Anyone have good or bad experiences with an ESCO?

Does anyone have any good or bad stories on using ESCOs for suppplying energy? I am using Ambit Energy, and I am wondering if they are overpriced. Last month, for example, I used 122 therms and paid 61.1 cents per term. I have a 3 family house. Does this rate per therm look high/low/about right for gas (trasnmission is not included — for me that is Con Ed). Thanks.

housepoor

in Utilities 13 years and 4 months ago

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housepoor | 13 years and 4 months ago

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OP here: thanks for your input. One thing that I’ve wondered about is the delivery charge. It is broken out in the bill now that we have the choice of picking our gas or electric suppliers. It is (currently) higher than my gas cost (almost 90 cents per therm vs 61.1 cents per therm for the actual gas) and variable with the amount of gas I use. One would think that the cost of maintaining the gas distribution system is mostly fixed — a predictable amount of maintenance and return on investment. Do their costs really go up if it is colder? Why would the charge not also be fixed or at least not a function of the amount of gas I use? I don’t mind paying a variable charge for gas since it is market-rate driven. But letting a fixed cost like the distribution system piggyback makes no sense to me. My guess for the answer?  The utilities had better lobbyists.

Bklnite | 13 years and 4 months ago

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My most recent national grid bill, **Rate 1B Res. Heating**, shows GAS SUPPLY CHARGE @ .68180 /therm I’ve been skeptical of ESCOs with their hard sell tactics … but if you’re getting charged .611/therm and used 122 therms it looks like you saved 8 bucks and change on that bill compared to natl grid.

tomgrech | 13 years and 4 months ago

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I am an owner, investor and Managing Director of Sales of a NY ESCO called JJT Energy….. www.jjtenergy.com There ARE scoundrels out there, like any other business. We pride ourselves on pricing that sticks….we supply our residential rates over the past 18 months for all to see and offer a quarterly report to all Commercial customers showing what they paid using JJT vs. using Con Ed, Nat Grid, etc. over the same period….Call me to discuss or call with any questions….I am happy to supply references…516-594-8539…Tom Grech

kidbklyn | 13 years and 4 months ago

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Escos are hard sell rip-off artists. Don’t ever let them see your customer ID number on your bill when they feign to help you to get lower rates. It could be used to change your provider without your permission. They’ll offer low-ball introductory rates for acouple of months and then charge a higher rate than ConEd will.

sirk98 | 13 years and 4 months ago

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stay away from the one that offers miles–way more expensive than con ed base rate

sirk98 | 13 years and 4 months ago

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I got a fixed rate of 10.9 cents per kwh with con ed solutions.  no complaints so far

BobMarvin | 13 years and 4 months ago

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More to the point; are there any ESCOs that are NOT criminal enterprises?