Energy Supplier

[K-Dog]

I wont even pretend to have a clue HOW this works, but that is not important any way.
I have been hearing about "big savings " by switching your electrical supplier.

As I understand it BG&E still delivers it down the lines and what not so all it is, is just changing services, ie some paper work.

Has any one here done this? How big are the "big savings " ?
Have there been any issues? Is it easy to switch ?

Thanks.

[Moderator 2]

We are all electric, and have looked into switching several times but it has never paid off after doing the math. We did better by new windows, and weather proofing the house and up-grading to energy star appliances. Our biggest saving was getting getting rid of our old large TV and getting a flat screen. Its worth about 50 bucks a month and we had our dryer vented outside and it really helped.

[theblackdog]

Pepco services the lines here, but I assume it's a similar process with BG&E. I ended up switching to Viridian as my supplier because they offered more "green" electricity, plus my church gets some money back for signing people up to Viridian. At the time when I ran the numbers against Pepco I figured my energy savings was about $6-7 a month (avg bill is $35 for a really small apartment) so it wasn't "huge" but there was a definite dent. BG&E should have a list of approved electric suppliers on their website.

It comes down to research, seeing what BG&E charges for electric and what another company will charge for electric and doing the calculations. The switch itself is pretty painless. You sign up with the company and give them your info about your current supplier (your name, address, acct #). Then you'll likely get a letter from BG&E that you've switched to the new provider and it starts on your next bill, otherwise nothing else changes except you seeing your new supplier and their rates listed on the bill. Since BG&E still does the wiring and all of the other stuff, you will call their power outage number if your power goes out.

One MAJOR caveat though, read the fine print from any new supplier VERY carefully before you commit to them. A number of them do require you to sign a contract with them for 1-2 years, with a termination fee if you want to get out early.

[Gtown Purple]

Your electric bill is made up of 2 things, the supplier and the maintenance. The maintenance is always going to be done by whomever owns the lines and is charged on a kwh basis.

In Maryland you have the right to change your supplier and there are about a half dozen depending on where you live. The savings can be as much a 10 cents per kwn so the best thing for you to do is get out your bill and see how many kwh's you use and multiply it out. You should also check with your current supplier and make sure you aren't in a contract as if you break it you will be charged an early termination fee.

Alot of things go into your bill and will factor in.

1. Do you have energy efficient appliances, AC unit, furnace, water heater?
2. Which things in your house actually use electric?
3. How old are you windows and doors?
4. Is your attic properly insulated

For me my house is all electric except for my water heater and furnace but we'll be converting our gas tank water heater to a tankless electric soon. I also invested in a solar energy system so my electric bill stays below 100 bucks even in summer. Maryland is a good state to live in for credits on solar and geothermal systems.

[XxSizzleXx]

Weather proofing with new windows and doors will do wonders for your bills in the long run.