Yes, that settlement check you got that references Frank v. the city of Pensacola is real, but former Pensacola Energy customers may have a harder time getting their check.
Active Pensacola Energy customers started getting their share of a $16 million class-action lawsuit against the city of Pensacola this week.
As it stands now, however, former customers or customers with closed accounts who’ve moved must have a unique ID number to file a claim in the class action lawsuit. They won’t get those numbers until they get a postcard in the mail, and that may be a problem, as most of those former customers have moved.
Attorney Matt Dannheisser represents Pensacola chiropractor Eric Frank, who sued the city in 2015 alleging it was illegally collecting franchise fees inside the city limits for the city-owned gas company. He told the News Journal that he’s not happy with the system set up by the administrator because it could lead to a lot of past customers of Pensacola Energy missing out of the settlement.
“It was intended that this postcard was going to be mailed in the next week or so,” Dannheisser said. “My guess is we may be going back to the drawing board and trying to figure out alternative ways for customers to get their unique identifier.”
How much are people getting in the settlement?
Under the terms of the settlement, $12.6 million in payments will be made directly to Pensacola Energy customers who paid the franchise fee from 2011 to 2024.
There are approximately 35,500 accounts that have been identified as eligible to receive a check, but there are only about 13,300 active accounts inside the city, according to Dannheisser. So about 2/3 of the eligible customers no longer have active accounts.
Dannheisser said the checks range from as large as $605,000 to as small as $0.04. The exact amount someone receives depends on how much they paid. The larger amounts are commercial customers of Pensacola Energy.
The average claim will likely be closer to $350, but it will depend on how much each customer paid in franchise fees.
There have been several posts on social media with people reporting receiving checks from $41 to $645.
Do I have to opt in to get a settlement check?
All current active Pensacola Energy customers are being mailed checks.
Former customers will have to file a claim through the website PensacolaNaturalGasClassActionSettlement.com. As it stands right now, those customers are required to have a unique ID to file a claim. Dannhiesser said he was pressing the administrator to make it easier for former customers to file a claim.
There are cases where customers may have closed accounts and opened new accounts at another location, but they are only automatically receiving a check for their current active account. They will have to file a claim for old closed accounts.
Dannhiesser encouraged anyone who believes they’re entitled to claim to call Kroll, the claims administrator. The public number is (833) 890-3973.
“I want people to get paid,” Dannheisser said.
Time is limited to be a part of the settlement
All active customers will receive a check with no action needed on their part, but the checks are set to expire 90 days after they were mailed. For most people, that will be on Oct. 28. If anyone tries to cash a check after that date, it will bounce.
Former customers or people filing claims for previously closed accounts will have until October 2026 to file a claim, under the terms of the settlement agreement.
Funds not claimed or otherwise accounted for in the settlement agreement will go back to the Pensacola.
What is the Pensacola Energy settlement about?
In 2015, Frank alleged that the city had been unlawfully collecting franchise fees on Pensacola Energy customers inside the city limits since 1970. An Escambia County Circuit Court judge ruled that Frank was right and the city had indeed unlawfully collected the fees. The lawsuit was filed in 2015, and because of the statute of limitations, the city would only be liable for fees collected after 2011.
After years of legal battles, the city lost a major ruling in the case last year when Escambia County Circuit Court Judge Jan Shackelford ruled that the fee had to be refunded. The settlement in the case was approved this year.
Gas rates are likely to increase in the future
While city officials have stressed gas rates will need to increase in the future because of the growing cost of natural gas, there is no way around the fact that the city will also have to raise rates as a result of the settlement.
The city is wiping out Pensacola Energy’s reserves to pay the settlement. The city is in the process of issuing a new bond against $40 million of Pensacola Energy’s revenues that could hold off the immediate need for an increase, the bond will be use for capital projects to improve Pensacola Energy’s infrastructure over the next few years, and the financial reality of replenishing its reserve funds will become more pressing.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola Energy settlement checks are out but former customers face obstacles to get paid
Reporting by Jim Little, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
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