Chicago sending city households back to ComEd
Crain’s recently reported that after more than 1 year of charging customers MORE than COMED and the City will send them back to the utility (AFTER the summer)!
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20150421/NEWS11/150429969
No one likes an “I told you so”…..so I won’t say it.
One year ago: I posted: Chicago electric bills to rise up to 18% in June
http://realgyenergyservices.com/chicago-electric-bills-rise-18-june/ which included the following:
The idea is that “aggregation” of the residents will provide the marketer the ability to deliver a lower price. If that were the case, no one could beat the utility because the question is who would be a bigger aggregator than a utility? The utility AGGREGATES everyone in the state. Yet, Realgy beats ComEd and Ameren consistently. So why can’t municipalities come in lower?
The difference is cost of service and overhead.
Municipalities require energy marketers to deliver savings compared to the utility, take on billing and collections, and pay the municipality a portion of the margin. The simple fact remains; the cost municipalities want to collect makes them higher than the utility.
Realgy continues to post savings compared to both COMED and Ameren.
To learn more about how Realgy Energy Services’ variety of programs that can help you save money on electricity, call 877-300-6747, or visit www.realgyenergyservices.com.
Realgy Energy Services is a registered energy marketer with a A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and able to save you money on your natural gas and electricity usage anywhere in Illinois.
What is Weather Normalization?
WHAT IS WEATHER NORMALIZATION ………AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU?
Weather is the most influential factor to impact your energy usage. Because weather can vary dramatically from year to year, establishing a benchmark is not as simple as comparing one year to the next. “Weather Normalization” creates a benchmark by averaging 20 years of individual daily weather information into a single year. Normalizing takes into account the effects of weather on any energy usage period (day, month or year). By doing so, you can see the effects of weather on your energy usage and plan for future weather forecasts. So if your energy consumption is sensitive to weather, and the forecast for winter is colder than normal, you could enter into an agreement to buy more at a fixed rate.
WHY NORMALIZE FOR WEATHER?
Using Weather Normalized energy usage will allow you to establish the amount of energy you will use for an average year’s weather (called your usage profile). Comparing changes between Weather Normalized usage profiles can detect deteriorations in heating plant efficiencies, uncover energy losses, or indicate increased process demand.
WHAT IS NORMAL?
This is based on a 20-year average consisting of two consecutive decades. Currently the years 1990 through 2010 are used for calculating normal. Normal weather takes into account the degree days, or specifically the Heating and cooling degree days, for 20 years. Using a 20-year normal for comparison allows for meaningful analysis vs. year-to-year fluctuations.
To learn more about how Realgy Energy Services’ variety of programs that can help you save money on electricity, call 877-300-6747, or visit www.realgyenergyservices.com.
Electricity Savings with Fixed Pricing
SETTING A FIXED RATE FOR ELECTRICITY IS A GREAT WAY TO SAVE…IF IT’S BELOW THE UTILITY’S PRICE
We all look for ways to save. Oftentimes savings opportunities exist, but we’re not aware of them, or we’re too busy to look into them further. COMED and Ameren forecast their summer rates in early Spring….that’s the time to lock in a fixed rate for the upcoming summer. Setting a fixed price for more than one season means you will probably pay more than the utility during the next season.
SAVE AND MANAGE YOUR BUDGET
Budgeting for electricity for an entire year can be a challenge due to fluctuations in usage. Colder month prices are typically lower, as usage is less. Prices jump during the summer months as demand increases. So how do you make spending more predicable? By setting a fixed price during the highest cost season (summer) when demand is highest. During winter a variable rate allows you to save when prices decline.
WHEN TO LOCK IN A RATE
The best way to save on electricity is to think seasonally. Since demand is at its peak in the summer months, setting a fixed rate for this period will provide a level of assurance, and can help you save. With Realgy’s PriceWatchTM we will watch market prices, utilizing our proprietary trading and computer services, and alert you when a fixed rate is in line with your budget and can beat the utility.
John Deere Slowdown
FINDING SAVINGS IN QUAD CITIES AMIDST SLOW ECONOMY
Over the past several months John Deere has been forced to layoff hundreds of employees, including the most recent round of 910 from their Illinois, and Iowa facilities. This comes on the heels of relatively abundant hiring over the past few years. Although experts close to the situation feel that this news does not necessarily indicate that the company is falling behind, the Quad Cities economy is feeling the pinch.
Economic cycles bring highs and lows. During the low points, as we’re experiencing now, the affects can reach a variety of business types. The results have a ripple effect, causing loss of business to local banks, healthcare establishments, local suppliers, etc.
When the economy turns, businesses look for ways to save. For those located on the Illinois side of the Quad Cities, electric choice provides the opportunity for businesses to choose an alternative energy supplier for their electricity. This means that they are no longer locked into the rate charged by the utility. Electric choice allows direct purchasing of electricity without additional costs from MidAmerican, Ill. The result is savings for businesses.
Realgy Energy Services provides electricity savings to businesses across the Quad Cities in the MidAmerican, Illinois service area – savings of 6% for our average customer. As a result, well-known businesses, and many municipalities including, East Moline, Rock Island, Andover, Hampton, Rapids City, and Milan, among others, have chosen or are getting approval for Realgy to become their electricity provider. Electricity services are not yet available in this market for residential clients.
When it comes to offering savings for businesses, Realgy is an innovator of plans that lead to costs savings. We have programs in place that assess, in detail, the electricity usage of the marketplace. We’ve been analyzing the MidAtlantic market for over a year. We apply these learning’s to the particular usage needs of our business clients. The result is a plan designed to help businesses take advantage of the most cost effective fee structure available.
As businesses in the Quad Cities, and beyond, continue to deal with the affects of a slower economy, it can be nice to know that there are options available to help improve the bottom line. Electricity, for a large or small business, can be a significant cost factor. When these costs can be reduced businesses start to see the affect.
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
Smart Thermostats
Smart Thermostats or Not.
I know you have seen Smart Water, we are being promised Smart Cities and of course the ubiquitous Smart Phone!
As with the smart phone (it’s only been 7 years since Apple iPhone came out), we adjusted to being connected 24/7/365 and Apps brought us Candy Crush, Tweets and Angry Birds; so too a connected thermostat will bring such changes.
Currently, there are apps that allow control over the thermostat and home lighting but it seems more a gizmo than a tool. A big advance in the usability of a connected thermostat will be when appliance manufacturers and energy companies allow pricing to be priced each hour.
Imagine: it’s 4PM and the price of electricity is $0.10 / kWh and you just load your washing machine and turn it on. However, it doesn’t start. It flashes you that it will begin at 8PM when the price is scheduled to be $0.03 / kWh. This type of pricing is called Time-of-Use (TOU) and it’s been available for very large energy users for some time. It will become available to energy consumers of all size.
The savings from one wash will be relatively small but in aggregate across a year and across a City could be very large, perhaps even smart!
So, what would it take you to want to buy a Smart Thermostat?
Some additional information on Smart Thermostats is available at: http://www.intelligentutility.com/article/15/01/smart-thermostats-could-help-utilities-combat-death-spiral?utm_source=2015_01_28&utm_medium=eNL&utm_campaign=IU_DAILY&utm_content=4521
Realgy Energy Services, a natural gas and electric energy provider, advocates for the use of technology that allows consumers greater control over their choice of energy supplier and the use of energy.
February 2015: Tied for Coldest February on Record
Chicago and the Tri-State area experienced a record cold February 2015 to go along with a very cold winter.
One more month and the winter of 2014/15 will be over and we can tally up the final score.
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/images/lot/15winter_CHI.png
