Realgy supports fair competition and is passing along the Deceptive Practices Warning from SEMCO
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Timothy Lubbers
Director of Business Development
Phone: 810-887-4208
SEMCO ENERGY WARNS OF POSSIBLE DECEPTIVE NATURAL GAS TELEMARKETING; CUSTOMERS ADVISED TO GUARD PERSONAL AND ACCOUNT INFORMATION OVER THE PHONE
PORT HURON, MI, July 07, 2015 – SEMCO ENERGY GAS COMPANY is alerting customers of possible deceptive telemarketing tactics targeting natural gas customers in the SEMCO ENERGY service areas.
The Gas Company has received numerous complaints of customers being called by people claiming to be with SEMCO ENERGY, offering to put them on a special rate and asking for personal information including the customer’s account number.
SEMCO ENERGY does not telemarket customers and ask for account information. Customers are advised to be mindful about sharing personal information, including natural gas account information that they provide in telephone or door to door solicitations. If you have questions about being contacted by someone claiming to represent SEMCO ENERGY, please call 1-800-624-2019 or e-mail customer.service@semcoenergy.com. All SEMCO ENERGY field personnel carry SEMCO ENERGY photo identification.
SEMCO ENERGY customers have the option to buy their natural gas from an alternative gas supplier, however, SEMCO ENERGY does not solicit customers to sign up for the Gas Customer Choice program. The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) provides a list of all alternative gas suppliers licensed in Michigan on the MPSC web site: http://michigan.gov/mpsc/0,4639,7-159-16385_17144—,00.html. The site includes information about the gas customer choice program and a section showing authorized alternative gas suppliers active in SEMCO ENERGY service areas.
If you would like to lodge a complaint about an alternative gas supplier or their marketing practices, please contact the Michigan Public Service Commission at 1-800-292-9555.
Information about the Gas Customer Choice Program and alternative gas suppliers, including suggested questions to consider when selecting an alternative supplier, is also available on the SEMCO ENERGY GAS COMPANY web site, www.semcoenergygas.com. Just click on Natural Gas Customer Choice Program to the left.
SEMCO ENERGY Gas Company, headquartered in Port Huron, Michigan, is a regulated public utility that delivers natural gas to approximately 293,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in Michigan. Service territories include portions of the southern half of the state’s Lower Peninsula (including in and around the cities of Albion, Battle Creek, Holland, Niles, Port Huron and Three Rivers) and in the central, eastern and western parts of the state’s Upper Peninsula.
Realgy Energy Services is a registered Retail Energy Marketer in the states of Illinois, Michigan and Indiana. We offer Service Plans that will provide electric and natural gas at wholesale pricing direct to customers without any utility markup. Our Service Plans work with the local utility to provide seamless service and annual energy savings. Additional information: www.realgyenergyservices.com
Weekly Basis Report Currently Focusing on Chicago
We have two days of data due to the fact that we are in a new month and currently don’t have 10 days of data to present for July.
U.S. Natural Gas Supply is Expected to Reach 110 Billion Cubic Feet Per Day by 2035, According to Navigant’s Global Energy Practice
The opening of new export facilities in the United States marks a new era for the global natural gas market, report concludes
CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–A new report from Navigant’s global Energy Practice, the North American Natural Gas Market Outlook, Year-End 2014, examines the state of the natural gas industry and provides forecasts for supply and demand through 2035 Driven by ongoing gas shale growth in the Northeast, production of natural gas in the United States continued its strong growth trajectory in 2014, increasing by 6.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcfd), or 9.2 percent, over the course of the year. More growth in gas production is expected in the future, particularly from the Marcellus shale formation, with the only possible constraint the rate of infrastructure development in the region. According to the North American Natural Gas Market Outlook, Year-End 2014, published by Navigant’s Energy Practice, U.S. natural gas supply is expected to increase from 72 Bcfd in 2015 to nearly 110 Bcfd by 2035.
“Supply side growth continues to drive most other aspects of the natural gas industry in North America,” says Gordon Pickering, Director with Navigant’s Energy Practice. “As we explain in the Natural Gas Market Outlook, this strong supply basis is giving rise to a new chapter of the gas industry, with the culmination of a half decade of new LNG project development and the beginning of a new, global market for natural gas.”
The opening of this new market is signaled by the opening of new export capacity on the U.S. Gulf Coast, according to the Natural GasMarket Outlook. The opening of Sabine Pass will signify the point at which North America becomes connected to the global gas market for the first time in history—with truly global consequences for gas markets in North America and around the world. Those consequences will become fully apparent as more LNG export projects come online, the report concludes.
Solar Energy is Gaining in Scale
Solar Energy scale of deployment is accelerating.
Solar energy’s share of the total electricity supply has been gaining for years. Now, it becoming so mainstream that entire companies and even States are not only committing to buying solar energy but to building it.
Amazon is building the largest solar farm in Virginia. It is part of their commitment to run their company using 100% renewable energy.
Hawaii will be the first state that will run entirely on renewable energy.
A trend, certainly.
The cost is at or below fossil fuel costs. Taking into account environmental and health benefits of solar energy, the commitments are becoming easier to make and implement.
Supporting documentation:
Indiana’s Electric Rate Hurts Competitiveness
One measure of competitiveness is the price of electricity in a State.
Indiana has gone from 5th lowest in the Nation in 2003 to 26th in 2014 (electric rates went up)!
Surrounding States have all improved (lowered their electric costs).
A major difference: all surround States have implemented electric choice.
Electric Choice allows customers to purchase their energy from a wholesale supplier without any utility markup. The idea: give customers a choice and direct access to the energy markets and have competition do what competition does; lower costs and improve services.
In Illinois, not exactly the most business friendly state for taxes, electric savings have exceeded $37 BILLION. http://realgyenergyservices.com/competition-work-tune-37-billion/
In NIPSCO and Citizens Energy, where they have customer choice programs for natural gas customers, Realgy’s average customer is saving money monthly:
- Citizens Energy: over last 36 months savings of $6,643: http://realgyenergyservices.com/service-plans-52/
- NIPSCO: over last 36 months savings of $6,581: http://realgyenergyservices.com/service-plans-47/
In Indiana: some of the biggest utilities do not offer customer choice for natural gas service; this includes Vectren, Duke and AEP. No utility in Indiana is offering customer choice for their electric service.
Competition in energy markets has been demonstrated to lower costs. Surrounding States’ to Indiana have lower electric costs in-part because of implementing electric choice. Natural gas costs are more competitive in NIPSCO and Citizens due to customer choice.
Realgy supports customer choice for energy, our experience has demonstrated that it saves consumers time and money in energy use and decisions.
Realgy Energy Services is a registered Retail Energy Marketer in the states of Illinois, Michigan and Indiana. We offer Service Plans that will provide electric and natural gas at wholesale pricing direct to customers without any utility markup. Our Service Plans work with the local utility to provide seamless service and annual energy savings. Additional information: www.realgyenergyservices.com
Supporting Article: http://www.nwitimes.com/business/industry-indiana-electric-rates-hurt-competitiveness/article_a10b7072-4e2f-51a7-8ed0-0b99c4e4ce01.html
Realgy joins GE, Travelers and Aetna in opposing Connecticut’s unitary tax
Realgy operates as an energy services company which sells natural gas, electricity and related services in the States’ of Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.
Most of our employees are located in Connecticut, in which we earn NO revenue.
Below is a table that shows a simplified representation of where we earn revenue and where we pay tax in the state where we earn it.
Connecticut taxes are based on a ratio of revenue (in states where we do not pay state tax), payroll and property taxes. The other states are purely revenue based tax.
So as depicted above we do not pay Connecticut any state sales taxes when we earn and pay taxes for that revenue in other states.
However, we are currently before the state of Connecticut tax commission which wants to recognize the income in other states as being earned and taxable in Connecticut.
This would results in Realgy PAYING TAX in the state where we earn and currently pay tax and IN CONNECTICUT where we do not earn any revenue.
Realgy does pay tax in Connecticut for our employees and for revenue earned in states where we do not pay taxes.
If Connecticut tax commission is successful in their audit it will result in a charge to Realgy of some $20,000 in additional taxes owed (for this year and each year hereafter). Again, we have already paid taxes on this income in other states.
The issue of unitary tax being commented on by the large companies is exactly what we are facing before the CT tax commission. The CT legislature is going after the big companies that have split up the companies legally to avoid the double taxation by CT.
If CT is going to tax ALL of a company’s revenue, in addition to paying local property and payroll taxes, keeping multinationals or small companies (like Realgy) that work in other states headquartered in CT will be a very difficult proposition.
Cost Regulations
2015 ENERGY REGULATIONS LEAD TO HIGHER EQUIPMENT COSTS, BUT WILL THEY HELP YOU SAVE ON ELECTRICITY AND NATURAL GAS?
The Department of Energy has implemented new efficiency regulations on electric and natural gas water heaters as well as air conditioning equipment for 2015. The standards will make new equipment slightly more energy efficient, however, the savings will, for the most part, be insignificant. The increased cost of new equipment will be pricey for homeowners upfront. The resulting savings per household for reduced electricity and natural do pay for the upgrade.
The air conditioning equipment regulations went into effect on January 1, 2015. They apply to split air conditioners and heat pumps as well as traditional central AC compressors. The regulations call for new equipment to increase the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER) from 13 to 14. The one point SEER increase is fairly negligible from a cost savings standpoint, but the reduction in energy usage across millions of household will add up. The one point translates to roughly 7% electricity savings per year for the average household. Based on national electricity usage and cost averages this would equate to savings of approximately $18 per year.
The most significant referenced downside associated with the new HVAC regulation revolves around the higher cost of the equipment and installation. New equipment will be larger and will likely require most all parts of the AC system to be replaced, not just the compressor. Also, because the equipment will be larger, some very small homes may require modifications to accommodate the larger equipment.
Regulations affecting water heaters run by electricity and natural gas took effect on April 16, 2015. The pros and cons parallel that of the AC standards. The new efficiency guidelines have resulted in more costly equipment. By some estimates new water heaters will cost roughly $120 more. In addition the new equipment means a more complex, time-consuming installation with more expensive parts. Electricity and natural gas savings will vary widely based on the size of your tank.
The changes the US Government is taking are part of a larger trend by all governments worldwide towards implementing more energy efficient regulation. Initial upfront cost is certainly a factor taken into account by such regulations, but cited more frequently are the health and environmental benefits that will compound yearly as a result of reduced emissions and improved air quality.
Realgy Energy Services is a registered Retail Energy Marketer in the states of Illinois, Michigan and Indiana. We offer Service Plans that will provide electric and natural gas at wholesale pricing direct to customers without any utility markup. Our Service Plans work with the local utility to provide seamless service and annual savings. Additional information: www.realgyenergyservices.com