thx, jaypee! just out of curiosity, how did you find Energy Plus?

it's strange that the three companies posted on the NJ CleanPower Choice site, one does not supply for our area, and the other two are middlemen.

when i went to Green Mountain's site, i got this message: "The zip code you entered is not in a competitive electricity market served by Green Mountain Energy Company. However, you can still support renewable energy for your home by purchasing Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) from Green Mountain."

and when i contacted Sterling Planet, was told: "We are not an actual electricity supplier. We are a green energy marketer and we purchase renewable energy certificates from green power generators and resell them, ensuring that green power is generated and put back onto the electricity grid. Your purchase would also go toward maintaining green power projects and toward building new projects." ... so, the same as Community Energy.

Just call the toll-free # in my post above. It takes a few minutes, and you can cancel with any ESCO three days after you switch without it ever kicking in.

The list you looked at might not have listed them because their wind farms are out of state (but you can get 100% wind power, which was hard to find in a NJ-based supplier). They're listed with PSEG as a valid electric ESCO, however.

With all the attention these days on the natural gas pipeline and the perils of natural gas drilling, it makes me wonder how many of PSE&G power plants are powered by natural gas and how many are planned for conversion from coal to natural gas?

Seems like a mass switch over to green energy would be an important "put your money where your mouth is" activity.

NJ CleanPower Choice site only lists: Green Mountain Energy, Community Energy, and Sterling Planet. No Energy Plus ... ?

(I got to that page through PSEG's site.)

Quote:

jaypee: how do you actually switch? call PSEG or Energy Plus?

I just actually canceled Community Energy - they don't actually supply the energy to the grid (they never show up under the "supply" portion of your bill), they're some sort of middleman where they purchase clean energy credits by pumping your dollars into green power elsewhere, or some such. Their rep on the phone explained it to me, but it's actually surprisingly complicated given all the utility regulations in place.

At any rate, I think this is why they show up as a separate line/additional charge at the end of the bill, rather than under the "supply" portion of the electric section.

I switched to Energy Plus, which offers 100% wind and actually does deliver the power to the local grid, plus they actually beat PSE&G's price per kwh!

In short, Community Energy = surcharge on top of your bill, no savings, questionable impact. An actual alternate supplier = modest savings, green power generated and sold directly to PSE&G for use on the grid.

Also, if you're an AAdvantage member (American Airlines frequent flyer program), you can get 2 miles per dollar spent on electricity with Energy Plus. Their phone number is 877-866-9193.

No horror stories, been doing it for a while. Some let you specify the percent of your $$ that goes to the different types of energy (wind, small hydro, etc).

We signed up for Jersey Atlantic Wind about 4 years ago, and then were switched over to Community Energy after J.A.W. went under. I called PSEG to see what happened but never got a response and couldn't find any press on it.

Our bill is also about $10 more based on this. Its essentially a carbon offset, as all the power from the wind farms goes onto the grid. It doesn't stream directly to your house. However, the more people that sign up for it, earmark the energy and statistically create demand = more investors in wind farms.

We've been using Community Energy for about a year now. To be honest, as much as it makes me feel better knowing I'm buying my energy from a green and more ecologically safe provider, I'm not sure what good its doing. My bill on average is $9-12 higher per month because of the fee attached by Community Energy. I've been thinking of reverting back to PSE&G as my provider. Times are tough right now. So all in all, I think it's mostly a peace of mind issue. Other than that there are no down sides. Everything is the same. Electricity is electricity, there aren't better grades over another. Service is exactly the same as if it were only PSE&G, as they are still responsible for delivery of the energy.

I do not have any information but I am very interested. If I can get green energy for a couple of extra bucks I am in.

I live in a one bedroom so I do not use much. It is the natural gas that kills me.

I've been doing a bit of research on green/renewable energy available for households in Jersey City.

http://www.njcleanenergy.com/renewabl ... m/start-today/start-today

There is a choice between 3 renewable energy providers:

Green Mountain Energy
50% wind / 50% hydro
http://www.greenmountain.com/nj

Community Energy
http://www.newwindenergy.com/individu ... or/wind-farm-utility-pseg

Sterling Planet
https://www.sterlingplanet.com/state/N ... ey_-_PSEampersG/SignMeUp/

Of course, there is a premium for renewable energy:

Green Mountain Energy
In addition to your monthly utility charges, you will be billed an additional charge for your Green Mountain Energy electricity product of 2? per kWh. For a New Jersey home using 750 kilowatt hours of electricity in a month, that?s only $15 more per month in addition to your local utility charges for electricity.

Community Energy
They have some different pricing schemes based on the power source, but it's 2? per kWh for roughly the same mix as Green Mountain.

Sterling Planet
They don't offer a 50% hydro / 50% wind for the comparison to Green Mountain and Community Energy, but instead they offer 67% new wind ? 33% small hydro for 3.5? per kWh.

Since PSE&G remains the delivery company, and beyond personal preference over the means of energy production, I am wondering if choosing one source over the other makes a difference.

Does anybody have any success/horror stories?