By Rory D. Sweeney
PJM said Wednesday that it has terminated electricity supplier AMERIgreen Energy’s membership, assuring stakeholders they won’t be exposed to the company’s financial woes.
But the RTO’s actions might be the least of AMERIgreen’s concerns.
PJM announced Tuesday that the company was in default for failing to pay its May month-to-date weekly invoice, which severed its access to the RTO’s markets, rights to transmission service and ability to participate in committee meetings. But that won’t matter much as the company has crumbled seemingly overnight amid a cloud of fraud accusations and the mysterious disappearance of its CEO.
AMERIgreen provided electricity service to commercial and residential customers as an subsidiary of Worley & Obetz, a fuel supplier based in Lancaster County, Pa. The parent company’s issues became public on May 31 when it announced via Facebook two rounds of layoffs, the “disappearance” of CEO Jeff Lyons and a law enforcement investigation into “potentially fraudulent activity.”
On the same day, three regional banking companies alerted the Securities and Exchange Commission that they will likely lose more than $60 million combined on loans to an unnamed company, according to local media reports. One of the banks accidentally implied the defaulting company was Worley & Obetz, and another one confirmed it several days later as the saga wore on. In that time, a fourth bank disclosed additional likely losses to the SEC, saying they “resulted from fraudulent activities believed to be perpetrated by one or more executives employed by the borrower and its related entities.”
Two weeks earlier, the Pennsylvania State Police announced they were looking for Lyons because he was reported missing by his family. The CEO, a 22-year veteran at the company, had left home without his wallet or credit cards and turned off his cellphone. He missed a meeting with the company’s vice chairman and a large commercial customer, where he was expected to discuss financial records he had previously been reluctant to disclose. He was terminated for cause later that day.
Police announced two days later that he had been located but that, because he wasn’t in danger, they couldn’t provide more information. According to media reports, a family member announced on Facebook that he was found in Minnesota.
The company then attempted to secure credit for restructuring, but the banks refused the plan. The company announced it was shutting its doors last Monday and has since filed for bankruptcy as “a direct result of the fraudulent actions of Jeffrey B. Lyons.”
AMERIgreen’s nosedive was abrupt. On Wednesday, it was still offering electricity contracts serviced through Texas-based TriEagle Energy, but it has since ceased.
In announcing the membership cancellation, PJM assured market participants that they won’t be liable for the default.
“PJM projects it holds sufficient financial security from AMERIgreen to cover both its outstanding charges and any anticipated remaining charges related to their default,” PJM said. “Therefore, PJM does not anticipate there will be a default allocation assessment to PJM members resulting from AMERIgreen’s default.”
PJM spokesperson Jeff Shields said the RTO’s credit requirements are designed for this issue.
“All members are required to provide credit based on their recent historical invoice activity, so more members buying more energy would be required to provide more collateral. Some members also engage in market activities that are screened, such as [financial transmission rights] and virtual transactions, and those other market activities have additional requirements,” he said via email. “PJM allows a limited amount of unsecured credit for investment-grade members; all activity exceeding that level must be collateralized.”
The company’s load is being transitioned to applicable electric distribution companies. The terms of service for such customers is set by state regulators, Shields said.