Energy Management Committee: Don't fall for scams
To the Editor:
Marion residents have been swamped with offers in the mail and over the telephone of "clean energy." The ads are artfully designed to persuade folks to designate a new source for the supply or generation portion of their electrical bills. Moos of us would assume that "clean" is good and that the offer will probably be a bargain.
Not so! Eversource's invoices clearly state who is your supplier and what its Generation Service charge is. For example my last bill showed that I had selected ConstellationNew Energy Inc. charging $.094 per kilowatt hour (kWh). The ad that I received from CleanChoice Energy offered the rate of $.1576 per kWh. In other words, they were offering power at a generation cost 66% higher than I was already paying. For a family using 30 kWh per month a change to Clean Choice Energy would add about $18.80 to the monthly bill.
Just because electric power is "green" of "renewable" does not mean that it will always be expensive. Let the buyer beware!
Bill Saltonstall
Member, Energy Management Committee