The City of Northville has accepted a bid from Realgy Energy Services to supply natural gas
PRESS RELEASE 17 MAY 2013 | By: Realgy, LLC
Realgy Energy Services has won a bid to supply the City of Northville with natural gas through the Michigan utility Consumers Energy.
On Monday May 6th the City Council of Northville approved a bid placed by Realgy Energy Services to supply natural gas to the city. Realgy Energy Services out bid two other competing companies for the right to supply the city with natural gas.
The City of Northville started exploring the possibility of finding a lower cost alternative gas supplier in April. The City Council sent a request for proposals to seven alternative gas suppliers, all licensed with the Michigan Public Service Commission and also certified to operate in the Consumers Energy territory.
Out of the seven alternative gas suppliers, the top three were Options Utility Consulting, Xoom Energy, and Realgy Energy Services. By contracting with Realgy Energy Services, the City of Northville will save approximately 19% or $7,592.70 per year, based on their usage from last year and an average cost of $4.03/MCF. Realgy Energy Services will provide natural gas to the City of Northville, city employees and city employee family members for the term of the contract.
Realgy Energy Services is comprised of a group of people who worked for many years with large utilities, energy service companies, and energy marketers. Within these organizations, they saw the limitations of the systems and software and decided they could provide a more efficient service. First formed in 1999, Realgy Energy Services today is a retail energy marketer and wholesale energy provider in three deregulated states, Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois with plans to expand. Realgy has had a perfect record (certified A+) with the Better Business Bureau; http://ct.bbb.org since 2003 and has been recognized as an Inc 500 | 5000 company in 2011 and 2012. http://www.inc.com/inc5000/profile/realgy
Contacts:
Realgy, LLC
Michael Vrtis
675 Oakwood Avenue
West Hartford, CT
860-233-2270
www.realgyenergyservices.com
ServiceMatch™
For all our natural gas and electric customers not currently on a fixed price, Realgy offers ServiceMatchTM as follows:
ServiceMatchTMBuyer has the right to present all written offers to RES that provide pricing and terms for service under the Program. RES will match the proposed terms and pricing from all qualified electric or natural gas service providers. If RES cannot offer better terms or pricing or match the same terms and pricing, RES will transfer Buyer to the new electric or natural gas supplier upon Buyer’s written request at the end of the Term. ServiceMatchTM is not valid when Buyer has a Fixed Price.
Please be aware that ServiceMatchTM is not a new service.
Realgy offers this and other services including but not limited to PriceWatchTM and natural gas storage, to all our eligible customers.
If you have any questions regarding ServiceMatchTM, fixed prices, or the end of your current Term, contact a Realgy Energy Services customer service representative at 860-300-6747.
In Response to “Local Communities on a Continent of Cheap Natural Gas”
Written by Michael Vrtis, President of Realgy Energy Services in response to the Forbes article “Local Communities on a Continent of Cheap Natural Gas”
So what does having an abundant source of fuel (in our case, natural gas) within our own country mean?
In a word, business! The article points out some of the industries that could directly benefit from having large natural gas reserves. These industries will take notice and manufacturer planning will develop. But the impact is well beyond just a few industries.
Consider the following benefits;
- In the competitive business world, a $0.10 edge is huge. However consider a $2.00 edge. That is the equivalent advantage that local natural gas production provides.
- Local natural gas prices are not tied to the price of oil. That is, oil prices can vary without ANY impact on local natural gas costs/prices.
- Natural gas had been previously piped thousands of miles (albeit efficiently, as pipe line operations are very efficient) but that cost would then cease.
- Planning for long-term commitments; the natural gas field has a 100-year production life with current technology (let alone what will be developed).
- Its emissions are much cleaner than oil.
Responsible development of our natural resources is imperative. The benefit will have a more reaching effect.
Check out the Forbes article: “Local Communities on a Continent of Cheap Natural Gas”
No buyer’s remorse with Realgy Energy Services, We are and remain below ComEd’s pricing
According to the Illinois Commerce Commission, ComEd’s energy price is projected to drop to around 5.55 cents per kilowatt-hour, from the current 8.3 cents per kilowatt-hour, that is a 2.75 cent decrease. The ComEd energy price includes the costs of transmitting electricity from power plants over high-voltage lines to the local distribution system.
Contracts municipal politicians and officials in 15 towns negotiated with power suppliers more than a year ago, to lower residents’ electricity bills, will soon exceed the costs ComEd customers pay starting in June.
The price being paid by most residents in Oak Park, which has an energy-supply contract with Integrys Energy Services Inc. until December 2013, is 5.79 cents per kilowatt-hour, 4 percent higher than the projected ComEd charge.
However this is not the case with Realgy Energy Services, they have been and remain below ComEd’s Pricing.
In northern Illinois, all customers pay ComEd to deliver their electricity but are free to choose a supplier to provide the electricity itself. The cost of electricity typically accounts for about two-thirds of an electric bill while delivery charges make up the rest.
Read the whole story Some suburban electricity deals to be costlier than ComEd
Shedd Aquarium in Chicago is planning to create an energy saving road map that other cultural institutes can follow
However this task won’t be easy. Keeping 32,500 animals healthy, happy and well-lit takes a lot of energy. Part zoo, part art space, the building is a life-support system for 1,500 species operating under the parameters of just about every time zone on the planet.
John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Illinois
“What we’re talking about is bigger than the Shedd,” said Mark Harris, president and CEO of the Illinois Science and Technology Coalition, which led the consortium that developed Shedd’s energy saving plan.
Following a plan developed pro bono by a public-private consortium, Shedd plans to swap out light bulbs, buy solar panels and sell “negawatts” (getting paid to power down). The aquarium plans to participate in a program that pays big energy users to power down on days when the electric grid is strained by demand from air conditioners. But first that means finding out what in the aquarium can be safely powered down.
“The Shedd’s in a unique position. It’s been there for 100 years and it’s going to be there for another 100 more; so, when you look at a 15-year return on investment, that’s not too bad,” Hulsebosch said.
Read the whole story: Citizens Utility Board, “Shedd Aquarium looks to slice energy bill”
Business Energy Saving Tips
Check out this great infographic from The Hub, which highlights easy ways for businesses to reduce energy bills. Print it out and share with everyone in the office; the more people aware of the energy savings possibilities, the more effective it will be.
Simple changes can significantly reduce business electricity costs.
If you are looking for an even larger reduction in your commercial electricity costs, consider enrolling with Realgy Energy Services as your electricity provider. Our customers have realized cost reductions up to 9.6% as compared to the local utility. Find us online www.realgyenergyservices.com or call 877-300-6747 to speak with an account representative today.
Source:
Utility Exchange Online, Business Energy Saving Tips – An infographic
PriceWatch™ and Natural Gas Storage Season
It is that time of the year when Realgy Energy Services starts to send out our PriceWatch™ emails; look for it in your email anytime from October to November. Supplies of natural gas in storage begin to be applied to your monthly natural gas usage starting November 1st.
PriceWatch™ monitors the natural gas market to pin-point the most advantageous time for our natural gas customers to lock in a rate for the winter heating months.
Realgy will only send out a PriceWatch™ email if we can lock our customers in at a rate that will save them money. If you would like more information on PriceWatch™, please visit our blog post What is PriceWatch™?
Natural Gas Storage is the service of purchasing a percentage of your annual gas usage during the summer months and storing it. This stored gas is then delivered to you during the winter months. That is why we call it “winter gas at summer prices.”
Realgy offers this storage program whenever we can. If your utility allows Realgy to offer a storage program, it will be listed in our Service Plan table on our website realgyenergyservices.com.
For more information on the Natural Gas Storage program please visit our blog posts: Natural Gas Storage Season is Here and So What Exactly is Natural Gas Storage
If you have any further questions please feel free to contact a Realgy Energy Services Customer Service Representative by phone (877)-300-6747, by email support@realgy.com, by fax (860)-233 -3884, or by mail 675 Oakwood Avenue, West Hartford, CT 06110.
Solar cells you can see through
A team of researchers at UCLA have developed a new transparent solar cell that has the ability to generate electricity while still allowing a view of the outside.
This new kind of polymer solar cell (PSC) produces an electrical current by absorbing infrared light and not visible light, which makes the cells nearly 70% transparent to the human eye.
Visibly Transparent Polymer Solar Cells Produced by Solution Processing courtesy of UCLA
“Our new PSCs are made from plastic-like materials and are lightweight and flexible,” said study leader Yang Yang, a UCLA professor of materials science and engineering. “More importantly, they can be produced in high volume at low cost.”
The transparent conductor, another breakthrough, is made of silver nanowire and titanium dioxide nanoparticles, which replaces the opaque metal electrodes used in the past. This composite electrode also allows the solar cells to be fabricated economically by solution processing. With this combination, 4% power-conversion efficiency for solution-processed and visibly transparent polymer solar cells has been achieved.
“We are excited by this new invention on transparent solar cells, which applied our recent advances in transparent conducting windows (also published in ACS Nano) to fabricate these devices,” said Paul S.Weiss, CNSI director and Fred Kavli Chair in NanoSystems Sciences.
Source
UCLA Newsroom, UCLA researchers create highly transparent solar cells for windows that generate electricity
Get creative with your answers to the $50 Energy Efficiency Contest
“How would you use $50 to make your home or office more energy efficient?”
If you are having trouble answering this question we have some low cost and even no cost energy efficient updates that can be made to your home or office for less than $50.
| What you can do | Average Cost |
| Lower your thermostat in the winter | Free |
| Wash your cloths in cold water | Free |
| Raise your thermostat in the Summer | Free |
| Toss that second Refrigerator (your Utility may offer rebates and most will even haul it away for free) | Free |
| Lower your water heater temperature | Free |
| Close your blinds during the summer | Free |
| Clean your air conditioner filter | Free |
| Use a ceiling fan instead of A/C | Free |
| Installing a faucet aerator | $5 |
| Change your furnace filter | $10 |
| Upgrade to CFL light bulbs | $15 |
| Dry clothes on a drying rack or clothesline | $20 |
| Insulate your water heater | $25 |
| Upgrade to a low-flow shower head | $25 |
| Install a programmable thermostat | $50 |
These are just a few of the ways you can make your home or office more energy efficient, take our advice and get creative with your answers when you enter the $50 Energy Efficiency Contest. You could win a $50 Home Depot or Lowe’s Gift Card to make your energy efficient dreams a reality.
If you are looking for even more energy savings enroll with Realgy Energy Services to lower your Natural Gas and Electricity Bills.
GOOD LUCK!
Sources
Energy Impact Illinois, Energy-Saving Actions & Incentives
U. S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy – Your Home
Does your home have what it takes to be awarded the Silver Certificate for energy savings?
The homes of Georgene Jaback and Bob Woods of Joliet, and Janet Jaback of Elmwood Park did.
(Office of Will County Executive Larry Walsh, Handout / July 5, 2012)
The Joliet couple improved their 50-year-old home with air sealing in the attic, basement and perimeter walls and insulation on the attic floor and in the conditioned basement. Their upgrades will reduce their air leakage rate by 35 percent, according to a press release issued by Will County.
Check out the article Joliet homeowners receive silver certification for energy savings to find out how they did it.
And if you are looking for even more energy savings check out Realgy Energy Services Natural Gas and Electricity rates, and lower your energy bills in a few minutes.