Ortiz v. Eversource Energy

A Massachusetts trial court granted Eversource Energy’s motion to dismiss a greenwashing class action alleging that the energy provider deceptively marketed, promoted, and sold natural gas and natural gas services to residential consumers as “clean,” “safe,” and “good for the environment.” The court found that the plaintiffs failed to allege that they suffered an injury that would entitle them to relief under Massachusetts’s false advertising or consumer protection laws. The court said the plaintiffs’ allegations that they overpaid for natural gas did not adequately allege that the company’s allegedly false statements artificially inflated the price because rates charged by the company were not entirely within its control since the company operated subject to a tariff approved by state regulators. The court also found that the plaintiffs waived an unjust enrichment claim and that, in any event, it would have concluded that the plaintiffs failed to state such a claim.