As an individual trying to move to Texas (though a Texas native), I am appalled at the manner i have been treated with regard to having electricity connected to my new home at 101 Gr… B…; Pottsboro, TX.  The prior owners of the property were to have the service (contract with “Champion Energy” transferred to me and the change of the service from the prior owners to me was to be scheduled on September 1, 2011.  Regardless, after the electricity was disconnected during the hottest part of the day, I had to drive to the nearby Tanglewood Resort and borrow a telephone and computer to determine the problem.  After 5.25 hours talking with “Anthony” of “Champion”, “Jesus” of “Billmatrix”, and 13 other employees of both concerns, I was still without electricity,  Please keep in mind I had gone through this exercise some three (3) weeks ago when i contracted for the property and everything was said to be in order, as far as the change of accounts.  Call after call, conference call after conference call resulted in the same dismal result…no customer “ten digit number”, because the confirmation number (256184) did not match an account in anybody’s system. While I do not understand the need for a deposit of $350.00 in the first place, my credit card company indicated the payment of two (2) deposits along with two (2) $7.95 “service” charges having been charged to the account given.

I tried repeatedly to explain I had insulin and other medications in the refrigerator needed for post chemotherapy and radiation therapy, let alone my intolerance of the heat given my medical condition, and no one, and I mean no one had any authority to override the system and  at the very least connect the electricity for 24 hours until we could come to some understanding – some resolution to the problem.  Meanwhile, I’m trying to direct movers in the heat, nowhere to escape from the inferno, knowing I had to do another infusion of medication that may have overheated which would have resulted in a painful death, and again no one seemed to be able to do anything.  (A small matter, considering everything else, but I had half a beef in a freezer which was quickly thawing.)

What in a person’s world tells people it is acceptable to let this sort of event happen, and worse, what in this world gives no one the ability to make an independent decision – outside the rules and regulations of a flipping’ computer?

Believe me, if I felt better, I would go into greater detail.  For instance, I asked several employees of Champion if someone came to the house to disconnect the electricity or was it done remotely.  Out of five persons with Champion, not one knew the answer.  If someone had to physically come to the house, how did he/she get by 9 mover-guys without notice and why wouldn’t he/she ask something about the situation?  What have we come to?

The bottom line is this:  I am going to have to drive to the nearest oncology facility to test my medications before infusing them.  God help you if anything, and I mean anything goes awry.

I am not in the position to put up with one more bureaucratic, mind-numbed idiot who knows nothing about the business for which he/she works making life and death decision based on a script handed him hours after he ./she was hired.

This rant covers about 10 minutes of the better part of the day’s frustrating “conversations” with totally mismanaged, inept, poorly directed, wholly unprepared persons.  I am certain they are fine people, but simply not up to the tasks to which they are designated to handle.  It is you, management,  responsible for making every opportunity your “front-line” people are equipped with the knowledge and authority to handle any problem that is presented!!!

Further, you do not know me and I do not pull strings, but you have disrespected and endangered the wrong person. If I am damaged any more than I have been at this point, there will be a day of reckoning, I assure you.  You and your organization have made my life and this move unbearable!

Mr. G.

As of right now the government has decided to raise the debt ceiling, print more money, and keep key interest rates at historical lows for at least another 2 years.

Credit standards are tough but not too bad compared with what could happen if things continue to get worse in the US economy.

The trend in the credit business has seen credit card companies reduce credit lines for even those with high credit scores simply to reduce their exposure to risk in a terrible economy.

When credit lines are reduced this causes the debt to credit line ratio to change for a consumer and makes a credit score number decline for that person.

So right now even those who have traditionally had good credit score numbers could see that number decline simply because their credit lines have been reduced.

When it comes to electricity deposits you will see the credit score criteria hit more people because of the change in credit lines which will cause higher deposit amounts being requested.

The sad news is that we cannot indefinitely continue to raise the debt ceiling as the governments solution has simply been to print more money. Seeing credit line decreases is one of many problems with the governments answer to the failing economy. At some point a politician must basically do political suicide and freeze the debt ceiling and begin paying off debt.

You see the US is diluting the money supply by printing more money with nothing backing its value. This fiat currency is devaluing the bond holders value in US Treasuries such as China’s large investment in US treasuries.

Basically the US is in a serious crisis and the citizens do not even realize it yet but they are beginning to as people with perfect credit are now being asked for deposits to have lights turned on.

If this ponzi scheme finally ends where money stops being printed and the debt ceiling is forever halted it will be very hard for a few years as the government contends with not receiving revenue they have been getting for their ever increasing budget year after year.

The debt ceiling was raised again and hopefully that will be the last time.  Even with a stop to government spending and debt accumulation there will be additional problems with interest rates going up, credit score criteria going up and yes that means your electricity deposit will be going up even more.

If you thought it was hard to get your lights turned on with no deposit in the past wait about 2 years from now and you will see that it is even harder and they will likely want more money.

There are still ways around the big deposit if your credit stinks and that is to look at prepaid electric companies. Below are some points to consider before choosing a prepaid company.

• Does the company estimate your usage or do they use exact usage from an advanced meter?
• Can you find multiple negative comments from prior customers on the internet?
• Do they disclose what the per kilowatt rate is or do they only show the start up fee?
• What is the companies rating with Public Utility Commission of Texas.

Constellation does not plan to stop there as they will also be buying MXEnergy for $175 million. MXEnergy has over 540,000 electric and natural gas customers in the US and Canada.

A company like Constellation who is already a gigantic company should be able to handle these buyouts with little problem considering they recently began to merge companies with Exelon making the Startex and MXEnergy buyouts seem like a small side deal.

We have been offering Startex Power in our compare chart for several years but no longer provide their plans to our customers. Our decision was based on well researched information regarding many different factors and we believe it is in the best interest of our company and the customers we serve.

Texas has deregulated the electric utility market way back in 2002 and if you relocated to Texas you may have no idea of this fact.

In the North Texas area you will usually have electric service initially turned on under TXU Energy especially if it is a newly built home or business.

The reason you might want to switch is because you could be on a default variable electric rate with them that does not have the rate locked in for a period of time. This may mean you are paying more for your electricity than you really should be.

When on a month to month rate like this I would call your provider and see what available fixed electric rate offers they have.

Besides just calling TXU you might want to check on prices with several other electricity suppliers in the area.

There is a common misconception that this electric company was responsible for adding in the advanced meter charge on your electric bill. In reality they actually asked the PUCT to reconsider how the fee was applied as many people could end up with the false impression it was their idea. Considering that many electric meters installed in Texas still have the TXU logo and name it would be fair to believe some people would blame them for the advanced meter charge and in fact this is what has started to happen.

The big standard electric utility is not the enemy and no they are not the company that proposed or lobbied for this charge on everyone’s meter. To make all residents pay in advance for the meter before it was even installed was the Texas governments idea and it has had adverse effects on TXU’s business because of public perception that they are the company responsible for this.

Rather then get bogged down with having to pay the advanced meter fee and who to blame it is recommended to simply go out and shop and compare prices among the providers. All of these companies will be charging that same meter fee regardless of who you choose.

What can be confusing during this shopping process is seeing a “competitive” month to month electric rate and falling for the low price.

After the first month a variable rate like this will go up in price usually. To avoid this pitfall simply compare only fixed electricity prices with each other.

In summary TXU is a good Texas electric company but for many they are just the default electric company they are stuck with until they do their own shopping.

It is worth the small amount of time it takes to compare providers or have an energy consulting company compare prices for you.

You may also call one of our featured providers and most of them will go over your TXU Energy bill and price to see if you may receive any savings by switching to an alternate TX electric supplier.

We looked at the BGE Electric bill summary over the last few years and since 2009 there has been an 18% decline in the average BGE electricity bill.

The chart we looked at showed a clear graphical representation of how far a BGE electric bill dropped in dollar amounts.

As you can see in the chart back in 2009 – 2010 the average BGE electric bill was $158.

Moving to 2010 – 2011 the average BGE electric bill was $145.

The projected average electricity bill price for 2011 – 2012 is expected to be $129.

This drop in price can be attributed to the efficiencies created in a deregulated electric market and specifically a large part of the savings happen at the wholesale market level.

When choosing an alternate electric company in the BG&E electric utility area you will obviously experience a decline in price compared to previous years.

The electric deregulation process in the Maryland market has become confusing for BGE electric customers as the price they control is the transmission aspect of the price.

This utility continues to charge you for the pole and wires charges but encourages you to switch to competing electric companies in their electric utility service area in order to realize savings.

You can see what Baltimore electric suppliers are offering by going through a list of providers and calling each one or visiting their website. You may also use a comparison chart like the one we have available at the top right. We only compare commercial electricity suppliers at this time in Maryland.

The 18% overall decline in BGE Electric’s energy prices is nice and allows you to achieve energy savings from competing Baltimore electricity suppliers fighting to win your business.

We make the comparison process simple as our Baltimore energy consultants compare rates and create detailed charts showing you back to back electric rates from several suppliers.

You can sort these energy prices from the cheapest available offer to the most expensive and see how they compare against BGE and their projected decrease in the total electric bill cost for their customers.

To give you a better idea of the savings chart presented in this article consider that if a BG customer used 1,000 kWh of electricity per month and their electric bill was $129 than their per kilowatt hour rate would be 12.9 ¢.

Since we do not know what the per kilowatt rate and average monthly electric usage that BGE Electric is using we can only speculate as to what the price per kWh is that they used to create this chart.

To assist in comparing other retail electricity suppliers against BGE please use the compare tool at the top right to get started. Once you compare prices you can immediately order Baltimore electric service online.

Most of us have heard of PECO and Penelec but how many of you have heard of MXEnergy, Champion Energy, and Gateway?

MXEnergy will soon be bought and merged with Constellation NewEnergy which is one of the largest electric companies in the US. Champion Energy and Gateway are smaller providers but still formidable and reputable suppliers many commercial and industrial companies have chosen to do business with.

These companies are all aggressively advertising in PA and are convincing people to switch away from PECO and Penelec and on over to their electric company.

Some of the electricity suppliers that are offering electric service that came in from another state are using some gorilla sales tactics to accomplish this task.

You may find yourself having your door knocked on in the middle of the day by one of the the alternate electric companies in Pennsylvania trying to snatch you away from the big brand energy companies.

There are some important things to consider before you switch providers in regards to the sales tactics they might use.

Door to Door Electricity Sales Tactics

• The salesmen may refer to themselves as having been sent from PPL or Penelec.
• The company may mention a notice through the mail that you might have received letting you know they were coming.
• The company may guarantee that the electricity price would be lower when this might only be the case the first month.
• The sales guy helps to confuse you as to if you will be switching electric companies.
• They may make it seem that you are only changing your rate plan as your bill will still be coming from Penelec or PPL.

Do not fall for any of these slight of hand tricks as you most definitely will be switching away to a new PA electricity company. There are in fact ongoing lawsuits regarding this type of door to door scheme by some of the alternate electric companies in PA.

Switching to a new low PA electricity price is a good thing to do if it will save you money but no one wants to be lied to about it. Chances are that if a sales guy is lying to you about who they are the price may not actually save you money, as what keeps them from telling the truth about that?

We are not saying that all electric companies that knock on your door are bad it just pays to know a few things that have been happening in advance so you do not fall for the same tricks.

Pay attention as your electricity rate could be a bait and switch rate plan that jacks up the price after the first month. We want to give you some solid information to prevent Dallas consumers like yourself from falling for some of these bad electricity plans.

The problem for most people is that they look for the rate that seems to be the most competitive. For providers it is very easy for them to make the most expensive electricity rate look as though it is the cheapest.

This rate manipulation is done by the suppliers offering a very low priced variable electric rate that is usually good for the first month only. After the first month you might see a price spike with your energy company. Sometimes the supplier that offers this plan will raise your rate a little slower over the course of several months but either way they are pulling one over on you.

We have even had a supplier ask us not to disclose to the public about their scheme of slowly creeping up their price on people after they were caught. Of course we exposed them as well as removed them from our website as soon as we found this out.

The solution to this problem is to never go with a 1 month variable rate plan in Dallas Texas. Yes, some electric companies offer these plans and keep their rate somewhat competitive but you have no guarantee of this.

Rather than choose the variable plan compare multiple fixed electricity rate offers in Dallas. By looking at these long term plans you can accurately see what the cost really is from many companies without worrying about little gimmicks here and there.

You can compare providers on your own but be sure to look through the terms of service with each contract and ask the providers if there will be any additional fees on top of what they quote you irregardless if they are passing them through. Each electric company has different terms of service that goes along with their rate plan and sorting this all out can make it difficult to do an accurate apples to apples comparison.

In situations where you have bad credit you may be asked for a deposit. In this situation you may have to call to pay a deposit amount but beyond this there are no additional steps in getting those lights turned on.

Once you have ordered electric service your Dallas electricity supplier will send you a bill each month. If there is a power outage there will be a number on each bill with the outage number to call. In Dallas the electricity power company that handles outages is Oncor Electric Delivery although they do not sell electric service but instead only manage the pole and wires infrastructure.

Prior to your contract end date your chosen electric company will send you a reminder to renew your electric contract. You may renew with your current electric company or go out shopping again.

You may prefer to use a broker or energy consultant. The benefit of using a Dallas energy consultancy is the unbiased nature of a comparison that shoots for the bottom line consideration for most people, PRICE.

You get a customer advocate rather than an electricity sales guy working for a single electric supplier. Don’t be fooled as some consultanting companies are simply brokers working for 1 – 3 providers and are more of an independent sales outfit for as little as one provider.

When calling an energy consultant rather than a pizza guy support person sometimes outsourced from another country you get a real expert.

A Dallas energy consulting company should be run ethically and with a company culture that not only treats customers right but also the energy professionals who will be talking to you if you decide to call.

With an online comparison chart created by a consulting company you can spend just a few seconds comparing and finding the lowest price rather than spending hours sifting through contract details and rate plans.

Before using an online chart consider that some charts are built to shape customers to a certain preferred provider. Always be aware that the providers in the top 3 spots in a chart may not always be the cheapest on some of these charts.

Sometimes it is more important to look for trusted providers with a good score with existing customers even if you pay a little more just to avoid possible problems or tricks later.

The time saving value of using a consultant to do your research will give you the bonus of doing something else with your time such as moving your furniture into your house if your relocating or simply spending a little more time with your family.

Most often a consulting company can find you a Dallas electric price without a hidden cost. If you do not use a service like this you will likely spend a lot more time on the computer so I encourage you to allow a consultant to get you those bottom line dollar saving numbers for you.

As of August 2011 their website says they have over 350,000 natural gas and electric service customers in these states. It would appear that they may be seeing a decrease in total customer count as deregulation has taken effect in these states.

Washington Gas Energy Services is a subsidiary of WGL Holdings and an affiliate of Washington Gas.  Based on its experience understanding of the current energy market and utility tariffs, Washington Gas Energy Services believes it can offer a simple solution for all its customers energy needs. Washington Gas Energy Services offers residential service based on the following guidelines:

Homeowners and residents that pay their own utilities:

• Detached Homes
• Townhouses
• Condominiums
• Apartments

Electricity features offered:

• Fixed Priced Supply Contracts, provides security in regards to a price that will not change for the term of the contract.
• Discounted Supply Contracts
• Clean Wind Power

Fixed rates were 9.00 cents per kWh with 10% wind as of April 24 2011 and are 9.2 cents per kWh for a 1 year fixed agreement as of Aug 2011 and 9.8 cents at 50% wind power.

Fixed rates were 9.90 cents per kWh with 100% wind as of April 24 2011 and 10.5 cents per kWh for a 1 year fixed at 100% wind power as of Aug 2011

Viridian wants you know that they have differntiated themselves from other competitors by trying to do the right thing when it comes to the environment. Bringing back the spirit of caring into business is not something many companies venture to far into and often remains on a surface level but Viridian has outlined some of their promises in this regard.

Beginning in 2009, Viridian Energy is the electrical supplier for the environmental conscientious, by allowing them to do their part to protect the environment at an affordable price. Viridian Energy stands out compared to other renewable energy competitors because it is willing to take a lower profit in order to see green electricity sold at a reasonable price. These core values stand as the foundation of Viridian Energy’s promise to its customers:

• Environmental Sustainability- Viridian looks to not just create opportunity to take care of the environment, but also create a “culture” that will see its passion reflected in its customers
• Empowerment- This company hopes to create opportunity for its independent Associates to impact the environment and improve their lives
• Reliability- They work to have the same reliable service as other utilities yet with superior customer service
• Integrity- They want to hold the highest standard of ethics in both business and environmental stewardship
• Customer focus- They offer helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable service to fit each customer’s specific need.

The interesting aspect to this company is that they sell their electric service through an MLM business model like Ambit and Ignite. They offer their electricity in multiple states and in order to sell their service you must pay them a membership fee.

The fees you must pay them are $99 to sell in one state with one product, $299 to sell all of their products, and $399 if you want to sell in all states with all of their products offered. They offer different levels of how you want to come into the company and as far as customer perceptions I see it being one of customers learning about them through word of mouth.

The frustrating aspect to this type of company is that customers usually get their information on the company from people who have little experience in explaining an energy agreement and related charges. The people choosing to sign up to help a friend also end up finding out a few months later that their friend they helped out isn’t even in the business anymore.

Regardless of whether or not you spoke with someone who knows how to go over the energy agreement with you in a professional manner I recommend taking time to look at the terms of service for yourself to see if all charges are disclosed in what you were told.

Do not sign the contract until you have compared the price you were told you will pay with what the actual fine print agreement says you will pay. There is almost always some difference between the super excited price the MLM sales recruit tells you and the all-in total bundled rate you will actually be billed for.

In regards to the price issue this is not something we are trying to blame Viridian for as all providers have the challenge of explaining the entire price to their customers it is jut a little easier for the details to get lost when a really excited person is trying to get their grandmother to sign on the dotted line.

If you live in the Penelec electric utility area you will always use Penelec to service your pole and wires and handle outage requests but you may pick a competing retail electricity supplier or continue staying with this provider.

You are not required to switch energy companies and if a door to door sales men tells you differently keep in mind that this is a common tactic used when pounding on doors but is a lie. Again, you do not have to switch companies if you are happy with Penelec.

Penelec Electric Utility Area Map

Some of the popular cities in the Penelec Electric Utility area are Erie PA, Altoona, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Gettysburg. If you live in these areas of PA or surrounding cities you have the power of electric choice.

There are quite a few alternate residential and commercial electricity suppliers in the Penelec utility area but before switching away there are a few important points to consider.

• Penelec can act as your retail electric provider but they do not show their prices online.
• This company actively advertises and encourages you to compare and choose the lowest price provider by utilizing an online comparison service through a company called AllConnect
• This company will always service the pole and wires at your home or business and if you choose not to use the customer choice program they will also sell you a retail electricity rate.
• If you choose to go with a new provider in the Penelec utility area you will still call this utility during a power outage. The outage phone number will also be listed on the electric bill you receive regardless of the company switched to.