In re Maryland Office of People’s Counsel

The Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that the Maryland Public Service Commission erred when it dismissed a complaint alleging that marketing statements made by Washington Gas Light Company (a natural gas utility) on its customer bills were deceptive and misleading in violation of the Public Utilities Article and Maryland regulations. The complaint alleged that the bills included at least three allegedly misleading statements, including a statement that natural gas is “clean energy,” which the complaint alleged falsely implied that natural gas did not have significant greenhouse gas emissions and was also misleading regarding other emissions attributes. The appellate court held the Commission could only dismiss the complaint on the ground that it failed to state a claim on which relief could be granted. The Commission, however, had dismissed the complaint on the ground that a complaint against one utility was “an inappropriate forum to address the broader issues raised by natural gas and its role in greenhouse gas emissions.” Because this was not a proper ground for dismissal and dismissal resulted in prejudice to the complainant, the court ordered that the Commission’s orders be vacated. The appellate court also held that dismissal of claims against an affiliate of the utility was premature. One judge dissented, finding that the claims were “largely moot” because the statements had been removed from customer bills and the Commission should not be compelled to adopt “broad policy pronouncements regarding natural gas and climate change premised solely on a request that fines be levied against a single utility.”