Electricity Choices Offer Something to Think About

Making a decision about a gasoline purchase can be as easy as driving down Highway 175 in Odenton and looking at service station price signs. Not so for electricity.

Only warning signs exist, and even those are hard to locate.  Speaking with Odenton residents like Jeff Andrade, who is also treasurer of the Piney Orchard Community Association (POCA), this is a tough and confusing decision for consumers.

"The devil is in the details," warned Andrade, an early fan of electric supplier alternatives.

Maryland deregulated electricity in 1999, but only in the past few years of skyrocketing energy prices have companies besides Baltimore Gas & Electric (BGE is owned by Constellation Energy) started to aggressively solicit new electric supply customers here in Odenton, which is part of BGE's service area.  Most of the solicitation seems to have come by direct mail, according to many Odenton residents who responded to inquiries.

Meryl Tseng, an Odenton resident, started her odyssey by going to the BGE website because "my bill was really high," she said.  On the website, she found an online energy calculator and a list of other suppliers of electricity that compete with BGE. The list was provided by the Maryland Public Service Commission, the regulator of generators and distributors (as opposed to suppliers, the subject of this article).

Tseng noticed a tiny link at the bottom of the BGE website that took her to the Office of People's Counsel, a separate state agency set up to represent and help consumers make decisions about their utility suppliers. That site had a chart of suppliers that compete with BGE and included price comparisons. Competitors listed there include Constellation Electric, Spark Energy, Direct Energy and Viridian.

"That is when I started to really compare prices," she said. On the online POCA Yahoo group she posted: "It's pretty much zero effort and 100% reward".

"Not so fast," posted back Andrade who made his first electric supplier (not to be confused with distributor, which remains BGE) decision several years ago.

"Prices change over time and you have to watch very closely," he emphasized. "Even termination is riddled with confusion."

That sentiment was echoed by Tom Michaels, owner of the two UPS stores in Odenton.

"I thought I had the system down," Michaels said. "I had done my homework, watched closely as my contract period was ending and notified my new supplier I wanted to go back to BGE.  Well, it took longer than they had originally stated and I wound up paying more in the two months after the contract expired than I had saved in the previous twelve months. That was a warning sign to me."

For Jerry Strickler of Odenton, it was an easy decision once he compared prices.

"I was a previous customer of the supplier in Virginia where we own a house. The supplier was a good company, so good in fact, I bought their stock. I've been very happy with switching to my current supplier," he said in a phone interview. "I did look at two other suppliers, including BGE, but then I remembered my previous experience. I made the decision to go with them, and have no regrets."

Also on the Maryland Office of People's Counsel (OPC) website is a downloadable brochure that includes the questions OPC suggests customers get answered before selecting or staying with their current provider.  In addition, Googling"Electricity Suppliers Maryland" displays the Maryland Attorney General's website as the top link. According to the site, there are six questions to know the answers to before making a selection of an electricity supplier including is the price fixed or variable on a month to month basis.

"Be vigilant", warned Andrade, the POCA treasurer. "You can save money, but it takes time and thought to really come out ahead." 

Jim Ludwick is the owner of Odenton-based MainStreet Financial Planning. He can be reached via jim@adviceonly.net