New Haven Independent

Posted by: jawbone | May 12, 2009 11:45 AM

Third paragraph. "way of their being a monopoly..." I think should be "way of they're being a monopoly..."
-jawbone, grammar nerd

Posted by: William Kurtz | May 12, 2009 12:32 PM

Actually, I don't think either formulation of that sentence is good standard English. A better alternative would be something like, ". . . the old way (when they had a monopoly)"--even better would be to substantially revise the entire sentence:

Connecticut's electric companies claim that if they were once again allowed to enjoy a monopoly on electricity sales, customers would enjoy better rates.

--even worse grammar nerd

Posted by: jawbone | May 12, 2009 1:24 PM

Mr. Kurtz,
I didn't want to go that far, but since you opened the door, I would offer that the article is awkwardly worded in many parts.

Posted by: jawbone | May 12, 2009 1:27 PM

BTW, nitpicking aside, I would like to say that this article is one of most personally helpful postings I seen to date. I have already looked into changing my electrical service and had no idea that I could.
I have been fuming about UI's rate increases for years. Thank you NHI.

Posted by: Ali | May 12, 2009 2:19 PM

Thanks for the interesting article. It made me take a look at my ever-increasing UI bill.

Unfortunately a good portion of the bill (about HALF) would be unaffected by a change in supplier. All of the fees, charges and other nonsense tacked on still remain (what IS all that, anyway and why is it half of my bill??)

Still, money is money and after some info finding (do these companies add in other fees?) I just might switch over.

I'd love to see something done about all those other charges.

Posted by: Steven Kalb | May 12, 2009 4:34 PM

A clarification:

The "delivery" charges of your bill (about 1/2 as Ali suggests) remain regardless of which supplier you use.

The savings come from picking an alternate energy supplier for the "electricity only" portion of your bill.

A friend of mine has electric heat in her condo along with central air. Based on her usage last year (and the place is always cold or hot in the wrong season) I projected she will save somewhere between $800 and $1000 this year by switching. That's real money.

And by the way, if you really hate your new electric company (although there is no difference....) you can always switch back. And there is no charge to do this.

Posted by: cedarhillresident | May 12, 2009 7:33 PM

I have had it with the UI I to am switching! They are so dam greedy that they are ruining there own company.

Posted by: Bruce | May 13, 2009 10:07 AM

Unfortunately the problem is deeper than just having the option to switch to a different provider. Yes, you can shop and find rates lower than the UI standard offer. However, it should be noted that states who have "deregulated" their electricity market pay 18-37% more than those that remained "regulated".

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/06/business/06electric.html?_r=1

Deregulation allowed a middle man to step in and negotiate generation rates with the state's various electric producers on your behalf. Since these middle men have more freedom in negotiating contracts than the highly-regulated UI and CL&P, they can sometimes get better rates for their customers.

However, this system is not perfect. It allows the cheaper producers (nuke, for example) a higher profit margin as they they are paid the same rate as more expensive producers (like natural gas) so we don't realize the benefits of cheaper production methods. Also, Trading energy contracts on an open market is not always the best thing for a consumer if proper safeguards are not in place and near-monopolies remain. Let's not forget that it was Enron who made the biggest push for deregulation across the country. Those guys don't work for free.

Granted I am also simplifying the problem, but these trends are real and they are driving up our costs. Personally, I haven't taken a stand on whether re-regulating here will help Connecticut consumers as it depends on the specific plan that is implemented. However, after over a decade with the current system we have seen very little competition and ever-increasing prices. If you think 10.4 cents per KWH is a good rate, consider that the average TOTAL rate for the US is about 11 cents per KWH (including all the other charges cluttering up the bill). I think we can do better.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table5_6_a.html

Posted by: Bruce | May 13, 2009 2:44 PM

I should have made it clear in the post above that UI and CL&P no longer generate the electricity they sell to you (they sold all of their power plants when deregulation took effect). They serve as a middle man and purchase electricity for you. Unlike the other providers that you can choose, the state has full regulatory control over the rates they charge.

Posted by: William Chase | May 13, 2009 10:30 PM

Everything in this column is spot on. Government ignorance and special interests are once again being put ahead of the common citizen with the recent attempt to amend the state's deregulation law. Deregulation of the utilities has allowed me and numerous others to save real money every month on our utility bills.
Why the members of the State House of Representative felt that it is necessary to change this law needs to be looked at. Specifically, are the representatives promoting this on the receiving end of lobbyists' attention in the form of campaign donations, and other enticements? In these tough economic times it is unconscionable to try and justify telling the average person he going to lose $10, $20, even $30 per month savings so the utilities can increase their profits.
Anyone who wants to save 15% or more off the generation portion of their electric bill need only enroll with one of the alternative providers. At Public Power & Utility where I enrolled there is no enrollment fee, contract, termination fee in case you find an even lower supplier you are free to leave penalty free, and you will still receive one bill from either CL&P or UI. The best part is this can all be done online at www.iloweredmyelectricbill.com/ppu. According to the very people promoting this bill the more people who take advantage of these savings the better their buying power will be, and the lower our bills will go.

Posted by: Walt | May 14, 2009 6:49 AM

Some examples, please.

When I checked out prices some years ago, potential savings were a few cents per month, not worth bothering with.

If you are really anti-UI, post price differentials and contact info.

Thanks

Posted by: Bruce | May 14, 2009 9:03 AM

Walt: There is a link in the story above. Just select Residential Rate R (most common) and you will see a list of providers and prices.

Positive Energy $0.099, 1 888 576 7484
Con Ed $0.1098, 866-469-4362
MXEnergy $0.1199, 800-785-4373
LevCo $0.103, 800-400-5574
UI is currently $0.124

William: You can save relative to the standard offer (UI & CL&P) but all of theses prices are inflated relative to states with regulated markets. The utilities offer high generation rates because they are buying energy from third parties and then selling it to you, rather than running the power plants themselves and producing electricity at cost. There's an extra layer of profit that doesn't need to be there.