Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Energy Savings Corp.

The lawsuit alleges that U.S. Energy sold its Natural Gas Fixed Price Program to Nicor customers using deceptive claims. Madigan said in a press release that customers were promised a low monthly rate by door-to-door salesmen, but later found a high bill in their mailbox.

“U.S. Energy is purposely deceiving consumers,” Madigan said in a press release. “Many of these families signed up for this program based on the false claim that they would save on their monthly utility bills. Instead, U.S. Energy locked them into a contract that actually charged them more for natural gas.”

Madigan spokeswoman Natalie Bauer said customers were lied to multiple times by U.S. Energy sales associates.

“U.S. Energy sales people allegedly told consumers that the fixed-rate program would offer significant savings by locking them into a consistent gas price before rates allegedly spiked, but according to the complaint, U.S. Energy sales agents failed to tell consumers that the set price is actually higher than prices historically offered by regulated utility suppliers,” Bauer said. “Sales agents many times did not clarify that cancellation required a substantial penalty or indicated that consumers could cancel at any time without a penalty.”

Bauer said U.S. Energy sales agents also negotiated contracts in English with non-English speakers. Madigan’s Consumer Fraud Bureau has received 806 complaints against U.S. Energy as of Thursday, Bauer said.

Lori Freise, senior Spanish language and literature major, lives in Eco Park and was targeted by U.S. Energy for the Natural Gas Fixed Price Program. U.S. Energy sales agents were going door to door in late November and early December, asking residents to sign a petition.

“They said as long as you sign this, your bill won’t go up,” Freise said.

Freise said her bill was $45 per month on average before she signed the petition. After signing the petition, her bill skyrocketed to $158.46. Even though it was during one of the coldest months, their energy usage was up by one-tenth. She didn’t believe the small increase in usage warranted a $113 increase in her bill.

Freise said her roommate then called Nicor, who told her to write a letter to U.S. Energy. Their bill is now back to $45.

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