MissMiles

Just a word of warning to you guys about EnergyPlus. I signed up for this promo last year, and before I did I called to ask if their rates are different than ConEd. They said the rates are variable and said they can fluctuate. But they kind of alluded to their rates not being too far off from ConEd. I’m a young professional working in finance, living in NYC and manage all my finances and bills well so I figured I would give them a try and if anything is fishy I would cancel. So I signed up, got my miles and just paid my bills as normal. As the summer came up, my electric bills went up but I didn't think anything of it since I live in an apt in NYC and know that rates go up in the summer due to AC use. In the winter though, my rates were unusually high, so I became suspicious. And lo and behold, I found that what EnergyPlus was charging me was significantly higher than ConEd. I put together a spreadsheet starting from the first month (Feb 2011) that I joined EnergyPlus, which I compared the rates between EnergyPlus and ConEd.

The electric bill has 2 components: delivery and supply. The delivery doesn't change and is provided by ConEd. The provider for your supply charges is what you are able to chose (so EnergyPlus or ConEd). I found that in the first 3 months, the supply charges were almost identical, varying from $0.08 - $0.09 per kWh (although the EnergyPlus was about a penny more than ConEd). Then, in the 4th month, EnergyPlus charged me $0.23/kWh. At this point, the ConEd rate was only $0.11/kWh, but EnergyPlus rates are "variable," so this wouldn’t have been a big deal if in the following months the EnergyPlus rates went down. THEN, from the 5th month on (and until I cancelled in Feb 2012), EnergyPlus charged me $.23/kWh, while the ConEd rate ranged from $.06 - $0.11/kWh. I was really pissed off (first at myself for not checking my bills carefully but then at EnergyPlus because they were ripping me off). I totaled all my charges ConEd vs. Energy plus, and calculated that EnergyPlus overcharged me by ~$200 in the year I had them.

I called them and explained the situation and was really upset (but still polite). The lady that I spoke with explained that EnergyPlus has variable rates that can fluctuate and bla bla bla. Then I very nicely explained that from month 5 – 12, EnergyPlus was charging me $0.23/kWh, which was fixed rate, while the ConEd rate fluctuated from $0.06 - $0.11/kWh. She really didn’t have a proper reply and just repeated that their rates can vary. I escalated the issue and just said what EnergyPlus did is wrong and she was able to get me a refund for a portion of the overcharges (EnergyPlus sent me a check for a little over $100). But she repeated many times that this is not their ordinary course of business and just wanted to do it as a token of goodwill. So at the end of the day, after getting a portion refunded, EnergyPlus overcharged me by about $100 (~$200 total overcharges less the ~$100 refund). I think they gave me the credit because they didn’t want bad publicity or me possibly suing them (and although I’m sure in their TOS they have language that would get them out of a lawsuit, they probably just would rather throw some money at the problem than deal with an unhappy customer). So just a word of warning to you guys, they are shady. I would just join, get the points, and afterwards, switch back to your old service provider. It’s not worth the points that you get per month.