Green Power: Earth-Friendly Electric Bills

Before winter made its frigid descent a few weeks ago, we were enjoying the unseasonably warm temperatures — and our ability to walk around sans hat and gloves — as much as the rest of the city. But we're also worried about global warming, and when we found out about this cheap, easy way to reduce our carbon footprint, we signed up straightaway. ConEd's Green Power program allows residential and small business customers to switch to 100% renewable energy, and it's surprisingly affordable...

Green Power — a mixture of wind and hydro power — only costs an additional 1 cent per kilowatt-hour (KWh) of power, and Wind Power is an extra 2.5 cents per KWh. What does this mean for your electric bill? ConEd says only about $3.50 a month for the average residential customer for green power, and a still modest $8.75 a month for wind power. ConEd offers a $25 rebate when you sign up for either, making the switch an even better deal. — Stephanie Hanson

Green Power [ConEd Solutions]
Comparing Green and Wind Power [PowerScorecard]

Comments

Have been signed on for over a year... it's a bit more but I like that I'm contributing to the growth of renewable energy sources.

Posted by: Rich Woods at February 27, 2007 9:36 AM

another resource:
http://www.nativeenergy.com/

Posted by: Anonymous at February 27, 2007 2:24 PM

i signed up after seeing an inconvenient truth last summer, and its definitely more than $3.50 extra for our two bedroom apt, but its worth it.

Posted by: Dahlia at February 27, 2007 2:25 PM

Dahlia, how much more (%) would you estimate you pay per month for using their green service?

Posted by: matt at February 27, 2007 3:08 PM

I've been using ConEd Solutions' wind power since September 2006. The website is a bit misleading. Wind is 2.5 cents/KWh more than the rate for ConEd Solutions' standard power--NOT the rate you currently pay for energy through ConEd.

ConEd Solutions is an Energy Supply Company (ESCO). ESCOs are the deregulated entities that supply you power through ConEd's grid. When you sign up for ConEd Solutions, you agree to a fixed rate for 1 year of energy (it's not a contract--you can quit at any time). Your energy supply charge is decoupled from your energy delivery charge. I pay 19 cents/KWh for wind (supply charge), plus the standard ConEd delivery charge (you can see this broken out on your current ConEd bill, typically 6-10 cents per KWh). Some taxes are eliminated, but I have yet to see my $25 rebate check materialize.

With standard ConEd, your energy supply costs fluctuate with the market. I did some analysis and compared with my bills from last summer. For summer months it's typically a 10-15% premium, and for winter months, it can be as high as 40% (energy is cheaper in the winter).

I too did the "it's only $3.50 extra a month" analysis after reading the website, but it's not correct. If you have a chance to update your website, you should do so and explain the difference between supply and delivery charges. If you call ConEd Solutions, they can explain it to you quite well, you just need to ask them for full details and how it would differ from your current ConEd bill.

Posted by: Nathan at February 27, 2007 7:53 PM

And by website, I mean blog. Oops.

Posted by: Nathan at February 27, 2007 7:54 PM

Native Energy is a way to offset your carbon footprint not an ESCO offering a green alternative to Petroleum based Electricity generation.

Posted by: Rich Woods at February 28, 2007 11:13 AM

I have been buying Green Power for three years now - and my bill has never been cheaper. Why? Because I started conserving heavily when I switched to green power. If you buy Green and don't conserve, you will require the power companies to actually burn more coal as a backup to intermittent wind power. Being Green means alot more than siging up for con-ed green power and paying a few cents more per kilowatt hour for electricity. You need to reduce your consumption as well, otherwise you're literally making the situation worse.
I pay 25 dollars a month for my power, and I work from home three days a week!

Posted by: Jason at February 28, 2007 11:44 AM

nathan- I think what they're talking about applies to the variable rate plans, not the fixed plan you signed up for.

Posted by: thfs at February 28, 2007 4:08 PM

thfs--that could be, although it would be best to call ConEd solutions to verify. when I called to sign up, I wasn't given an option for a variable rate plan. It was a 1-year fixed rate agreement and the 19 cents per KWh was 2.5 cents higher than their standard ESCO energy rate (which was 16.5 cents / KWh).

On the other hand, my energy bill isn't more than $50 a month (I have some servers running in my apartment) even with wind power.

I also disagree with Jason's post regarding coal as a backup. I believe your contract buys your KWh worth of credits in wind power. I'd like to see the logic that using more wind power = more coal power explained a little more. Conservation is a good thing, but I don't see the relationship back to coal consumption if you're on an energy contract that buys credits from a wind farm by the KWh.

Posted by: nathan at March 1, 2007 8:44 PM

I've had nothing but problems since signing up with ConEd Solutions. First, I signed up for the variable wind rate. Then, the day before the service was to start, I received a letter saying they were starting me on fixed green--which was approximately 4 cents more per kwh. I called same day, only to be told that I couldn't change the service until it started. I called the next day, only to be told I couldn't change the service until I'd received my first bill. Then I called after receiving my first bill, only to be told I really hadn't signed up for variable green (even though I clearly remembered signing up for it--specifically because I'd ONLY signed up for it because wind was available).

Given that ConEd Solutions didn't send any sort of receipt for my signup, I had no proof. But after much arguing I got it switched.

Then, the next month I received a bill--which showed I still was being charged at the fixed rate. I called and was asked "How do you know it's the fixed rate?" (Duh because it was the same rate as before.) Then, after assurances I was signed up for the variable rate, I received my 3rd month bill--only to see it's the EXACT SAME rate as the first two.

A company that can't get its billing straight and argues with its customers when we try to correct it? Sounds like AOL!

All I'd wanted was to try to do the right thing. Result: corporate theft.

Posted by: Sore At ConEd at April 8, 2007 8:38 AM

P.S. Obvious error above near end of 1st paragraph: "I really hadn't signed up for variable WIND"....

Also, good luck finding its variable rates posted anywhere on line. Only way to find out, apparently: sign up for the service.

ConEd Solutions: AVOID.

Posted by: Sore At ConEd at April 8, 2007 8:41 AM

This is why I'm all about small businesses. Seems like so many big corporations can't keep their shit straight.

Posted by: Erin at April 13, 2007 10:15 AM

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February 27, 2007

Green Power: Earth-Friendly Electric Bills

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