Choosing a new Energy Supplier in NYC
With each bill, Con Edison (my current gas and electric supplier), includes a customer newsletter. One of the constant features of this newsletter is Con Edison’s PowerYourWay program (poweryourway.com). Power Your Way encourages current Con Edison customers to contact other Energy Service Companies (ESCOs)Â in the area for pricing/service.
Why do this now? For the past three months, the bills from Con Edison have been getting more erratic and less accurate:
- informing me of late payments (I’m signed up for their automatic withdrawal service);
- bills for the same unit during the same time period yet different amounts due; and
- bills that only include gas OR electric (not both, the way they have been for years).
As of last night, I’d had enough. I visited PowerYourWay.com, entered in my zip code info and got the list of providers in my area. While not all of them deliver both gas and electric, I figured paying two bills for two services wouldn’t be such a bad thing (hey, I’m doing it with cable internet and vonage). Last night, around midnight, I sent an email to these providers:
Electricity and Gas Providers:
- EConnergy Energy Company, Inc
- Hudson Energy Services
- MX Energy
- U.S. Energy Savings Corp.
Electricity Only Providers:
Constellation New Energy (commercial only)
Gas Only Providers:
- Columbia Utilities
- Ferrantino Fuel Corp.
- Intelligent Energy
- Metro Energy Group
- Olympic Power, Inc.
- Sterling Planet
- Stuyvesant Energy
Email Text:
Hello,
“building.wordpress.com” =P
 Technorati Tags:
Energy Supplier Con Edison New York Small Time Landlord
Â
First Reply (non-automated): Columbia Utilities
Thank you for your interest in Columbia Utilities. However, it is company policy not to sell via email. Please give us a call at the office or allow us to call you. We will be glad to discuss all of your discounts to you.
Thank you.
Sales
Columbia Utilities
1350 60 Street
Brooklyn, New York 11219
P: 718.851.6655
F: 718.851.2427
http://www.ColumbiaUtilities.com
Verdict: Not relly informative at all, why have the email address for a sales department posted on your website if this is the type of uninformative response that potential customers are thrown back.
Second (non-automated reply): Intelligent Energy
Mr. “building”,
In case you do have questions about the conversion of therms to ccf’s and vice versa, I have included a conversion table below:
A Ccf is 100 cubic feet=1.03 therms
To convert a CCF pricve into a therm price: CCF/1.03-therm price.
The information attached is only representative of our 5yr. fixed rate. We also have a 1yr(1.419) and a 3yr(1.399) fixed rate available.
————————————————————
Sales Phone (877) 483-4684
7001 SW 24th Avenue
Gainesville, FL 32607
Dear Mr. Building:
Thank you for your interest in Intelligent Energy. We are happy we can be of service. As per your request we are sending you our agreement so that you can review it completely.
The price of our five year plan is $1.5393449 per therm and a $7.95 per month service fee, which will be held for you until: (ten days from today’s date). After that, it is subject to change due to changing market conditions. If this program appeals to you please sign the agreement and get it back to us as soon as possible.
As we mentioned on the phone, we are offering this special program so that you don’t have to worry about your natural gas costs increasing for the next five years. During the past two years the average New York City area utility price for natural gas has risen more than 40%. By selecting a fixed price this will not happen to you for the next five years.
We have been supplying competitively priced natural gas since 1994 and this past year sold $500 million worth. We are recognized by the New York Public Service Commission as an eligible energy service company and are authorized to sell natural gas by your utility. You have an opportunity to join tens of thousands of people in your area who have taken advantage of energy choice in New York State.
As a recap, if you complete and return the enclosed Sales Agreement, and we receive it within 10 calendar days of the date noted above, and you are eligible based on our review of your credit standing, your price for energy supply from Intelligent Energy will be fixed at $1.5394349 per therm with a monthly service fee of $7.95, and is guaranteed not to go up for the next 60 months.
You can also sign up for our service by phone by calling us Yvonne at: (877) IVE-GOT-GAS (877-483-4684) Ext. 5330, or by email at http://www.intelligentenergy.org and forego the paperwork.
After you agree to be served by Intelligent Energy:
* Your utility will send you a letter confirming the switch.
* Your utility will continue to assist you with emergencies, meter reads, and other services just as they do today.
* You will receive a monthly invoice from Intelligent Energy for natural gas purchased and a monthly invoice from your utility for their delivery service charges.
* It is expected that your service with Intelligent Energy will begin from three to seven weeks after your application is received by us. The timing of your start is controlled by your utility.
Budget billing is available for your convenience. If you are interested, please contact us at the Customer Service phone number above.
We look forward to serving you.
Your Friends at Intelligent Energy
Yvonne Allen, Residential Programs, Ext. 5330
Verdict: Attached was also the form required to fill out and send back – basically everything I needed in one email – well done.
Metro Engery is the company I used in Boston (Allston Apartment). If I recall, they were a small company (so I’m surprised they service NYC) but pretty attentive. I bought oil from them and they seemed pretty simple (as in, not tons of technology used).
Third (non-automated reply): IDT Energy
Dear energy customer:
Thank you for your inquiry. IDT Energy offers a natural gas and electric service agreement called “Switch & Save”. The program is a variable rate plan which can save you up to 7% in comparison to Con Edison. Please take into consideration that by being with a marketer such as IDT, you are no longer responsible to pay sales tax on the delivery portion of your gas and electric. You also do not have to pay the Tariff Surcharge or Merchant Function Charge on your gas supply anymore. With electric you receive a credit of up to .004 off each Kilowatt hour used. On top of all those incentives, IDT strives to purchase your gas and electric supply at the best available price to save you as much as possible. For January we are running about $1.20 per therm of gas and .18 per KWR in the New York city area. Be aware that Westchester and other locations in the Con Ed territory can be at different pricing. If you join our program and are not satisfied with our service and wish to change back to the utility or another marketer we do not charge a cancellation fee. If you would like to sign up for our plan simply call customer service at 1-888-310-1398. If you have any further questions feel free to contact me directly at 1-888-310-1398 Ext. 232. Thank you.
Andrew C
Enrollment Specialist
IDT Energy
1-888-310-1398 Ext. 7298
[email address supplied]
Forth (non-automated) reply: Constellation
Hello Mr Building,
Unfortunately, we are unable to provide you with electricity rates at this time. We serve commercial accounts only with a minimum average monthly electrical expenditure of $5,000. Additionally, we offer only electric versus electric and gas.
For residential information, I would suggest you visit the site below and select Residential ESCOs on the top menu.
http://www.poweryourway.com/pages/home.html
Best of luck,
Stephanie Rios
Constellation NewEnergy
Fifth (non-automated) reply: MXenergy
Dear Mr. building,
Thank you for your inquiry.
In order to provide you with a rate quote, please let us know which is your local utility company.
Verdict: The subject of the email I sent was:
“Subject: RE: Switching from Con Edison.”
We look forward to serving you.
MXenergy Customer Care
http://www.mxenergy.com
1-800-785-4373
[…] The business week during which I sent my initial inquiries out to the different energy supply companies on poweryourway.com is pretty much done.  The results, a bit discouraging. I was hoping at least the customer service departments handling requests from interested parties would be a bit more responsive than the typical wait encountered with Con Edison’s email support, but, as it turns out, there are only a small number of suppliers on the ball. […]
[…] Shortly after sending out my initial email to the energy suppliers listed on poweryourway.com I landed a new job and this project fell off the table for a little bit. […]
[…] After almost a year since my initial inquiries (followup 1, part 2), I’ve decided to look back into the Con Edison alternatives listed on PowerYourWay.com. A quick search of the ESCOs that might be able to service my area resulted in a list of companies (those that don’t provide residential service are in italic type). […]
[…] After almost a year since my initial inquiries (followup 1, part 2) to the PowerYourWay ESCOs, I’ve decided to look back into the Con Edison residential gas/energy supplier alternatives listed on PowerYourWay.com. A quick search of the ESCOs that might be able to service my area resulted in a list of companies (those that don’t provide residential service are in italic type). […]
Thank You
Hello..
In the process of doing some research on natural gas prices, I stumbled upon a link to your site. I am curious as to whether you were able to choose an ESCO or if you decided to stay with Con Edison. I am interested to know how you made out because I am in a position to recommend an ESCO in the New York area that can provide very competitive pricing for you. If you are interested in getting more information, please contact me at the email address indicated. Thank you for your consideration.
With all of these options, would you still not have to pay for Con Edison’s supply charge?- which has gone up to $20 a month!!!!?
Thanks!
Would you still have to pay Con Edison, supplier fees?