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.

Two individuals filed a class action complaint in Massachusetts Superior Court alleging that Eversource Energy—an energy provider—deceptively marketed, promoted, and sold natural gas and natural gas services to residential consumers as “clean,” “safe,” and “good for the environment.” They asserted claims under the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act and the Massachusetts False Advertising Law, as well as a count for unjust enrichment. The complaint alleged that the company’s “portrayal of natural gas as environmentally friendly and beneficial in its marketing materials—by ignoring and concealing the adverse global warming impact of its methane leaks on par with coal”—rendered its claims deceptive in violation of Federal Trade Commission guidelines and Massachusetts regulations. The plaintiffs asserted that the company’s sustainability and carbon neutrality claims were actionable greenwashing. The greenwashing allegations included that the company would have to purchase significant carbon offsets for methane leaks but had admitted to not having purchased any such offsets to date. The complaint also included allegations related to health-safety risks of natural gas.