If I go back to Illinois, I'm going back in the sense that Rambo "went back" to Vietnam.
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If I Choose Not To Decide, I Still Have Made A Choice
5:08 pm, 12/5/07
If I Choose Not To Decide, I Still Have Made A Choice
The regional power company, NYSEG, is a favorite target of locals here in the Southern Tier. In fact, I've blogged about them in the past in posts with titles like "The Tyrant Electric", about their thinly veiled threats that disaster response would not be forthcoming if they don't get their rate increases and claims by former employees of the existence of something called "Operation: Rape and Pillage".
Of course, NYSEG, like most public utilities, enjoys a government-sanctioned monopoly. However, here their control is limited to the "delivery" market. The "supply" side of the market is deregulated, and annually, consumers are given the opportunity to contract with a different power company in a Byzantine process known as "Voice Your Choice" to have some other company inject their electricity into NYSEG's power lines. This introduces some element of healthy free-market competition into the rate structure, although it doesn't stop NYSEG from demanding massive hikes in the delivery charges from regulators, even as the courts demand that they lower them.
For the last two years, when I got my "Voice Your Choice" brochures, I stuffed them right into the garbage can, as most consumers doubtlessly do. I thought my rates were a little high, but I'm not from around here, and I had no idea what this means:
However, today that all changed, when something called "NYSEG Solutions" sent me a brochure stamped "Enroll online now and RECEIVE $25".
NYSEG Solutions wants to give me money, and, I found out once I opened the brochure, a $92 discount on ski lessons at Greek Peak. The marketing team rightly realized that people respond better to $25 cash than they do to a ski trip worth four times as much, and featured that on the outside of the envelope. Cash is cash.
An ESCO, it turns out, is an alternative supplier to your delivery company, and apparently there's some kind of "access credit" for using one, so NYSEG started one in order to allow their customers to get the credit but continue giving money to NYSEG.
Also, there's something about there being a Green option for another 1.5 cents per kilowatt hour, and if I subscribe now, they'll plant a tree in a National Forest. Presumably, if I don't, they'll burn one down. Whatever. How many people looked at this and checked the box without realizing that that penny and a half adds up fast? The Green option is about 17.5% more expensive than the regular fixed rate. Is there something on my account that might flag me as a cocaine smuggler, that makes them think I have disposable income? I'll quit leaving the bathroom light on, instead. It's cost-effective and helps the environment, cleansing my guilt when I grill polar bears stuffed with baby harp seal.
Then I noticed the fine print beneath the giant print inside the brochure: "NEW CUSTOMERS: RECEIVE $25", followed by an important qualifier: "online enrollments only".
I went to the website, filled out the form, realized I didn't know my "POD ID #", or, in fact, what that was. Then, as I logged into Bank of America to pull up a bill and find it, it hit me.
Was I being had? What if there was another ESCO out there offering rates a penny lower, or better yet, the same rates, with a $50 enrollment bonus and a discount at Scores? I didn't know. How would I know, if they didn't have me on their mailing list? How would I ever know?
It turns out, NYSEG has a list on their web site of 38 potential suppliers. Surely, this would simplify things. However, after reviewing a half dozen of their websites (including the one for Energetix, which looks suspiciously like the one for NYSEG Solutions because it's essentially the same company), I was unable to find a single explanation of their rates on any of their websites (except for Energetix, obviously), and I certainly wasn't going to spend four hours calling them. There's no way I could be able to save enough money from this to justify the hold music.
I had a false positive when I checked out ConEdison Solutions (they can't be bad, right?), where the website actually offered instructions for NYSEG customers to find out their rates.
One last chance: What if I check Google for a chart of ESCO rates? Surely, someone has compiled this already, and when I searched, this was the third hit:
I signed up for NYSEG Solutions on the "market rate" plan because historically, the market rate has been less than or roughly equal to the "fixed rate" offer for the last two years, and I'm doing it because NYSEG Solutions is the only ESCO where I could figure out what they were actually trying to charge me. "Voice Your Choice" might work better if the ESCOs tried harder, but I suspect it's directly proportional to how many people actually bother to read the mailer they get every year. This isn't exactly an efficient market New York's running here, but when, in the entire history of mankind, has a government-run market ever been efficient?
The regional power company, NYSEG, is a favorite target of locals here in the Southern Tier. In fact, I've blogged about them in the past in posts with titles like "The Tyrant Electric", about their thinly veiled threats that disaster response would not be forthcoming if they don't get their rate increases and claims by former employees of the existence of something called "Operation: Rape and Pillage".
Of course, NYSEG, like most public utilities, enjoys a government-sanctioned monopoly. However, here their control is limited to the "delivery" market. The "supply" side of the market is deregulated, and annually, consumers are given the opportunity to contract with a different power company in a Byzantine process known as "Voice Your Choice" to have some other company inject their electricity into NYSEG's power lines. This introduces some element of healthy free-market competition into the rate structure, although it doesn't stop NYSEG from demanding massive hikes in the delivery charges from regulators, even as the courts demand that they lower them.
For the last two years, when I got my "Voice Your Choice" brochures, I stuffed them right into the garbage can, as most consumers doubtlessly do. I thought my rates were a little high, but I'm not from around here, and I had no idea what this means:
Residential and nonresidential customers without a demand meter may select the NYSEG Fixed Price Option, NYSEG Default Supply Option or the ESCO Price Option. Nonresidential customers with a demand meter also have three options; however, the NYSEG Variable Price Option is available in place of the NYSEG Default Supply Option. For the ESCO Price Option, you must select an ESCO to enroll your account. If you choose an ESCO as your supplier, you should contact the ESCO directly for additional information about this choice.This can't possibly be worth my time, right? Just send me the default bill.
However, today that all changed, when something called "NYSEG Solutions" sent me a brochure stamped "Enroll online now and RECEIVE $25".
NYSEG Solutions wants to give me money, and, I found out once I opened the brochure, a $92 discount on ski lessons at Greek Peak. The marketing team rightly realized that people respond better to $25 cash than they do to a ski trip worth four times as much, and featured that on the outside of the envelope. Cash is cash.
An ESCO, it turns out, is an alternative supplier to your delivery company, and apparently there's some kind of "access credit" for using one, so NYSEG started one in order to allow their customers to get the credit but continue giving money to NYSEG.
Also, there's something about there being a Green option for another 1.5 cents per kilowatt hour, and if I subscribe now, they'll plant a tree in a National Forest. Presumably, if I don't, they'll burn one down. Whatever. How many people looked at this and checked the box without realizing that that penny and a half adds up fast? The Green option is about 17.5% more expensive than the regular fixed rate. Is there something on my account that might flag me as a cocaine smuggler, that makes them think I have disposable income? I'll quit leaving the bathroom light on, instead. It's cost-effective and helps the environment, cleansing my guilt when I grill polar bears stuffed with baby harp seal.
Then I noticed the fine print beneath the giant print inside the brochure: "NEW CUSTOMERS: RECEIVE $25", followed by an important qualifier: "online enrollments only".
I went to the website, filled out the form, realized I didn't know my "POD ID #", or, in fact, what that was. Then, as I logged into Bank of America to pull up a bill and find it, it hit me.
Was I being had? What if there was another ESCO out there offering rates a penny lower, or better yet, the same rates, with a $50 enrollment bonus and a discount at Scores? I didn't know. How would I know, if they didn't have me on their mailing list? How would I ever know?
It turns out, NYSEG has a list on their web site of 38 potential suppliers. Surely, this would simplify things. However, after reviewing a half dozen of their websites (including the one for Energetix, which looks suspiciously like the one for NYSEG Solutions because it's essentially the same company), I was unable to find a single explanation of their rates on any of their websites (except for Energetix, obviously), and I certainly wasn't going to spend four hours calling them. There's no way I could be able to save enough money from this to justify the hold music.
I had a false positive when I checked out ConEdison Solutions (they can't be bad, right?), where the website actually offered instructions for NYSEG customers to find out their rates.
As an NYSEG residential electricity customer, you can shop around for an electricity plan that best suits your needs. By choosing ConEdison Solutions during the NYSEG Voice Your Choice program, you can take control of your bills and get an energy plan that fits your budget. Don't hesitate! You only have until December 28, 2007 to make your electricity supply choice.Holy cow, I can do that right on NYSEG.com? Surely there's a database off all the ESCOs and their rates and features, hugely simplifying my decision! I found the compare prices link, and filled out the form, selected the ESCO Price Option. Sure enough, there's a field entitled "ESCO Supply Charge - Cents/kwh". Underneath?
Compare prices with NYSEG and calculate the difference at www.NYSEG.com.
Depends on ESCO offer.AAARRRGGGHHH!!!
One last chance: What if I check Google for a chart of ESCO rates? Surely, someone has compiled this already, and when I searched, this was the third hit:
Power Your WayAwesome!
The ESCOs listed below have met the eligibility requirements of the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) and are actively marketing in New York ...
The page cannot be found.Screw this!
I signed up for NYSEG Solutions on the "market rate" plan because historically, the market rate has been less than or roughly equal to the "fixed rate" offer for the last two years, and I'm doing it because NYSEG Solutions is the only ESCO where I could figure out what they were actually trying to charge me. "Voice Your Choice" might work better if the ESCOs tried harder, but I suspect it's directly proportional to how many people actually bother to read the mailer they get every year. This isn't exactly an efficient market New York's running here, but when, in the entire history of mankind, has a government-run market ever been efficient?
