NOPEC Does it Again - NOT!

[Mark Timieski]

I just got a package from NOPEC.

It starts:
“NOPEC is a public buying group authorized by voters who approved municipal opt-out aggregation in 128 Northeast Ohio communities, including yoursâ€

[Bryan Schwegler]

NOPEC was voted on years ago, I want to say 7 or 8 years ago?

[John Viglianco]

NOPEC was created in early 2001 to aggregate the ELECTRICAL rates. They chose GREEN MOUNTAIN to provide lower electrical rates. GREEN MOUNTAIN was only supposed to use power from "renewable resources". Everything about GREEN MOUNTAIN - including their discounts-- turned out to be a sham.

If we apply to be in the "chosen few" category for the GAS selection, do we get lumped into the standard NOPEC group when the DESIRABLE option is filled?

[Mark Timieski]

If the DESIRABLE slots are full you get lumped into the standard NOPEC plan (with the details of the standard plan revealed once you are enrolled into the long term contract). They were not able to tell me how many people had already signed up for the DESIREABLE plan.

I’m being sarcastic here with DESIREABLE, so don’t get any wrong ideas.

Yes, it looks like we voted for this monster, back on May 7th of 2002 (Issue 34). Yikes.

[John Viglianco]

My gas rate through NOPEC just jumped from $9.99/mcf to $12.48/mcf. I called NOPEC to ask why. Their website said that the FIXED rate was $9.99 though June.

The woman told me that I was in this SPECIAL 0.31% of their customers that received the VARIABLE RATE less than Dominion East Ohio Standard service.

Gee, if I won the lottery why do I feel like I actually lost?

[Grace O'Malley]

A recent study showed that customers who stayed with East Ohio/Dominion have actually paid LOWER rates overall than those who switched to NOPEC.

I was right. All along I said it was a joke and now its proven to be.

I'll post the link to the study when I find it again.

[Bryan Schwegler]

I'd like to see that study since Dominion just raised their rates to about $16.50 /mcf for June while NOPEC's fixed rate is still 9.99.

[Mark Timieski]

In June the heat is off. I’m not using much gas. The question is what rate will NOPEC have in November? This is much like a horse race; we won’t know who wins until after the race is over. In past races NOPEC has come in the back of the pack.

I was planning on calling NOPEC again to see if I could get an idea what their future rates are going to be. I’m under the impression that the current fixed rate is ending.

[Grace O'Malley]

I recall the study showed that over the years NOPEC has been in existence, the consumer who stayed with EOG payed a lower total cost for gas than the NOPEC consumer.

I had it bookmarked but changed browsers and lost my bookmarks.

Bryan, I think you are internet savvy, if you are truly interested, you can probably find it using a search engine.

[Bryan Schwegler]

Bryan, I think you are internet savvy, if you are truly interested, you can probably find it using a search engine.

I am Grace. I've just never felt it was my place to back up someone else's claims with proof.

[Bryan Schwegler]

In June the heat is off. I’m not using much gas. The question is what rate will NOPEC have in November? This is much like a horse race; we won’t know who wins until after the race is over. In past races NOPEC has come in the back of the pack.

I was planning on calling NOPEC again to see if I could get an idea what their future rates are going to be. I’m under the impression that the current fixed rate is ending.

You're right Mark, most don't use a lot of gas in June. However, having paid Dominions rate all Winter, I can tell you it was still significantly higher than 9.99 per MCF.

[Tim Liston]

Don't look now but....

The price of natural gas has skyrocketed over the course of 2008.

Last fall, MxEnergy offered a monthly variable rate contract at $7.45/Mcf. Now the same contract is at $13.57. That's an 82% increase. Their annual fixed rate contract was $9.49/Mcf. Now it's at $15.99, a 68% increase. And we're not even going into the heating season, when prices typically are higher.

By the way those prices don't include tax, delivery, etc. Just the gas. Current plans and rates can be found here: http://www.puco.ohio.gov/PUCO/ApplesToApples/NaturalGas.cfm?id=4810

I don't know the first thing about NOPEC, I have never trusted them. Instead I have always locked in prices where I could. But I can tell you that unless prices drop substantially over the next few months, which I find unlikely, heating our homes next winter is going to be VERY costly.

Even though oil prices have dropped a few percentage points over the last few days, natural gas has not, it's still at record highs. Part of the problem is that a lot of natural gas is used to generate electricity out west.

[Mark Timieski]

I talked to a NOPEC representative. The current rate of $9.95+transportation+sales tax ends in July. The representative said that they had been locking in contracts for long periods (like a year at a time), but the volatility of the market (i.e. gas prices would drop after the rate was locked) was making customers “irateâ€

[Bryan Schwegler]

Those rates are certainly lower than what I actually paid DEO.

Here's what my bill actually states:

Jan 9.99
Feb 9.31
Mar 12.86
Apr 14.32
May 16.35

Some I'm not sure who you figured the adjusted rates, but those are the actual rates pulled right from my bill and Dominion just announced rates are even higher for June. So I'm pretty sure that if I was on NOPEC's fixed $9.99 over the winter, my bill would have been less.

NOPEC is not a company and therefore isn't even for-profit. It's a government aggregation entity.

http://nopecinfo.org/about-nopec.html

[Mark Timieski]

Bryan,

Are you sure you were a DOE customer for January and February (the numbers seem low)?

DOE rates include transportation charges, tax, and riders. NOPEC and “Choiceâ€