Companies in Texas like Phillip 66 are looking to save on electricity by becoming power marketers. Cutting out the middle man and buying electricity at market prices adds high risks and high rewards due to the every changing market.

If the natural gas market turns for the worse, companies will lose millions. Natural gas prices are at a ten year low. Some market analysis says prices should go up in the near future. This makes it a prime time for power marketers to buy for the long run. As natural gas prices increase heat rates decreases which represents their inverse relationship.

Electricity Prices = (Natural Gas Prices) × (Market Heat Rate) + (TDSP Charges)

The ideal situation for Phillip 66 is to buy both natural gas and heat rates low. Because of their inverse relationship they will never be low at the same time. Companies will risk money on what the market does. If a company thinks natural gas prices are going to fail, it will buy long term heat rates hoping to save money on the difference. Same if natural gas prices are expected to increase; the company will buy natural gas and wait to buy heat rates.

Phillip 66 is the latest company in Texas to file with the PUCT to become a power marketer. At one point there was talk about Wal-Mart becoming its own retail electric provider.

Small businesses wanting to become power marketers will have a harder time than bigger businesses because of the extra cost. Large businesses have the staff to handle the legal side and energy managers to handle the market side. Many small businesses rely on energy consultants to manage their electricity.

Call 1-800-971-4020 to speak with an energy consultant.

Ambit Energy, the main MLM in deregulated energy markets is expanding its reach to Maryland and Connecticut. As one of the fastest growing companies, Ambit hopes to bring fresh competition to both states with its unique marketing structure.

The structure of the company is often compared to a pyramid scheme which has turned off customers in the past. Consumers looking at rates, and not marketing, will see the potential savings the company has to offer.

Connecticut consumers/businesses located in CL&P Electric and United Illuminating Electric service areas can sign up with one of Ambit’s electricity plans.

Maryland’s utility service area offering Ambit is BGE Gas.

Competition in Maryland and Connecticut gives consumers an options other than the default utility. Residents in both states should see lower electricity rates in the near future.

Small business customers are welcome to save money with Ambit as well as residential customers. Many deregulated markets have already seen the savings offered through low prices on electricity.

Already a Customer?

Customers who believe in the product end up selling it. People wanting to sell electricity should contact an Ambit Energy representative to get more information.

Electric Rates does not sell electricity nor represent Ambit. Please visit its website ambitenergy.com to learn more about the company.

Oncor and other utility companies have been installing smart meters throughout Texas. These meters send electricity usage data every 15 minutes back to the utility company in real time which is a concern of many Texas residents. Joseph and Martha Milan are among the residents expressing their concerns.

Are smart meters an invasion of privacy?

“If you intend to install a ‘Smart Meter’ or any activity monitoring device at the above address, you and all other parties are hereby denied consent for installation…” Joseph and Martha Milan told Reliant Energy in a letter on March 30, 2012. The letter goes on to say “’Smart Meters’ violate the law and cause endangerment to residents…” The danger, expressed in the letter, is in regards to privacy and health.

After reading the letter I was compelled to do some research. I was shocked with the results.

Smart Meters | Invasion of Privacy

To test how easy it is to view electricity usage I went to smartmetertexas.com. All I needed to create an account was the ESI ID and the meter number. I had to accept the terms of service to view the usage but I did not have to verify ownership. It was easier than I expected. Once I had created the account I could see my usage up to the past two days. It was cool to see the data but it made me wonder how easy it would be to gain access to it. If anyone can see my electricity usage it would be possible to determine the likelihood I was home or not.

Starting Over

Acting like a thief, I would first need my ESI ID and meter number. I Googled “ESI ID Lookup” and found esiids.com. It was easy to create an account with esiids.com and look up an ESI ID with just an address and zip code. Next, I needed my smart meter ID which I found on my meter. If I was a crafty thief it would be easy to get my meter ID since most meters are installed on the outside with easy access for meter readers.

Result: It is possible for anyone to gain access to my usage data with little difficulty.

What Can I do About It?

According to FAQ on smartmetertexas.com, once I created the account I was the only one who could see my usage. If someone had already created an account with my ESI ID and smart meter ID it would have given me an error message. If this happened, I would have had to contact my provider to tell them about the issue.

I recommend customers get an account with smartmetertexas.com to stop anyone else from gaining access to their electricity usage data. As for consumers wanting to remove smart meters from their homes I would call the utility company to see if they can help.

Final Notes

The Milan’s concerns maybe inaccurate factually but the risks are real. Smart meters do not record specific electronic devices but the over usage of the home. Someone would have to analyze the data to get information about what is going on in the home.

Joseph and Martha Milan can refuse to allow utility companies to install a smart meter at their home. They can also choose not to use electricity.

As for the health issues raised in the letter, I recommend reading the sections titled “Are Smart Meters Safe?” on this page “Overview of Smart Meters.”

Here is a link on How to read smart meters

Churches and other houses of worship are paying more for electricity in Texas due to high demand charges. Most small churches meet once a week but the demand for electricity on the one day is higher than the rest of the week which is why the demand charges occur.

Texas House Bill 1064 was designed to exempt certain customers from certain demand charges by transmission and distribution utilities. “The legislative intent is to provide relief to small non-profits, churches, and other similarly situated entities whose seasonal or occasional usage peaks trigger an artificially high demand charge,”  a comment on December 19, 2011 by Charles Anderson about the bill stated.

The Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission told the Public Utility Commission of Texas about its concerns with the bill. “The tiered system in the Oncor service territory imposes a ‘ratchet’ on these same customer by using their load factor from the previous year as a price driver,” PROJECT NO. 39829 stated on the PUCT’s website.

Electric Rates has also gotten several confused churches asking why the electric bill has been so high due to high demand charges. The Utility companies who charge the distribution and transmission is not the same as the electric company the churches buy the electricity from. Many people have switched electric companies hoping to save money only to find out they are paying the same for TDSP charges with their new provider.

Price Ceiling

The demand for each house of worship varies which makes it harder to determine a price ceiling implementation by utility companies.

Should churches be treated just like every other customer in the service territory? The PUCT will have to determine if houses of worship get special privileges because of their unique characteristics. Many people would conclude they should be exempt to high demand charges because it does not affect the power grid.

Saving money on your electric bill in the state of New York can be a hassle. It can take a whole day to find and compare energy companies’ rates to each other. The NewYorkPowerToChoose.com is here to help you find a low cost energy provider all in one place.

It can be hard to tell which provider has the best possible price for your home in the long list provided by the website so start with BlueRock Energy. The company’s variable rate plans offers have a wide range of green options from 0-100%.

BlueRock Energy, Inc

Phone: 866.815.2343 or 315.701.1549

Fax: 315.7011.1812

The unmatched approach BlueRock takes in managing your energy plan saves you money. Grouping you together with other customers helps leverage the buying power to get low cost electricity.

The company also offers competitive natural gas prices. The natural gas plans can includes both fixed and variable options from 50% variable to 100%.

If you sign up with one of BlueRock Energy’s variable rate plans you will need to check your rate each billing cycle to make sure it does not get too high.

Electric Rates does not offer residential comparison services for the state of New York at this time. Please visit NewYorkPowerToChoose.com to compare the latest New York electricity prices.

Electric Rates does not sell nor represent BlueRock Energy at this time. To see the company’s rates visit its website.

I have written articles in the past about energy scams which talk about variable plans and how they can affect your view of energy companies.

This article is not a “Con Edison Scam” post.

I came across Con Edison’s Scam article on coned.com which talks about energy scams the company has become aware of and are doing its best to combat. The scams mentioned in the article include imposters, email virus, and Green Dot scams. Con Edison is not the only energy company these scams have happen to. There are several times we have seen others complaints about imposters coming to your homes.

Con Edison wants you to report any email virus to FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. The emails will appear as if they came from Con Edison and will contain a zip file attached to it. Other companies have had similar issues so be careful no matter who they say they are.

If someone comes to your door claiming to work for your electric company ask to see ID. Con Edison’s employees will have a name tag with their ID on it. Call your electric company if you want to make sure they are who they say they are.

Con Edison scam: Green Dot. Con Edison does not accept green dot to pay bills. If someone tries to get you to pay using Green Dot, don’t.

Con Edison Review

Con Edison has been providing New York, New York electricity for over 180 years. The company also sells natural gas services. Con Edison is a utilities company not to be confused with ConEdison Solutions the Retail Electric Provider (REP). They both are owned by Consolidated Edison Company.

To shop and compare rates for the Con Edison’s utility area type your zip in the compare box and click compare. You will see a list of energy plan offers in Electric Rates’ compare chart.

Energy Future Holdings Corp. reported a $1.9 billion loss for 2011. The Corporation owns TXU Energy, Luminant and Oncor Electric Delivery.

A recent article written by Jack Z. Smith in the Fort Worth Star Telegram said “’The state’s highly competitive deregulated market, now 10 years old, has stripped TXU Energy of many customer, said Bernard Weinstein, associate director of the Maguire Energy Institute at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.”

It is always good to shop around before signing up with an electricity provider. Comparison shopping puts a strain on energy companies to find ways to get you to stay with them for more than a year. It has, however, helped lower prices on electricity in Texas.

Energy Future Holdings last year reported a $2.8 billion loss. Where is all the money going and how is the Corporation going to turn it around?

In a monopolistically competitive market, firms (companies) should try to differentiate from the competition. TXU Energy has been using the no-variable campaign to set it apart from the competition.

Most customers who sign up with a variable rate electricity plan become angry due to the price increase after the first month’s bill. By not offering customers the variable plan, TXU hopes to show you it’s not going to give you any surprises.

Is it working?

Customers want to know they can trust the energy company they are signing up with but at the same time if they can save a little more money, they will take a chance with a variable plan. TXU’s fixed rate plans are very competitive compared to other Texas energy companies. This makes TXU look like a good choice for electricity service in Texas.

TXU Energy is also sponsoring film festivals and partnering with solar panel companies to offer rebates for install the panels on your home.

The future of Energy Future Holding Corp. is unclear but with back to back years posting billion plus in losses is not helping them move forward.

I wrote an article about the “Glacial Energy Scam” claiming it was “not a scam” but perhaps I spoke too soon. On Tuesday the 9th of January the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) recommended revoking the company’s license.  The PUCT is now reviewing Glacial Energy to see if it is necessary to revoke its Retail Electric Provider’s (REP) license.

The company is being fined over $235,000 for over-billing its customers. To make matters worse, Glacial Energy’s owner, Gary Mole, also owned Franklin Power Company. It seems harmless to go from owning one energy company to another but not in this case. According to TXU Delivery Company and CenterPoint, Franklin Power Company failed to pay its bills which led to its license being revoked in 2006.

I don’t know if the PUCT had any knowledge about Mole’s ownership of the Franklin Power Company. This makes me question the validity of the process to get licensed because the PUCT has to approve REPs before they can sell electricity in Texas.

Another crazy thing about Glacial Energy is the lawsuit in a Dallas federal court about its involvement in financing “blood diamonds.” The case also includes charges of “racketeering” and “money laundering” to help fund the mining operation in Africa.

So was I right about claiming Glacial Energy was not a scam? If the allegations hold up in court, it looks like I was wrong. To barrow the old cliché; “you’re innocent until proven guilty” gives me comfort that maybe this is all wrong but it does not soften the blow to my confidence in the PUCT.

ElectricRates.com does not represent nor sell electricity through Glacial Energy.

Glacial Energy does not sell residential electricity services.

Mechanical meters are being replaced with evolved Smart Meters. The two-way digital communication capabilities give you the benefits of tracking your electricity consumption in 15 minute periods.

Electric suppliers (poles and wires) will be able to track power outages caused by fallen trees with the Smart Meter technology. You will also be able to track your usage through smartmetertexas.com. It is easy to save money when you can buy an in-home monitor from your Retail Electric Provider (REP) which converts usage into dollars.

Smart Meters allow energy companies like TXU, Direct Energy, Payless Power and several others the ability to sell Pre-paid (no-deposit) electricity plans. If you are looking for an energy company and you don’t have the money for a deposit you should look into signing up with a prepaid light company.

Oncor’s electricity service area is the only area in which no-deposit plans are offered at this time. You can expect smart meters in other service areas soon because of the benefits they offer to you and the energy companies.

You can compare prepaid light companies in Texas by typing your zip code into the compare box and clicking “Compare.” There will be several tabs on the top of the compare chart. Click the “No-deposit” to see electricity plans in your area.

Are Smart Meters Safe?

The radio frequency or RF transmission signals the smart meter puts out are comparable to the low level radio frequency of other common electronic devices. The Smart Meters pass the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards to be considered a safe electronic device.

What About Smart Meters For My Business?

Smart Meters give small business the ability to track usage. Large businesses already have energy managers or hire energy constants to analyze with IDRs (Interval Data Recorders). If you own a small business you will be able to use the smart meters to manage cost while keeping your company competitive.

Call 1-800-971-4020 to speak with an energy consultant.

An energy consultant may be able to help you save money whether or not you have a smart meter.