Please read the below Chicago Tribune article and pass to OTHERS in the community.
As consumers
consider switching from Commonwealth Edison to avoid higher electricity prices
beginning next month, the Citizens Utility Board is warning consumers of
“rip-offs” in the electricity market.
The board said it has received an increase in consumer complaints this year, in
part due to misleading marketing by unregulated electricity suppliers. It says
consumers have complained of increased rates after low introductory rates
disappear, hidden fees and high-pressure sales pitches.
Complaints from January through April increased from 163 in 2013 to 350 in
2014.
And with Commonwealth Edison’s recent disclosure that the average customer will
see monthly bills jump 21 percent starting June 1, the board worries more consumers
might be tricked.
“One of our big concerns is that people seeing the headlines about a June 1
price increase in our bills will be scared into bad deals,” said Jim Chilsen,
CUB’s director of communications.
The board said that there are still many alternative suppliers that can save
customers money, but on average, prices from alternative electric companies
competing against ComEd are more than 20 percent higher than they were this
time a year ago.
The highest advertised variable prices – ones that change month-to-month – in
the Chicago area on May 7 were Viridian at 15 cents per kilowatt-hour, Starion
Energy at 13 cents per kilowatt-hour, Ambit Energy at 11 cents per
kilowatt-hour and Xoom Energy at 10 cents per kilowatt-hour.
A kilowatt-hour is the amount of electricity it would take to run a medium
window AC unit for an hour. The average residential ComEd customer uses 655
kilowatt-hours per month.
In a statement,
Brenda Kerrick, vice president of Product Management for Ambit Energy, said the
10.96 cent per kilowatt-hour rate figure in CUB's report represents the
company's green plan, which comes at a premium because "it's a more
expensive alternative energy product."
"Additionally,
the report only looks at May 2014 rates, which does not represent the year-long
savings that Ambit Energy customers receive," she said.
Kerrick
said Ambit Energy created a Guaranteed Savings Plan that launched the first of
the year, which has a rate of 6.2 cents per kilowatt-hour.
"We
will continue to monitor the market to determine the best strategy for managing
demand spikes at this time and in the future," Kerrick said.
Representatives
of the other three energy providers could not be reached for comment.
The Illinois Commerce Commission has reported that more than 3 million
residential consumers in the state now buy electricity through an unregulated
supplier, compared with 1.8 million at the beginning of 2013.
ComEd charges about 5.5 cents per kilowatt-hour now, but will increase to 7.6
cents next month.
Chicago’s third-coldest winter on record this year exposed potential pitfalls
of choosing alternative electric companies with variable rates, the board said.
The polar vortex increased the demand for natural gas, which is used for heat
and electricity.
In some cases, consumers’ electricity bills quadrupled from one month to the
next. Because electric supplies other than ComEd aren’t regulated, there is
sometimes no way to know why the rates skyrocketed or how the rates were
calculated.
The board said it’s still possible to find savings in the electric market
through alternative providers, but it isn’t easy. New digital meter plans being
rolled out by ComEd would allow consumers to save money when they use
electricity during off-peak times.
Chilsen said the only way to ensure savings on electricity is to use it more
efficiently.
“The cheapest kilowatt-hour is the one that’s never used,” Chilsen said. “The
era of easy savings is over in Illinois.”
Stay Safe and Alert!!!
Later, Leroy Duncan
Beat Facilitator
25th District Police Department
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