Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana continue to slip behind Illinois’ electric prices
Over 10 years ago, Illinois had some of the highest rates in the Midwest; today not so much, as they are below their neighboring states.
What did Illinois do that Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana haven’t; implement customer choice.
Customer choice enable businesses and residents to buy energy directly from the wholesale market without having the utility put any additional costs or taxes on top of the energy cost.
Its work so well in Illinois that its residents and business have saved over $37 billion and counting.
http://realgyenergyservices.com/competition-work-tune-37-billion/
Comparing current (2016) electric rates:
| Electric cost | |
| Illinois | $0.063 |
| Indiana | $0.071 |
| Ohio | $0.068 |
Illinois is leading the Midwest in energy costs, solely due to customer choice.
The arguments made against customer choice programs are always based upon the impact it would have on the incumbent utility(s) and creating doubt whether customers can buy energy. The first thing to overcome in customer choice, is that utilities don’t want competition and that they are major contributors to politicians. The politicians have to believe in technology and that residents can buy energy like they buy everything else.
In Illinois, what are the drivers lowering cost;
- Competition: there are over 30 energy marketers offering over 100 types of agreements for residents to buy energy. Abundant choices, lower costs.
- Technology: Illinois has deployed more smart meters enabling real-time pricing, time-of-use pricing offering numerous advances to marketers and the utility to reduce costs to residents.
Illinois has its issues but offering customer choice isn’t one of them.
The economic benefits will soon require other states implement customer choice, the sooner they do so the better it will be for their residents.
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. Service Plans include Guaranteed SavingsTM, ManagedPriceTM, ManagedGreenTM Index, Fixed and PriceAssuranceTM
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School fights to keep solar incentive; it’s why they installed it!
The Indiana General Assembly (Senate Bill 309) has corrected a provision in an earlier bill that would have eliminated an incentive used by the school in deciding to install solar panels.
The incentive allows for “net” metering. That is; if the solar panels generate more energy in some months than you use, you get a credit for those kilowatts (kWh). If you use more in the next month than the solar panels generate, you can draw from the stored kilowatts and net out the bill.
Changing that provision would mean that when the solar panels generate more energy than you can use; you sell them to the utility at the wholesale cost ($.03 /kWh) and when you need more you buy it at the retail cost ($0.11 /kWh).
In the case of Lebanon Community School eliminating the net metering would have cost the school $300,000 to $900,000 in just a few years.
Utilities across the country are trying to have net metering removed from their service requirement. However, changing the rules should NOT take place to punish those who invested and relied on the rule to continue.
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. Service Plans include Guaranteed SavingsTM, ManagedPriceTM, ManagedGreenTM Index, Fixed and PriceAssuranceTM.
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Do solar jobs outnumber coal jobs?
At one time, there were buggy whips sold in every town in the United States; today not so much.
Same with typewriter, pay phones and fax machines.
Progress is relentless.
Coal jobs are being replaced with automation or by cheaper sources of power generation. What does that mean to the jobs; they change.
Illinois and Indiana are replacing coal jobs and the electricity it generates with jobs in wind and solar generated electricity. The same is happening in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
In the U.S. (as of 2015), there were 65,971 direct coal jobs compared to 260,077 solar power workers. A difference of nearly 200,000 jobs. Yes, solar jobs are in different locations and require different skills.
Progress is relentless.
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. Service Plans include Guaranteed SavingsTM, ManagedPriceTM, ManagedGreenTM Index, Fixed and PriceAssuranceTM
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State orders new probe of massive Peoples Gas project
Q: How many different people does it take to lay pipe in the ground?
A: 50: 1 to dig the hole, 1 to put in the pipe, 5 to supervise and 43 to audit, regulate, review, police and provide oversight
The Illinois Commerce Commission, the entity responsible for oversight over utility monopolies in Illinois, has announced that the Peoples Gas pipeline replacement project be reopened and investigated.
Peoples Gas has been digging up Chicago streets for over a year as part as part of what was a $5.7 billion and is now projected to be over $7 billion. The ICC previously investigated Peoples Gas and fined them $18 million, oh but they approved $3.5 billion of the project!
Perhaps the ICC will hold Peoples Gas accountable for spending recklessly and not approve billions while barely slapping their hand with a petty fine
Previous reports have provided insight into the topic include: http://realgyenergyservices.com/?s=peoples+gas
- Peoples Gas Admit it withheld information; receives $3.5 Billion more but pays $18 Million fine.
- “I am NOT a crook!”
- Peoples Gas Officials ‘Misled’ Regulators About Cost Overruns
- Who oversees a monopoly that is spending recklessly?
- Peoples Gas parent to be acquired in $9.1 billion deal
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. Service Plans include Guaranteed SavingsTM, ManagedPriceTM, ManagedGreenTM Index, Fixed and PriceAssuranceTM.
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Will Trump’s environmental policy change Coal’s use; Utilities respond with a No
Since Trump’s election, utilities continue to replace/retire coal plants in favor of new plants or future plants. When facings such decisions utility executives cite technology and customers as a factor more than any of Trump’s statements or latest tweet. Six coal plants have announced closure since his election.
Utilities plan for decades ahead. Whether a President wants to use more coal really has no bearing on any power plant or power plant development. Technology has caused solar, wind and non-fuel using energy creation to be nearly as economical as any fossil-fuel generation. Considering the technology advances that are just on the horizon and customer’s changing use pattern and preferences you have some easy decisions for utility and power generation executives.
Retire coal plants. Energy demand is falling so a replacement might not be needed immediately. When the demand for additional electricity is demonstrated or forecasted, a non-fuel generation choice of wind or solar is considered. Natural gas has been used as a replacement for coal generation for at least 8 years due to its lower cost and abundant supply.
NIPSCO’s recent decision to close Baily Generating Station in northwest Indiana follows this pattern. By 2023 NIPSCO will go from generating 90% of electricity from coal to less than 40%. This decrease in coal’s dominance, will still leave NIPSCO with more coal generation than many neighboring utilities.
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. Service Plans include Guaranteed SavingsTM, ManagedPriceTM, ManagedGreenTM Index, Fixed and PriceAssuranceTM.
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Where’s Minnesota’s electricity choice?
Remember when competition amongst competitors was relied on to lower cost, provide innovation and serve consumers.
Allowing customers to be served directly from the wholesale markets for their natural gas and electricity has lowered costs, provided innovation and is serving millions of customers.
States around Minnesota such as; Illinois, Indiana and Michigan all have some customer choice programs in place.
Minnesota does not.
Minnesota has only a monopoly; a government regulated utility. Customers have no choice, the government oversees the utility to set the price of power and the government oversees that they are charging the correct amount.
So Minnesota’s monopoly utility wants to spend $800 million to build a new power plant and wants to be repaid for it regardless of whether it delivers any energy.
Minnesotans should look to other states to see how customer choice completion works for consumer’s not politicians or the monopoly utility.
The government does not regulate the wholesale energy markets and they are not needed to regulate the retail energy markets. Customer choice allows business to deliver wholesale power directly to customer.
Minnesota consumers deserve the benefits of cost savings and innovation from customer choice. They do not need a regulated monopoly that is government regulated deciding their energy choices.
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. Service Plans include Guaranteed SavingsTM, ManagedPriceTM, ManagedGreenTM Index, Fixed and PriceAssuranceTM.
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