putative class action complaint against Residents Energy and GRE in United States District of New Jersey alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C § 227 et seq. IDT energy denies allegations in the complaint and plans to vigorously defend this action. Based upon the Company's preliminary assessment of this matter, a loss is not considered probable, nor is the amount of loss if any, estimable as of June 30, 2020.

In 2018, the Company settled previously filed class actions alleging harm caused by unlawful sales and marketing practices. All payment obligations under the settlement agreement were satisfied by the Company by the second quarter of 2019.

On July 23, 2019, the Chapter 7 Trustee of the Aspirity Holdings, LLC bankruptcy filed an adversary complaint against Diversified Trading Company, LLC (f/k/a Kreiger Enterprises, LLC, "Krieger") and its subsidiaries and affiliates in connection with a note payable by Krieger to Aspirity. GRE purchased Retail Energy Holdings, LLC ("REH") which owns the TSE entities (which were subsidiaries of Krieger prior to the purchase) from Krieger in November 2016. One of the several counts in the complaints alleges that as subsidiaries of Kreiger at the time, REH and TSE, together with several other defendants, guaranteed Kreiger's obligations under the note. The Trustee is seeking combined damages of unpaid principal of approximately $16.0 million with unpaid accrued interest. The Company denies all allegations in the complaint and does not believe that REH or the TSE entities are liable for Krieger's obligations to Aspirity. On February 6, 2020, REH and the Trustee agreed to settle the dispute (withdrawal with full releases) in exchange for payment of $0.2 million by REH. On April 6, 2020, the parties signed a settlement agreement which was later approved by the Court. The Company has accrued $0.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2019 and paid the settlement amount in June 2020.

In addition to the matters disclosed above, the Company may from time to time be subject to legal proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of business. Although there can be no assurance in this regard, the Company does not expect any of those legal proceedings to have a material adverse effect on the Company’s results of operations, cash flows or financial condition.

Agency and Regulatory Proceedings

From time to time, the Company receives inquiries or requests for information or materials from public utility commissions or other governmental regulatory or law enforcement agencies related to investigations under statutory or regulatory schemes, and the Company responds those inquiries or requests. The Company cannot predict whether any of those matters will lead to claims or enforcement actions or whether the Company and the regulatory parties will enter into settlements before a formal claim is made.

New York Public Service Commission Orders

In December 2017, the New York Public Service Commission (“PSC”) held an evidentiary hearing to assess the retail energy market in New York. On December 12, 2019, following the completion of post-hearing briefings in the proceedings, the PSC issued an order adopting the changes to the New York retail energy market, effective October 9, 2020 ("2020 Order"). The 2020 Order limits the types of the services energy retailer marketers may offer new customers or renewals, in terms of pricing for non-renewable commodities and renewable product offerings. Although the Company is working to ensure that its products and services are fully compatible with the 2020 Order, such compliance may adversely impact customer acquisition and renewal revenue and profitability. The Company is evaluating its options, both by itself and in tandem with other industry participants, to challenge or petition for additional clarity and changes to the 2020 Order. There is insufficient basis to deem any loss probable or to assess the amount of any possible loss based on the changes instituted by the 2020 Order. For the three and six months ended June 30, 2020 gross revenue from New York was $11.4 million and $28.8 million, respectively.

State of Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority

On September 19, 2018, the State of Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (“PURA”) commenced an investigation into Town Square following customer complaints of allegedly misleading and deceptive sales practices on the part of Town Square. The Connecticut Office of Consumer Counsel has joined in the investigation. Although Town Square denies any basis for those complaints and any wrongdoing on its part, it is cooperating with the investigation and responding to subpoenas for discovery. On June 17, 2020, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA or Authority) notified Town Square that it was advancing its investigation by assigning Prosecutorial (PRO) staff for the purpose of investigating Town Square’s compliance with licensed electric supplier billing, marketing, and licensing requirements, and, if appropriate, facilitating settlement discussions among the parties that contains, but is not limited to, an appropriate civil penalty, extensive retraining of the supplier’s third-party agents, and retention of all sales calls with continued auditing. If a settlement is not achieved and PRO staff believe the Authority should take further action regarding alleged non-compliance, the Authority requests that PRO staff petition the Authority setting forth its recommendations citing to supporting facts and law. For the three and six months ended June 30, 2020, Town Square’s gross revenues from sales in Connecticut was $9.5 million and $17.1 million, respectively. As of June 30, 2020, no claims or demands have been made against Town Square by either agency, and there is insufficient basis to deem the loss probable or to the assess the amount of any possible loss.

In December 2019, Connecticut’s Public Utility Regulatory Authority (PURA) issued a Proposed Final Decision that would require electric suppliers to return all of their “Hardship Customers” to the local utility company by March 1, 2020. In January 2020, PURA issued a Proposed Final Decision containing new marketing standards for electric suppliers to comply with. The supplier industry has filed opposition to both PURA decisions.

State of Illinois Office of the Attorney General

In response to complaints that IDT Energy enrolled consumers without their express consent and misrepresented the amount of savings those consumers would receive, the Office of the Attorney General of the State of Illinois (“IL AG”) has been investigating the marketing practices of IDT Energy and has alleged violations of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, 815 ILCS 505/1 et seq. and the Illinois Telephone Solicitations Act, 815 ILCS 413/1 et seq. Shortly thereafter, the Illinois Commerce Commission ("IL ICC") commenced a similar investigation. Although IDT Energy denies any wrongdoing in connection with those allegations, the parties (including IL ICC) settled the matter pursuant to a court approved consent decree that includes restitution payments in the amount of $3.0 million, temporary suspension of all marking activities directed at new customers through December 31, 2020, and implementation of various compliance and reporting procedures.

In third quarter of 2018, the Company recorded a liability of $3.0 million recorded as a reduction of electricity revenues in the consolidated statements of operations. For the three and six months ended June 30, 2020, IDT Energy’s gross revenues from sales in Illinois were $1.6 million and $3.4 million, respectively.

Other Informal Reviews or Investigations

From time to time regulators will initiate informal reviews or issue subpoenas for information as means to evaluate the Company and its subsidiaries’ compliance with applicable laws, rule, regulations and practices.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities opened an informal review and information requests to determine whether the disproportionate number of low-income customers of Town Square, Residents Energy and several other energy retailers in the industry evidences a pattern of misconduct. As of June 30, 2020, no claims or demands have been made against Town Square or Residents Energy by the agency, and there is insufficient basis to deem any loss probable or to the assess the amount of any possible loss.

On October 25, 2019, the Office of the IL AG notified Residents Energy (by way of subpoena) that it is conducting an investigation to assess compliance with the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. The notice was issued in the form of a subpoena in the course of the foregoing. The Company, which has responded in part, has challenged the merits of the subpoena and investigation which it believes is precluded by the broader settlement with IDT Energy. The IL AG is seeking to compel Residents Energy's response to its subpoena. Residents Energy denies any wrongdoing on its part. As of June 30, 2020, no claims or demands have been made against Residents Energy by the IL AG, and there is insufficient basis to deem any loss probable or to the assess the amount of any possible loss.

Other Commitments

Purchase Commitments

The Company had future purchase commitments of $143.9 million at June 30, 2020, of which $96.4 million was for future purchase of electricity. The purchase commitments outstanding as of June 30, 2020 are expected to be paid as follows:

(in thousands)
Remainder of 2020		$	43,860
2021			58,313
2022			26,721
2023			13,084
2024			1,880
Thereafter			—
Total payments		$	143,858

In three months ended June 30, 2020, the Company purchased $9.9 million and $2.9 million of electricity and renewable energy credits, respectively, under these purchase commitments. In the six months ended June 30, 2020, Company purchased $19.9 million and $6.5 million of electricity and renewable energy credit, respectively.

Renewable Energy Credits

GRE must obtain a certain percentage or amount of its power supply from renewable energy sources in order to meet the requirements of renewable portfolio standards in the states in which it operates. This requirement may be met by obtaining renewable energy credits that provide evidence that electricity has been generated by a qualifying renewable facility or resource. At June 30, 2020, GRE had commitments to purchase renewable energy credits of $47.5 million.

Performance Bonds and Unused Letters of Credit

GRE has performance bonds issued through a third party for certain utility companies and for the benefit of various states in order to comply with the states’ financial requirements for REPs. At June 30, 2020, GRE had aggregate performance bonds of $13.6 million outstanding and unused letters of credit of $2.3 million.

BP Energy Company Preferred Supplier Agreement

Certain of GRE’s REPs are party to an Amended and Restated Preferred Supplier Agreement with BP, which is to be in effect through November 30, 2020. Under the agreement, the REPs purchase electricity and natural gas at market rate plus a fee. The obligations to BP are secured by a first security interest in deposits or receivables from utilities in connection with their purchase of the REPs’ customer’s receivables, and in any cash deposits or letters of credit posted in connection with any collateral accounts with BP. In addition, the REPs must pay an advance payment of $2.5 million to BP each month that BP will apply to the next invoiced amount due to BP. The ability to purchase electricity and natural gas under this agreement is subject to satisfaction of certain conditions including the maintenance of certain covenants. At June 30, 2020, the Company was in compliance with such covenants. At June 30, 2020, restricted cash—short-term of $2.7 million and trade accounts receivable of $42.0 million were pledged to BP as collateral for the payment of trade accounts payable to BP of $13.8 million at June 30, 2020.