Opt-Out period for Nopec Electric Aggregation

Grace O'Malley · Post by **Grace O'Malley** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 7:42 am

Just a heads up for Lakewood residents regarding their electric service.

You may have, or will shortly receive, a large envelope from NOPEC regarding your electric service. All Lakewood residents will be automatically included in the NOPEC aggregate to purchase service from Green Mountain Energy UNLESS you mail in the enclosed postcard to OPT-OUT of the aggregate.

If you already are part of the aggregate, or you wish to become part of it, you do not have to do a thing; it is automatic.

However, if you DO NOT want to be part of it, you MUST return the postcard to tell them NO, even if you did it two years ago when the program first began.

Hopefully, you will not do as I did and assume the large envelope was advertising and toss it into the trash. If you did, and you want out of the program, be prepared for a complete runaround and hours on the phone.

dl meckes · Post by **dl meckes** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 7:56 am

Have you found a better supplier? I assumed this was a good program. I thought our only alternative in Lakewood was CEI.

Grace O'Malley · Post by **Grace O'Malley** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 8:17 am

dl

The only alternative to First Energy operating here is the NOPEC Green Mountain program.

While you receive a small (and I do mean small) discount on the generation portion of the bill, the total monthly cost is not lower than First Energy.

Some users don't care because Green Mountain claims their electricity generation is "cleaner" and less polluting, (although there is some indication that this is not entirely true.)

In my personal opinion, the lack of cost savings make it hard for me to justify the hassle of dealing with yet another layer of bureaucracy.

YMMV

Bryan Schwegler · Post by **Bryan Schwegler** » Sat Jul 23, 2005 9:02 am

I don't really know how much more bureaucracy you're dealing with by staying enrolled in the NOPEC program? Seems like it's more of a hassle to opt-out.

Staying in it, you're automatically enrolled, it's automatically included on your bill and you still make one payment. No more onerous than before Electric Choice.

However to opt-out I have to remember to send in a postcard every few years.

Am I missing a level of bureaucracy somewhere?

Grace O'Malley · Post by **Grace O'Malley** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 6:41 am

From todays Plain Dealer:

http://www.cleveland.com/business/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/business/113049192953501.xml&coll=2

Green Mountain Energy pulls out of Ohio and will no longer supply electricity.
Now all customers will be sent back to First Energy.

Who wants to bet on how many natural gas suppliers decide to pull out and leave their customers, and their lower rates, behind?

Here is the original article:

http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/business/11303190657980.xml?bxbiz&coll=2

Bryan Schwegler · Post by **Bryan Schwegler** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 8:26 am

Grace O'Malley wrote:Green Mountain Energy pulls out of Ohio and will no longer supply electricity.
Now all customers will be sent back to First Energy.

That's not exactly accurate from the article you linked to. It states that NOPEC is currently negotiating with Green Mountain and several other companies so there is no guarantee we'll be sent back to First Energy.

It's far from a done deal.

Grace O'Malley · Post by **Grace O'Malley** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 8:37 am

Read the second article Bryan.

I hope you aren't holding your breath because Green Mountain is history.

If you have any time, try an internet search on Green Mountain.

In 2001, they pulled out of the California market; in 2003 they bailed on contracts in Connecticut.

In all cases the consumers were returned to previous service providers at higher rates.

Unfortunately, the contracts that these providers enter into protect THEM, not the consumer. If the market conditions change such that they cannot make a profit, they can legally cancel the agreement. If you read the second PD article, you will see the quote by the Green Mountain spokesman; they are well aware of the legalities of their actions.

Bryan Schwegler · Post by **Bryan Schwegler** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 12:14 pm

Grace O'Malley wrote:Read the second article Bryan.

I hope you aren't holding your breath because Green Mountain is history.

If you have any time, try an internet search on Green Mountain.

In 2001, they pulled out of the California market; in 2003 they bailed on contracts in Connecticut.

In all cases the consumers were returned to previous service providers at higher rates.

That is true, but you understand that the return to first energy was a system mistake and not a widespread drop of NOPEC customers back to First Energy.

Read the article again...the NOPEC consortium is negotiating with Green Mountain and several other companies which means a return to First Energy is not certain. You quote California and Connecticut which might be legit, but if you also read in the articles that NE Ohio was the only place that had negotiated wholesale, bulk rates, everywhere else it was individual customers. Here we have NOPEC to renegotiate with other companies which means a complete return to First Energy at standard pricing is extremely unlikely. The NOPEC spokesmen even confirmed in the one article that discounted pricing would remain.

The second story is talking about a billing mistake for a few thousand customers. The original story is the one that is more relevant. Trying to spin the second story into something that affects everyone is not possible.

I'm just trying to point out the facts in the news articles devoid of spin. For some reason it's just appeared that you have something against NOPEC since your first post on the issue in July (before GM decided to leave...)

Grace O'Malley · Post by **Grace O'Malley** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 6:34 pm

Latest news on NOPEC and aggregation:

http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1131013949122321.xml?ncounty_cuyahoga&coll=2

From the Ohio Consumer Council website:

http://www.pickocc.org/news/2005/10262005.shtml

Reaction to Green Mountain decision to terminate NOPEC contract
Today, Green Mountain Energy announced it has ended an agreement to serve customers in the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council (NOPEC) electric aggregation program. Green Mountain has indicated it will stop supplying electricity on December 31, 2005.

The following statement can be attributed to Janine Migden-Ostrander, Ohio Consumers' Counsel:

The Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel (OCC) is sorry to see any supplier leave our state's electric market. Green Mountain Energy has provided approximately $50 million in savings to many customers throughout northern Ohio.

The OCC hopes that the electric aggregation efforts by the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council can continue. Any savings gained from aggregation would provide residents with much-needed relief from FirstEnergy's electric rates, which are the highest in Ohio.

Green Mountain's exit from the Ohio market points to concerns about Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) costs and obstacles in the competitive market. The OCC shares many of those concerns and has intervened in the federal docket dealing with the administrative costs charged by RTOs.

The exit of Green Mountain should not be interpreted as a sign that competitive markets cannot work. Rather, it means that work needs to be done to develop the markets and provide residential consumers with all of the potential benefits of electric choice. Competition can work, but the roadblocks at both the federal and state level have been numerous and costly.

The OCC hopes that the environment changes and that, in the future, Green Mountain and other competitive suppliers can participate in the Ohio market and offer benefits to residents.

Bryan Schwegler · Post by **Bryan Schwegler** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:04 pm

As a follow up to the great prophesied doom of NOPEC allow me to recount from the the recent NOPEC newsletter I just received...

It appears that NOPEC, rather than falling apart as some have predicted in this thread, has signed a new agreement with FirstEnergy Solutions Corp which guarantees that NOPEC discounts will last at least through 2008 which is 2 years longer than the contract they had with Green Mountain.

Seems things didn't turn out so bad after all huh?

Grace O'Malley · Post by **Grace O'Malley** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 9:58 pm

prophesied doom of NOPEC

You got that out if this thread? LOL. A government bureaucracy ceasing to exist...now that would be a miracle!

As I suspected, customers will be sent back to First Energy Solutions, an arm of First Energy. Although the letter to customers touted the agreement, suspiciously absent were any real facts or figures regarding rates.

So exactly what will you be paying?

Bryan Schwegler · Post by **Bryan Schwegler** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 6:34 pm

Grace O'Malley wrote:Although the letter to customers touted the agreement, suspiciously absent were any real facts or figures regarding rates.

So exactly what will you be paying?

Really? You must have gotten a different flyer than I. Mine says I'll save 5% discount on the generation portion of my bill which is the same as what I got with Green Mountain.

In the end who cares which company is providing the power, the discount is the same.