The 21 Days of No-NOPEC?

[Mark Timieski]

I just received my NOPEC opt-out form. I have 21 days to determine if I don’t want to participate in the program.

http://dis.puc.state.oh.us/TiffToPDf/A1001001A10C02B61555H68245.pdf

The NOPEC rates are not readily available, and do not appear in the Public Utility Commission of Ohio (PUCO) “Apples to Apples” comparison chart, so I’m having a difficult time determining if NOPEC rates are any better than the other available programs.

Would there be anyone that is a NOPEC customer that would be willing to sit down with me and compare rates? I’ve been on the Dominion SCO plan for the last year and have written up an Excel spreadsheet to compare various plans, but without having access to NOPEC rates I can make no comparison. If you are interested in comparing rates and have saved your bills for the last year, please private message me.

Thanks,
Mark

[Will Brown]

They have a web site full of self-serving press releases that does contain some rates, but I found it very hard to get information from them. Inquiries to them actually went to their supplier, who couldn't answer most of my questions.

I ended up opting out because they seemed so evasive, but it is certainly possible that their rates are good. I think it is a case of a good idea (aggregating) that has fallen into the hands of bureaucrats and politicians who don't feel a need to be open to their constituents. It is especially hard to compare rates because there are many components that go into your final bill, so just getting a lower rate may not mean that you are paying the least for the product.

[Grace O'Malley]

I've always opted out.

Do some googling. There was a guy who had a blog that did a comparison between someone who stayed with their utility or signed with NOPEC. Over the last so many years, the consumer who went with NOPEC ended up paying more for their gas and electric than had they just stayed with their original supplier.

As usual, its a bunch of political bureaucrats promising something they cannot deliver.

[Will Brown]

What irks me is the cost of the stamp I have to buy to opt out each time they threaten to include me. I believe the member cities are required to have a list of people who have said they don't want to be aggregated, but the City of Lakewood appears to know nothing about that.

Flawed in practice as it may be, I still think the idea of aggragation is sound. I can't believe that if a good negotiator went to the suppliers and said I represent a block of millions of customers, what can you give me?, he couldn't come back with a pretty sweet deal.

[Mark Timieski]

I've been corresponding with a member of the observation deck that has NOPEC. His gas rates were slightly better than the Dominion SCO program, approximately two cents less per MCF than from Dominion. The rates he had are considerable lower than the rates that are published on the NOPEC web site for the same period. We think that he may be one of the first to enroll in the NOPEC plan and was offered a special rate. The question is, are there any NOPEC customers out there that didn't get the special rate?

According to NOPEC the rate in February was $7.99, while my NOPEC friend had a rate of $6.65. Does anyone have a bill with the $7.99 rate?

The rate would appear under the NOPEC portion of your gas bill, and be listed in "MCF @ $7.99".

Nopec Rates:
http://www.nopecinfo.org/natural-gas.html