They probably only need your account # from your PSE&G bill so you may indeed still be switched from PSE&G. If you are really concerned about it call PSE&G and tell them you do not want to switch, they may be able to help but I am not sure about that, it is just a recommendation.

Can't speak about Direct Energy first hand, but most all of these players in the energy business can offer little to no savings. I do have some experience in the field and I investigated the claims of several of the companies.
Keep in mind if they tell you they will save 12% (as an example) off your current bill, that only applies to the energy part and not the transmission/distribution part. So the savings are not near what you expected even if their rates are lower.
In every one of their ads they always used PSE&G rates that were higher than I had ever seen in reality. So that ate a lot of the supposed savings as well.

At about 6pm, there was a knock on my apartment door from a person representing "Direct Energy".

The person asked to see my bill, and then gave me some mumbo jumbo about gas/electric supply rates, and how I can save money with lower rates from Direct Energy.

It sounded a little fishy, but the way he laid it out, it sounded like I'd be saving some money. So, I signed up, but was told I'd be getting a verification call in about 15 seconds (!!!).

I got the idea that maybe they verify the customer so quickly as to prevent them from quickly researching the company.

The sales guy leaves (policy) while the verification person calls me. While I pick up the phone, I google on my laptop and find out that people have felt scammed by this company.

I tell the verification operator that I'd like to think about things. She says "okay" and hangs up. I track down the sales rep, who is still in my building, and ask to get the paper I signed back. He gives it to me no problem. I'm thinking that I'm safe, but I know he gave my information to the operator on the phone before I got my call back...I'm hoping that I am not signed up.

Has anyone on this board been approached by "Direct Energy"?
I vaguely recall a thread about these folks coming to your door, but can't find it now.

Anyone know anything about this company? Please share...

My neighbor knocked on my door, concerned about needing to call back U.S. Gas & Electric who called and left a message for him. They made it sound like it had to do with PSE&G, but my neighbor's English isn't so great and he wasn't sure.

I told him I'd return the call with him tomorrow, but...has anyone else received these phone calls? I'm assuming...scam? Company that has nothing to do with PSE&G?

Has anyone switched to Viridian energy?

It would be wonderful if you can share your thoughts on it and the process.

Or even if someone had tried it and went back o PSEG - your thoughts are much appreciated as well.

Thank you!

I switched my energy source from pseg to Viridian energy. Viridian uses 20% renewable energy and cost less than pseg. No fee, contract to sign up. Your bill will continue to come from pseg. Nothing changes except you play less for energy. For more information go to www.viridian.com/greencare

As a retired PSEG employee, let me explain a few things about your bill, what you are paying, and why you are being charged for it. I'll give you my opinion about ALL third party electric and gas suppliers in the area at the end of my rant. We are all paying 5 charges for the electric portion and/or gas portion of our bills. Some of us have both charges because PSEG is the main provider in a town such as Jersey City. Some people only have electric charges on their bills because that is the only service being supplied by PSEG, such as Elizabeth, NJ (Elizabethtown Gas Company) Here the breakdown of those charges: 1) DELIVERY CHARGE: Costs of transporting and balancing of gas and electricity directly to your home residence. 2) SUPPLY CHARGE: ELECTRICITY = Costs of generating and transmission to local area switching systems prior to delivery to home. GAS = Costs for generating and transmission to area gas storage ports and lines. 3) BASIC GENERATION SERVICE (BGS): Costs for not choosing a competitive Electric Supplier. (Sounds crazy but there is a reason for this! Here it is. PSEG has commodities traders that have to "buy and reserve" large chunks of electricity for all of us towards the next few months at a time in order to keep the costs as low as possible! These guys are wall street type guys that make bids and trades every day, meeting your electric energy needs towards the future!) 4) BASIC GAS SUPPLY SERVICE (BGGS): Costs for not choosing a competitive Gas Supplier. Same explanation as above BUT FOR GAS! 5) SECURITY TRANSITION CHARGE: Cost that is added to the Electric Delivery Charge for taxes and other costs to pay for bonds for maintenance and infrastructure upkeep, and other programs. Regardless of whether you choose another company, also known as a 3rd Party Supplier, PSEG will charge you ALL of the charges above EXCEPT for the ACTUAL Killowatt Hours (symbol kWh) or Gas Therms which was consumed the previous month based on the meter reading. PSEG is generating, transporting and using their systems to keeps your lights and gas on. These 3rd party suppliers are absent from this process. Also, in any emergency or if you need any kind of help in or outside your home, PSEG would continue to respond to all those types of situations. 3rd party suppliers don't. As far as 3rd party suppliers go, I have seen nightmarish bills, extra charges, and massive cancellation contract bills. I saw one of $300 to an elderly lady, who canceled her service before she was supposed to because she felt she wasn't saving anything. I referred her to the Board of Public Utilities. I am sure that is the norm with these companies because in fact, ANYBODY, INCLUDING YOU, CAN BECOME A 3RD PARTY ELECTRIC AND GAS SUPPLIER!! CLICK HERE IF YOU WANT TO BE A 3RD PART ELECTRIC AND GAS SUPPLIER!

They were here at my place about two months ago and that was the second time they were here. However, the other day an Afro-American girl rang my bell with a SOLO red cup in her hand asking for donations for the J.C. Basketball team? NO I.D. NO nothing, the same cups as I use at parties? What is with these people going door to door, like anyone is dumb enough to believe them?

Just happened to me off of Logan Ave. Luckily I had read the Consumerist articles and told the guy I wasn't interested.

My neighbors apparently signed up with IDT a few months ago and their bill doubled. Seems that IDT is charging for the same thing that PSEG charges on the same bill. They're trying to cancel IDT now. I hope it's easy for them.....

Horrible scam.

Has anyone looked into constellation energy? I received a postcard in the mail stating that they should be able to provide the same electric service as PSEG but at about 10% cheaper.

I didn't realize that we had a choice other than PSEG.

This just happened to me about 15 mins ago. (on monmouth). A guy with a green lanyard around his neck flashed his ID and asked to see my bill. I told him I had no idea where it was and I couldn't remember if anyone on this board determined if this was legit or not, I hadn't seen a post on this in awhile. Regardless just a heads up, I guess they are back out there again!

A possible downside is that while they demand a time commitment from YOU, they will not make a firm PRICE commitment.
Sounds a bit one-sided to me.

I would like to see clearly enunciated something like: "We guarantee you will save at least $.01 per Kwhr compared with PSE&G or you can cancel without penalty at any time...and keep the gift card." with my usage that would save me about $4 a month.

Or even, forget the gift card entirely.

Has anyone switched over to Constellation Energy for their electric provider? I've received a flier and heard radio ads. I went to their website and read up and spoke to a rep and seemed like a good deal. I guess the only catch is that you have to commit either 18 or 30 months. Is there any other downsides I'm not considering?

Thing is, T-Bird, they were quoting prices only for ELECTRICITY which usually shows an inverse to Winter-Summer costs and useage relative to gas.

Except, of course, for goofy complexes like Newport with cheezy motel style resistance electrical heaters in every apartment billed to every renter or owner (James Monroe.) We get crucified in Winter.

Oh, how I have crunched my brain to figure ways to heat and cool my apartment with gas but the logistics and safety factors make it untenable.

Does anyone else remember gas refrigerators and gas air conditioners?

Constellation is another big, publicly-owned utility. They are headquartered in Houston, so they aren't the household name PSE&G is around here. The hook they are using is that they are fixing your price, whereas PSE&G uses a variable price. PSE&G's price could go up, it could go down.

Typically gas prices are highest in the winter and summer (with winter prices usually being a bit higher), so fixing now and comparing that price to a winter price is going to make the Constellation price look good but still leave money on the table for them.

They are betting they'll make their money in the weaker spring and summer months, when they expect to be in the money on your summer-fixed price.

cub,

I was wondering about the Constellation mailing also. To be honest it is very confusing and when I feel confused I check to see if someone has his hand in my pocket.

Flags go up on:
"UP TO 12% lower than utilities current WINTER tarriff rate"
(what about Summer?)

"Target gift card UP TO $150" (but that's for a 30 month contract which include 2 indeterminately priced Summers.)

And then something about "7% use tax applied after June 2010 not included"...That 7% will eat up a lot of the "up to 12%" Winter Savings.)


If I didn't know better I might think that Constellation is owned by COMCAST judging by their billing.


Another wrinkle: they quote 10.3 cents and 10.1 cents depending on length of contract, and compare it with 11.5 cent "current utility...PSE&G. They say they will then add taxes to the Constellation charges BUT from my judgement the 11.5 cent charge INCLUDES taxes on the PSE&G rate.


Has anyone taken them up on the offer?

I'm wondering if in Jersey City has switched to using Constellation Energy, an alternative electricity supplier. They claim to offer 10-12% savings on energy costs over PSE&G. This company has recently sent out mass mailings for their services in NJ. I'd be interested in switching, but would like current customers experiences with this company. Thanks.

home.newenergy.com

PSE&G actually split itself up into a number of different companies. The part you pay on your bill is still a regulated utility, with pricing approved by the BPU. PSE&G divided up its generation with its fossil plants under one company and its nukes under another (Excelon tried to buy the nukes a few years back). When you chose a supplier, you are choosing what generator / reseller you buy power from. PSE&G.. the regulated portion, still delivers it. You also pay fees to upgrade the PJM grid. These fees went up a lot a little over a year ago. At least this money is going to infrastructure, hopefully preventing future blackouts. The PJM grid covers New Jersey, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. The rates really started to rise back in late 2007. That is when Corzine signed a bill that put NJ deep into the Global Warming scam. From NJBIA: In a move that could lead to higher electricity prices, Governor Jon Corzine on July 6 signed A-3301 (Stender, Vainieri-Huttle)/ S-2114 (Buono, T. Kean) to severely cut New Jersey?s greenhouse gas emissions. The new law requires the State to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent between now and 2020 and 80 percent by 2050. The law does not detail how these reductions will be achieved. Instead, the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will list sources of emissions and set up a reporting and monitoring system by January 2009, and by next June will recommend regulations and legislation to implement the 20 percent reduction. By June 30, 2010, DEP will recommend regulations and laws to achieve the 2050 goal. NJBIA was able to convince lawmakers to eliminate provisions for fees to be imposed on businesses that were in an earlier version of the bill. All that money paid to people with solar panels in the form of energy credits is paid for by you, the ratepayer.

It might be simpler than that:
Deregulation of the energy sector allows utilities to charge what they want...they want A LOT, so PSE&G raised their price 50%.
(They may hae had to pay off a couple officials to make the increase seem like it was actually based on anything besides greed.)

"Going Green" is MADE to look expensive, just like cigarettes were MADE to look innocuous.

Any figures on the profit increase for PSE&G between 2006 and 2009?

Quote:

Those rates are set by the BPU. The reason for the rate increase was to fund solar, wind, and other projects. Money is collected through the Society Benefits Charge (on commercial meters) and increased rates through the delivery charges. NJ requires the utilities to produce or purchase a certain percentage of power from wind, biomass, and solar. Since the amount of power produced from these sources is tiny, the amount bid for the energy credits (every megawatt-hour of power generated equals one credit) has hit upwards of $600 per credit. This money is then paid to the owner of the solar panels, wind turbine, etc. You the rate payer are paying for those credits. This is why you are now paying $0.18 per kWh.

The majority of power produced in NJ (which is part of the PJM grid) is nuclear (over 50%) followed by coal. The costs of nuclear have dropped significantly over the past decade while coal has been price stable compared to natural gas or oil. The increase in your bill is largely due to government mandates and not due to the increase in the cost of fuel.

Today I heard a radio advertisement for Constellation Energy who is offering competitive residential supply energy in New Jersey.

website: http://home.newenergy.com/

Most of these companies are 'legit' however, there are numerous scams out there.

If someone from one of these companies knocks at your door, ask to see there 'letter of intent' or canvassing permit. Most of these companies will try to claim they don't have to have a permit because they are a public utility. However, due to the fact that these sales agents are outsourced to 3rd party sales companies, the public utility exclusion doesn't apply to them.

So, if someone knocks at your door... ask to see their permit or LOI. If they can't produce it, call the police.

You can get a list of natural gas and electricity suppliers here:

http://www.state.nj.us/bpu/commercial/shopping.html

Scroll down to the bottom for links to the pdf docs that list the suppliers. Not all the suppliers service residential (they are commercial and industrial only).

Quote:
Simple answer: you "blow" her off your door step. If you were not notified or did not request her appearence then tell her she has the wrong address and to leave !

The same thing happened to me yesterday right after i got home from work, my bells rings and it's a woman from some company that supplies for PSE&G. She said she was offering customers a discount on their gas and electric. She ask to see a bill. She had a badge and a clip board with a copy of a bill on it as an example. I forgot the name of the company that she said she was from. When told her i didn't have a copy of my bill, she blew me off and knocked on my neighbors door.
All i wish is that someone would clarify what it going on. PSE&G should really post something letting ppl know which companies are legit and which are not. They need to take responsibility and accountability and try to protect consumers.

I also wonder if I made a mistake. I signed up for IDT this week over the telephone. They "promised" a savings of 7 % on the supply portion, but then their on-phone verification states that rates fluctuate and could actually be larger than other suppliers on any given month. The next day I got a cold-call from Palmco and they had some other sort of savings and similar spiel. I asked if there was any site that had table of actual rates charged by all these suppliers so consumer could compare. No. And on web there is bunch of misinformation and scam accusations and now I'm hoping there is no cancellation fee because I want to cancel the switch. I would love cheaper rate as my winter gas heating bill on 3 story house is 900 a month. Has it been working for anyone?

Here is their website:

http://www.palmcoenergy.com/

Not sure how good these guys are or if you will save. Our building contracts with Hess at a fixed cost over the course of a year for both gas and electric. In a 250 unit building we save a substantial amount.

Upon arriving home from work the doorbell rang and I answered. I was caught off guard having just gotten off the phone with PSEG earlier in the day I thought they were sending by someone to talk about lowering my bill.

A guy claiming to be from a company called PALMCO (and who said he also talked to my neighbors upstairs and downstairs, who both just told me they did but didn't sign anything)...long story short. He said they would be the new suppliers for PSEG and my bill would go down 5%-20%. I signed and he gave me a pink sheet with all of my info on it about how my bill will be lower etc.

But now, that I've had time to actually sit down and think, I believe I've made a mistake. A huge one on my part and extremely stupid.

Has anyone else had PALMCO go door to door? Did you sign? Did you not?

Basically, am I the only idiot here? Or is this legit?

yeah this happened to me too... I don't know whether or not this is a scam but my "gut" said something wasn't right so I told him that I don't care about what he has to say and that he should go away. He was still insistent about seeing a copy of my gas bill but I think my dog snarling in the background had a distinct effect on his resolve.

Next time someone tries to solicit anything to me I am going to throw them out of the building. Except the Jehovahs because I like to argue with them.

The BGGS part you were told is called "baloney".

There is no such company.

To put it simply, the charge on your bill called "bggs charge", is actually called a "balancing charge" within the utility job environment. See, PSEG has to place "reservations", sort of like paying a fee for "balancing" an estimated amount of what energy we will be needing in the upcoming months. They estimate that usage based on your last years usage. PSEG simply passes the cost that they are charged to make sure we have what we need based on how we use the services.
All these prices are figured out in Wall Street, not good!

also there is a company called palmco that is cold calling saying 15% off your bill...