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Alternative utility providers
wrote:
Does anyone have experience with changing their utility providers (Gas
and Electric) to save money? Other than the charge (per ccf for gas,
or per kwh for electric), are there any other considerations (fees) to
be aware of when you change?
It appears that if I change electric, I can reduce my bill by $.05/kwh,
but I would still need to pay for transport charges to my original
provider. That small reduction is enough to be attractive to me, but I
don't fully understand how changing the supplier for the same current
can be so much less expensive (40% in this case).
For gas, I'm looking at variable rates vs. fixed rate contracts, with
ceilings, fees, etc.
Thank you,
Dave
The way it works in my area is that the local monopoly still owns the
power lines, and you pay them a fixed monthly fee plus delivery
charges. You pay the alternative energy provider for the energy that
you use. In my case, that is a small part of the total bill. So even
if you are saving 40% on the energy cost, that is 40% of maybe 40% of
the total electric bill, for a savings of 16% (in this example).
I don't know much about it, but in some cases, electric companies can
buy electricity on the open market for less than what it costs them to
generate their own power with their own power plants. The local
utility here used to own a nuclear plant that provided electricity at a
higher than market rates. Somehow it worked out that they sold the
plant and are more competitive now, although I don't understand how
someone else can run the plant profitably.
Ken
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