Restitution secured from alternative gas supplier

The Illinois attorney general's office has secured restitution for consumers who signed contracts with an alternative gas supplier who allegedly used misleading sales tactics.

U.S. Energy Savings Corp. has agreed to allow hundreds of Illinois consumers to terminate contracts and receive part of $1 million. In a lawsuit filed last year, Attorney General Lisa Madigan alleged the alternative gas supplier sold fixed-rate gas contracts by falsely promising significant consumer savings.

U.S. Energy Savings sold contracts to Northern Illinois Gas and Peoples Energy customers. The company claimed the fixed-rate program would locked consumers into a consistent gas price before rates spiked.

According to the attorney general's office, U.S. Energy Savings must contact 60,000 customers about the restitution program.