Natural Gas and Electricity Fixed Price? - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Nabber · 11-11-2007, 12:29 PM

Just wondering if anyone has any opinions on locking in your Natural Gas and Electricity. Had someone from Alberta Energy Savings knocking on my door and it sounded pretty interesting, but I'm not really familiar with how all this stuff works, and if it'll actually save me money.

Basically I can lock in my Natural Gas at $9.98/GJ and Electricity at 11.60 cents/kWh of electricity consumed. They say I'll save money as rates are always going up as well I lose a processing fee as my Enmax and Direct energy bill with come as one bill per month. Anyone else do this??

Your thoughts are appreciated.

getbak · 11-11-2007, 12:35 PM

I don't know anyone who has been happy with AES. I would run far away from any of their representatives.

Check this out: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/sto...contracts.html

Nabber · 11-11-2007, 01:14 PM

Wow, thanks guys, the numbers seemed way off when I was comparing them as my rates would have doubled, but the rep claimed prices will more than double in the winter as well as over the next few years. CP to the rescue, a $1000 payment to get out of the plan, that hurts.

Indi · 11-11-2007, 01:28 PM

if you really want to lock in, look at Enmax, the rates are pretty decent, and you can cancel your contract with no penalties as long as you give one months notice. I wouldn't lock in your gas, just go on the floating rate option, gas is pretty cheap, and unless we get a cold winter, its going to get cheaper imo...
Just checked, enmax's electrical rates are at $.08/KW/h, so quite a difference from the rate you were quoted

good luck

TurnedTheCorner · 11-11-2007, 01:32 PM

They always sell with the scare tactics that prices will soar in the winter, but they don't have a damn clue which way prices will go. I'm skeptical of any fixed term contract, but if you want to pursue one ask detailed questions about your right to cancel the contract and switch from fixed to floating and back. Get it in writing, and remember you have a cooling off period if you sign any contract from a door to door call.

Any energy marketer not willing to go over this with you should be shown the door immediately.

Incinerator · 11-11-2007, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nabber

Electricity at 11.60 cents/kWh.

LOL...should've told him to beat it right then. I locked in with Enmax for 7 cents/kWh for 5 years in July.

lifer · 11-11-2007, 02:05 PM

Direct Energy and Enmax both have better fixed prices and programs than AES. If you are going to look into a fixed price, those are the companies to consider (especially Enmax's electricity price). DE and Enmax also both offer market prices on a single bill for electricity and natural gas. That saves you about 100 bucks a year on administration fees. These isn't really a good reason that an educated consumer shouldn't at least be on one of those programs right now.

Slava · 11-11-2007, 07:34 PM

I had someone come to my door and argue the economics of locking in at $9 for gas as well. I asked her what the current price was and she responded that it was about $6. So why would I lock in at $9 then? She said that the prices would go up....well come on back when they are at $9 then and maybe I'll give this another look!

tanguay'sstillgood · 11-11-2007, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slava

I had someone come to my door and argue the economics of locking in at $9 for gas as well. I asked her what the current price was and she responded that it was about $6. So why would I lock in at $9 then? She said that the prices would go up....well come on back when they are at $9 then and maybe I'll give this another look!

You mean once the price to lock in at is $12?

Devils'Advocate · 05-03-2008, 05:52 AM

Sorry to bump up a dead thread, but I had the same scam tried on me yesterday. I *almost* got caught by the scam. The trick to the scam is that they insinuate that they are with the main electrical and gas companies. Here in Ottawa they carry pamphlets from Enbridge and Ottawa Hydro and when they arrive at the door they say that they are with "THE power company", allowing the consumer to assume that they mean either "the main power company" or "the power company the person is currently using". The person was wearing a jacket and a badge saying "Ontario Energy Savings" and she insinuated that this was a program BY Hydro1 that was akin to choosing fixed or variable interest rates at a bank... if you choose a fixed rate, it may be slightly higher than variable but it gives you protection over the long 5 year contract.

I told her that I didn't have my account number on hand. She asked if it was on my computer and I said yes it was... so I went to check it... but in the seconds that it took me to go from the door to my computer I got thinking "If this is a program *BY* Ottawa Hydro, then why do they need to see my bill to get my account number?!?! Wouldn't they already have it?!?!" So instead of looking up my account numbers, I typed "Ontario Energy Savings" and found this:
http://slearch.blogspot.com/2007/11/...-of-earth.html

It's just a huge scam. And it's the same outfit running "Alberta Energy Savings". "Direct Energy" are running the same scam. There are legitimate resellers out there, but the ones that go door to door are generally rip-off con-artists. Next time one of these guys comes to my door, I'm going to throw on a jacket and walk with him/her through the neighborhood so that my neighbors don't get stung by the scam.

Sylvanfan · 06-10-2008, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

It's just a huge scam. And it's the same outfit running "Alberta Energy Savings". "Direct Energy" are running the same scam. There are legitimate resellers out there, but the ones that go door to door are generally rip-off con-artists. Next time one of these guys comes to my door, I'm going to throw on a jacket and walk with him/her through the neighborhood so that my neighbors don't get stung by the scam.

Today living in BC, some guy from Direct Energy shows up at the place I'm living in Osoyoos BC. Turns out that he went to highschool with my wife and would have had her sold hook line and sinker if I didn't control this sort of thing in my house hold. All because he works for them, he must know what he's talking about....Um no, he works for them and gets a rather nice commission for every sale and will work any angle he can to get a sale. First off we don't own the house the utility contract isn't in our name, so we can't even sign on. Second it's a rip off, oh no they upped Natrual Gas rates in BC! Guess what everything else went up in price it's just that the government doesn't have to approve it when they raise the price on everything else. And his best line...well everyone in Alberta did this didn't they? No, everyone who did this in Alberta wanted out of that contract!

Mr.Coffee · 06-10-2008, 06:55 PM

A couple years ago I worked for Direct Energy doing the door to door gig. I was on the front line selling this stuff *Ducks tomatoes because people aren't eating them*.

Anyway, here's the truth of the truth in my opinion:

I could get into all kinds of details, but I won't because I'm not sure how much I can actually reveal. But I think the following should be safe. The door to door guys are paid through commission, but only paid assuming you pass a credit check. At the end of the day, they probably don't care whether or not you sign up because everyday they are getting at least a couple and making what they need to make.

If they don't have a badge, it may be a scam, don't talk to them. We were sent to the field with identification. If they claim they are there to 'check your meters' don't talk to them, that's most likely a good way to get into your home which cuts off the "door" barrier and enables easier selling.

The year I sold, the customers who signed up at the beginning of the summer would have ended up saving them a bit of money (gas at about $7.50 elec at 7 cents), but by the end, they would have ended up losing money (gas at about 9.50 elec at 11cents). I wouldn't sign up at those prices.

Some companies like DE offer the seasonal gig, which isn't bad, it means your variable in the summer months and fixed in the winter. All in all I would say if people WERE losing money, they weren't spending a whole lot more, and if they were saving money, they probably weren't saving a whole lot either. You've got to remember that your bill is a combination of consumption as well as price, so if you stop using as much energy, your saving anyway. The admin fees seemed like the only real selling point for me.

If a Direct Energy guy says that it combines into 1 bill.... think about it. He/she are referring to the fact that they will move elec to the gas bill to make it 1 gas/elec bill. Unfortunately, Enmax still will be sending you a bill for water/sewage, so the only company that can get you a TRUE 1 bill is Enmax by putting gas on the sewage/water/elec bill.

No need to tell the guy at the door to "f" off.. he's just working and doesn't care one way or the other if you sign up because his commission isn't THAT huge (when I worked it was roughly 40 but it may be different now).

Once you are signed up, you'll have to do a phone call (for Direct at least). If the salesperson does not do a phone call, you are getting scammed. The phone call is for verification purposes that yes, you are a human and yes, you are agreeing to the deal.

I don't think you could back out of the Direct Energy deals (unless its within 10 days of signing like Alberta law dictates), but they may have changed this I guess over the last couple years.

If I were to sign up, I would do the seasonal, but to be honest I probably wouldn't bother to sign up because as Ive said it isn't a big deal one way or the other. And one important thing to note...

I'm pretty sure that companies like Direct Energy / Enmax don't care one way or the other which way the price goes if you sign up. Here's why; they already bought the commodity in bulk several years ago at around say $3 for gas. Now they are just trying to get fixed prices for themselves. THey can make more accurate revenue predictions if their customers are at fixed prices, and I imagine this is convenient on the accounting side as well.

And man oh man... the stories I have are classic. I was on the southern Alberta travelling team, going to all the small towns. Such a hilarious job.

Mr.Coffee · 06-10-2008, 06:57 PM

I should also add another thing I personally find humourous...

every now and then we'd come across a customer who had already signed fixed deals with Epcor back in the day when they were selling LIFETIME fixed deals for $2/gigajoule for gas...

Epcor came back and started offering customers some monetary value (I think like $2000) to cancel their contracts. Of course, the value of these contracts far outweighs the offer, as Epcor never expected gas prices to take off the way did.

Lately prices have been fairly stagnant, despite whatever amusing graph the salesperson tries to throw at you. Think about it, when I was selling at the end of my summer it was $9.50... the price being discussed today is not far off.

Stranger · 06-10-2008, 07:46 PM

I got a form from Direct Energy in the mail asking to renew my contract with them just last week. So you're saying I should just go the floating price route?

Circa89 · 06-10-2008, 10:37 PM

I just did the calculations on my gas bill. I was an idiot and locked in for 3 years. As it turns out the actual rate is not all that important (relatively speaking).
I have a rate of $10 a GJ, if I had a rate of $9 I would only save about $10 a month on what amounts to a $200 Invoice once GST, admin fees, carrier and distribution charges are applied. So if you shop around and do your homework you may get a 5% discount. Who knows in 3 years Gas may be $18 a GJ and I'll be laughing.