e-Prime Energy and Xcel Energy will pay $2.5 million as part of a settlement to resolve claims of a price-fixing plan between multiple utility companies. This settlement will benefit companies and consumers who bought natural gas from Xcel Energy Inc. or e-Prime Energy Marketing Inc. in Colorado between 1st January 2000 and 31st October 2002.
Settlement Website: NaturalGassAntitrustSettlement4.com
Objection Deadline: 05/11/2021
Exclusion Deadline: 05/11/2021
Claim Form: https://naturalgasantitrustsettlement4.azurewebsites.net/
Deadline For Submitting Claim Form: 08/18/2022
Final Hearing Date: 07/22/2021
Settlement Amount: $2.5 million
Potential Claim Amount: Variable
Proof Of Purchase: Not applicable
Both e-Prime Energy and Xcel Energy are utility companies offering power and gas to consumers across the country. The payment is made for these services by consumers based on the local price of natural gas and its usage. The class-action lawsuit alleges that e-Prime and Xcel Energy worked together with other businesses to increase the price of natural gas artificially.
The companies allegedly entered into an unlawful agreement through which they charged a steeper price for natural gas across the board without competing with each other. The defendants have been charged with supporting this scheme through wash trades and false prices posted in trade publications.
These actions on the part of the companies caused the consumers in Colorado to pay more for natural gas services than they should have in a competitive market. The class-action lawsuit has also targeted other companies which worked with e-Prime Energy Marketing and Xcel Energy such as Shell Energy, CenterPoint Energy Services, Williams Energy, Reliant Energy, ONEOK Energy, and more.
The class-action lawsuit settlement was filed for the first time in 2006 and since then various defendants have agreed to partial settlements in Missouri, Wisconsin, and Kansas. Recently Xcel Energy and e-Prime Energy Marketing have decided to resolve Colorado claims brought against them with a $2.5 million settlement. More settlements in other states and with other defendants might be reached in the future.
Under the settlement terms, class members are eligible for a portion of the settlement corpus. However, the payments will vary according to a number of factors like how many members participate in the settlement. The share of the settlement fund received by each class member will be proportional to the volume of natural gas they paid to the defendants. Both the dates of excluding to and objecting from the settlement and final approval hearing have passed. Now the class members are left with only two options; participating in the settlement by filling up the claim form or giving up their opportunity to collect payment.