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Wednesday, July 14, 2010

ELECTRICITY

I read the article about the utility tax hike in Montgomery County. My heart goes out to those people. Although there isn't anything anyone can do about the tax hike since it's been approved, those people need to know, and ALL Marylanders & Delawareans need to know, that when it comes to your electricity, you have a choice as to where you buy your electricity supply from. In Maryland, this ability to choose has been in effect since the Electric Choice Act of 1999 went into effect. This means that you can secure a lower, fixed rate for an extended period of time instead of having to worry about whether or not your Delmarva Power (or PEPCO, BGE or ALLEGHENY) bill is going to go up. Generally, there aren't any fees to switch to a different electricity provider & the local utility cannot penalize you for doing it. By the way, I checked my bills from 2008 &, sure enough, my electricity rate from Delmarva Power had increased gradually. So, yes, I switched suppliers as soon as I could. The good news for co-op customers is that you have great rates already.

Many of the HUGE companies in both states (and in deregulated states across the country) have been experiencing this freedom of choice for quite some time. However, smaller businesses & residents also have this freedom, unless they are located in a municipality like Berlin that produces and/or sells its own electricity. For the past 2 years, I've been helping smaller businesses & non-profit organizations like The Salisbury School, Karen Davis State Farm, SonLife Community Church, The Salisbury Kennel Club & Somers Cover Marina save money on their electricity bills & have recently started working with residents to do the same thing. Whether you choose to have me work with you on saving you money on electricity costs or someone else, you need to know that you DO have this freedom to shop & choose. Also, make sure your rate is ALL-inclusive & fixed, which means you won't have any extra, erroneous charges. Times are tough & unfortunately, our government, on all levels, isn't helping by not giving us as much information as it should be. If anyone has any questions, they can feel free to contact me.

George "Wookie" Kreiner
Consulting Agent
Total Energy Consultants
410-430-1401

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Our business signed up with an outside broker for the supply charges portion of our electric bill a couple of years ago.
It's saved us HUNDREDS of dollars over what Delmarva Power was charging. Our rate was locked in for 5 years!! If you haven't looked into one of these options yet, you should!

Anonymous said...

What if the electric goes out or there is trouble with your meter, who do you call?

Unknown said...

To my knowledge, APPI doesn't work in the residential sector. On the commercial side, we work with over a dozen of the biggest national suppliers in the country, &, like APPI, Total Energy Consultants also has many of the local municipalities as clients. Again, it's always best to shop around.

G. "Wookie" Kreiner
410-430-1401