Direct Energy Settlement: $12M for Overcharged Illinois Customers

Illinois residents who bought electricity from Direct Energy Services between June 2013 and April 2025 are eligible for restitution under a $12 million Direct Energy settlement announced by Attorney General Kwame Raoul in April 2025. About $9.4 million of the total is set aside for consumer refunds, and payments are being distributed automatically based on each customer’s electricity usage during the time they were served by the company.¹²

The consent judgment was entered on April 16, 2025, by Cook County Circuit Court Judge Allen Price Walker in Case No. 2025CH04091.³

Who Qualifies for a Payment

Eligible consumers are current and former Direct Energy customers who received residential electricity supply in Illinois at any point between June 2013 and April 2025. You do not need to have been a customer for the entire period. Individual restitution amounts are calculated largely on how much electricity you used while Direct Energy was your supplier, so a household that bought power from the company for years generally receives more than one that switched off after a few months.⁴¹

The settlement covers residential accounts. Business or commercial accounts are not part of the eligible group described by the Attorney General’s office and the claims administrator.

How to Claim or Check on Your Payment

The settlement is being handled by Atticus Administration, LLC, a Minnesota-based claims firm. Payments are being distributed automatically to eligible customers, so there is no lengthy claim form for most people. If you have questions about your eligibility, your payment amount, or a check you expected but haven’t received, you can reach the administrator directly:

Phone: (800) 893-1707
Email: ILDirectEnergySettlement@atticusadmin.com
Website: ildirectenergysettlement.com, which hosts a frequently-asked-questions page

If you have moved since you were a Direct Energy customer, contacting the administrator with your updated address is the best way to make sure a check reaches you.⁴

What If You’re Still a Direct Energy Customer

Ending your contract with Direct Energy does not cancel your restitution. According to the settlement’s FAQ, a refund check remains valid whether or not you are still a Direct Energy customer when it arrives.⁵

If you want to return to your default utility, such as ComEd or Ameren, you can do so without paying a termination fee by calling (888) 734-0741.⁵

What Direct Energy Was Accused of Doing

The Attorney General’s verified complaint, filed April 11, 2025, alleged that Direct Energy violated the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act and the Illinois Telephone Solicitations Act through a decade of misleading sales tactics.³

The state said Direct Energy’s agents impersonated utility employees, asked to speak with the person who handled the “electric bill,” and claimed they needed to “verify” or “confirm” utility account numbers to “apply benefits.” Agents were actually harvesting account numbers to enroll consumers, according to the complaint. Some pitches invoked nonexistent “state-sponsored” or “state-sanctioned” programs with names like the “energy choice program” and promised “lower rates,” “peak savings,” or “price protection” that never materialized.³

The pricing figures the state put forward were substantial. From June 2013 through August 2020, Direct Energy’s residential customers paid an average of 54 percent more than the default utility rate. From June 2018 through August 2020, the company’s rates exceeded the default utility rate more than 99 percent of the time, and in the most extreme cases customers paid more than 230 percent above the utility rate.³

Fixed-rate plans marketed as “price protection” ran higher than the utility default, and variable-rate plans could rise without notice, with the new rate disclosed only after the electricity had already been used, on the monthly bill.²

Restrictions on Direct Energy Going Forward

Direct Energy voluntarily stopped marketing in Illinois in December 2024, and the consent judgment extends that moratorium through December 1, 2025. During that period the company cannot telemarket, sell door-to-door, or solicit through social media in the state. If it resumes marketing after December 2025, it must operate under an independent monitor, additional reporting requirements, and mandatory employee training.²

The court also entered a permanent injunction. Direct Energy is barred from enrolling Illinois consumers without their consent, claiming affiliation with a utility or government entity, promising “lower rates” or “price protection” when its prices are higher than the default utility rate, invoking nonexistent state-sponsored programs, and omitting rates or contract length from its sales presentations. Before requesting an account number for enrollment, the company must now disclose the current default utility rate for the consumer’s zip code.¹

Even with the marketing moratorium in effect, Direct Energy’s website continues to list Illinois as a service area. The moratorium bars new marketing and enrollment; it does not require the company to drop existing customers.⁶

Related Settlement for New York Customers

The Illinois deal is separate from a $71 million settlement approved by the New York State Public Service Commission on April 16, 2026, involving nine energy service companies affiliated with NRG Energy, Direct Energy’s parent company. That agreement covers 278,000 mass market customers in New York who allegedly should have been transitioned to cheaper contracts after a 2019 PSC “Reset Order,” plus low-income customers improperly served by ESCOs. Billing adjustments in the New York case are being distributed automatically and are unrelated to the Illinois restitution.⁷⁸

If you were a Direct Energy customer in another state, the Illinois settlement does not cover you, and the New York deal covers only customers of the specific NRG-affiliated ESCOs identified there.

1
Illinois Attorney General. Attorney General Raoul Announces $12 Million Settlement With Alternative Retail Electric Supplier
2
Energy Choice Matters. Illinois AG Settles With Direct Energy for $12 Million
3
Illinois Attorney General. Verified Complaint, People v. Direct Energy Services LLC, No. 2025CH04091
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IL Direct Energy Settlement. IL Direct Energy Settlement
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IL Direct Energy Settlement. IL Direct Energy Settlement FAQs
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Direct Energy. Direct Energy Illinois Residential Energy
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Governor.ny.gov. Governor Kathy Hochul Announced Public Service Commission Directs $71M
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CBS6 Albany. Governor Hochul Says 278,000 New Yorkers to Get $71M Relief