Has anyone gotten out of Easymax contract?

[old&slow]

Not too impressed with what I got myself into...was wondering if there's a way out?

[justincalgary]

Can't you get out of their contract at any time?

[old&slow]

At what cost? I don't have the contract anymore...

[benyl]

There is no cost... Except that you will be paying more at a floating rate.

[Smokem]

i'm on it too, my understanding you have to give 30 day's notice, so if you've not timed your cancellation to reflect moving, etc. you're out 30 day's worth of utilities

if you're paying 7 cents for electricity i dont see why you'd want out... as of right now, it's a different story with gas though.

[old&slow]

Paying 11.6 cents for electricity and 10 for gas...

[old&slow]

what's floating rate for gas?

[ottamania]

I did door to door sales for direct energy(will never do that again) they had a penalty of $20 for each month for the rest of your contract to be finished. They also would give you 15 days to cancel it without any charges when u first sign up for it. So check and make sure u that u haven't sign anything like that.

or call em up and tell them you are moving out of the province. DE wouldnt charge anything if you did that.

I did that bout 2 days :) if you get ppl to sign a contract, u get $60. looked like a scam.

[The Cosworth]

DE is a scam, they do not own any assets within the province, they rent them from Enmax, TransAlta, Etc.

To me I would rather purchase from the people who own it.


Originally posted by old&slow
Paying 11.6 cents for electricity and 10 for gas...

that doesnt seem that bad, seeing as one of the largest Gen plants in Northern alberta has 3/4 units down, and 1 more to come offline in the next few years. (Wabamun for those who care)

Prices are going to surge, especially since ours is mostly coal generated, TransAlta is in quite a bit of heat with environmentalists, and the growth has strained the existing network beyond belief.

[Smokem]

Originally posted by old&slow
Paying 11.6 cents for electricity and 10 for gas...

it might look like you are locked into contract for gas and not electricity... as far as i know, they lock you into electricity at 8c/kwh and if the rate drops, just call them and they'll set you up with the lower rate

[stunta666]

My friggen wife signed us up for some shit like that. I was upstairs when this chick came and 10 minutes later my wife shows me how she signed up for some fixed gas price deal. I looked over the contract and it didn't look right so i cancelled it the next day, we had something like 15 days from the time you signed to cancel with no penalties.

[old&slow]

My bad...it's not EasyMax...it's Alberta Energy Savings...and the news is not good with them!
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2007/03/29/gas-contracts.html



A Canmore woman says she wants to pull the plug on her five-year contract with her energy supplier, but can't afford the $1,000 fee.

Becky Newhook, a mother of two, says even though she is trying energy-conserving measures around the home, she is paying about 30 per cent more for electricity and natural gas every month since signing a contract with a company called Alberta Energy Savings.

Becky Newhook was paying 6.5 cents per kilowatt for electricity and $8.70 per gigajoule for gas. She now pays 9.89 cents and $11.85.Becky Newhook was paying 6.5 cents per kilowatt for electricity and $8.70 per gigajoule for gas. She now pays 9.89 cents and $11.85.
(CBC News)

"The representative that came to my house, he had said this will be a savings," she said. "I said, 'Why don't you come back tomorrow let me go over this?' And he said he couldn't come back, I had to sign the contract then."

She admits she should have done more research, but adds the $1,000 fee to get out of the contract is unfair.

"This is my fault. I signed the contract. I am in this five-year locked-in contract at rates that are atrocious."
Sales reps don't mislead, company says

Nadine Evans, a spokeswoman with the Ontario-based Alberta Energy Savings Company, said sales representatives for the company do not mislead people and the sales process educates the customers.

"We also conduct a customer verification call," she said. "We actually have a customer service representative contact that customer and go through the details of the program to ensure that customer understands everything."

Newhook said she never got that call.

When Newhook signed the contact in December 2005, she was paying 6.5 cents per kilowatt for electricity and $8.70 per gigajoule for gas.

Under the five-year contract, which took effect in March 2006, Newhook now pays 9.89 cents for electricity and $11.85 for gas.

Enmax, an energy company owned by the City of Calgary, is currently signing five-year contracts with customers that lock them in at seven cents for electricity and $9.79 for gas.
Company compares it to a locked-in mortgage

The company's lock-in prices are typically 20 to 30 per cent higher than what's typically offered by local utilities because they are guaranteed over five years, Evans said. She compares it to a locked-in mortgage.

"You pay a little bit more now, but you lock in for that long term so you will know exactly what you are paying and you will be paying the same thing in five years."

But Evans says she can't explain why Enmax is offering five-year fixed rates that are lower that Newhook's bill.

"At times we've been slightly more expensive than our competitors, and there's been times we've been slightly cheaper with natural gas," she said.

"Our prices are pretty much based on the long-term prices of the market, as provided by our suppliers."

She says it is difficult to let people out of long-term contracts because her company has already purchased the gas and electricity for their customer.
Cutting consumption not working for Newhooks

Evans says families need to realize that some winters are colder than others, so that could also explain why bills are higher.

But Newhook said she has tried everything to cut back on energy use this winter, from doing the washing with cold water to turning down the heat in her home. But she says her energy bills have been climbing.

"I just feel that they represent themselves wrong. Their name should not be Alberta Energy Saving because it is not a savings and if I add up all the money that I have put out over the next five years to them or what I would have put out to Direct Energy or Enmax, I would probably have a couple of vacations for my family."

[The Cosworth]

Originally posted by old&slow

"At times we've been slightly more expensive than our competitors, and there's been times we've been slightly cheaper with natural gas," she said.


Wow nice answer.... we are usually more expensive, and once and a while we are cheaper than gas, dont ask about electricity.


sorry old & slow I dont know what to tell you, but if you do get out, STAY with enmax

[ExtraSlow]

Originally posted by brendankharris
DE is a scam, they do not own any assets within the province, they rent them from Enmax, TransAlta, Etc.
Just a point of clarification, Direct Energy has an upstream division that produces gas in Alberta.
They don't, however, own the physical pipe that goes to your house. If I recall correctly, Enmax don't own the consumer distribution pipes either.

[stunta666]

That's exactly who we signed with. I'm so glad we cancelled with them.

[The Cosworth]

Originally posted by ExtraSlow

Just a point of clarification, Direct Energy has an upstream division that produces gas in Alberta.
They don't, however, own the physical pipe that goes to your house. If I recall correctly, Enmax don't own the consumer distribution pipes either.

sorry I was talking on the electrical side, I am only familiar with the electrical market.

[hampstor]

IIRC under the 'deregulated' energy policies of Alberta for Electricity:

- Aquila owns the lines
- AESO controls the distribution and acts as the dispatch
- Generation is private (ie Transalta/Atco)
- Billing/retail is private as well

Some cities "own" a company that does both generation and billing (ie: Enmax/Epcor).

Direct Energy primarily falls under the billing and retail end of both Electrical and Natural Gas business (on the natural Gas side, ATCO primarily owns most of the lines).

It's been a few yrs since I did electrical markets.. but the gist of it is there are too many companys on the billing side of things peddling you the same EXACT same product :)

[The Cosworth]

^^ half right, the service territories are split.

There are five distribution providors in Alberta:

1.) FortisAb (formerly Aquila, TransAlta, UtiliCorp)
2.) Enmax (formerly Calgary Power)
3.) Atco
4.) Epcor (Edmonton Power Corporation)
5.) REA's (Rural Electrification Areas)

They actually own the lines within their service territories, i.e. Enmax owns all the substations, transmission, lines, meters, etc within the calgary city boundaries.



there are two transmission companies:

1.) AltaLink (formerly TransAlta Transmission)
2.) Atco

Generation:

1.) TransAlta
2.) Atco
3.) IPP's (Independent power producers, such as co-gens from O&G, Wind Farms, etc.)

Things like Direct Energy and Alberta Energy Savings sign customers, collect pay from said customers, turn around and pay enmax and lease line space, lineman, meters, etc from their respective DFO (distribution facility operator).

AESO is in charge of regulating rates, and the overall system health. The AUC is in charge of ensuring that companies do not overcharge for their services and do not do redundant building, among other things.

Control is overseen by AESO but each company has its own operators.

[old&slow]

4 cents a kwhr x 1100 kws = $44.00 a month x 60 months = $2440? Maybe I will check out enmax for a deal and see about paying the $1000 to get out of this contract...

How the hell did that prick talk me into this...

[GQBalla]

because they are con artist!

i had one guy come to my house his name was like pete or something, ill never get over the fact on how he talked to me.

first thing someone rings my door bell like 5 times in a row very quickly, me thinking it was probably my brother i run and answer the door only to find some lanky, tall, fucked up looking white guy (im not racist btw).

He greets me by saying are you the man that pays the bills?

Me: sure?

pete: well im pete from alberta energy savings ( flashes me this stupid little badge), im here to save you money by locking you into a 5 year contract. You pay more now but look at this chart ( brings out his little graph brouchure ) as you can see the price of electricity and gas prices have been steadily climbing. grab your bills so i can sign you onto the contract and save you money ill wait here.

Me: seriously? no im okay.

*this is where he gets persistent, he steps his foot in the door and says in order for me to save money he needs my bills.

me: i was like get your foot outta my house and leave me a brochure so i can look at it and ill call you if i want this.

pete: well im not coming back if you want this its a once in a lifetime deal.

me: *slams the door on his face*

lol sooooo couple weeks later another alberta energy savings guy comes -

he was nice when i said i dont want it - he just left.

[prae]

Originally posted by GQBalla
some lanky, tall, fucked up looking white guy (im not racist btw).

I once met a smelly, short, small penis, fucked up looking asian guy (im not racist btw)

[FiveFreshFish]

Originally posted by brendankharris
2.) Enmax (formerly Calgary Power)



The City of Calgary Electric System (CCES) became Enmax Corp.

Calgary Power became TransAlta.

[The Cosworth]

^^ my bad, that was before my time by I dunno 15 years. hhaha




Honestly though I just started working in the industry a year ago so i am still trying to figure out the mergers, breakups, splits, etc.

[CLiVE]

Note that many companies will threaten liquidated damages for ending a contract early, but will rarely chase after you if you do not voluntarily pay them. You can weigh that risk for yourself.

[CLiVE]

Originally posted by brendankharris

that doesnt seem that bad, seeing as one of the largest Gen plants in Northern alberta has 3/4 units down, and 1 more to come offline in the next few years. (Wabamun for those who care)



Prices will go up over the next few years as demand continues to increase and there it little/no new generation being built. However forward prices are still only in the ~$77/MWh range for the next 5 years, not $116/MWh as stated...a lot of margin if you ask me as AES would likely be hedging their volume below $80/MWh.

[Everlast]

snip.

How the hell did that prick talk me into this... [/B]

Did the salesman come pretending to be an Enmax employee? I work for Enmax's call center and i get calls everyday about people signing up for what they thought was Enmax but it was it was really alberta energy savings.

Call AE&S and throw a fit about being tricked into signing it. Some have told me that it worked and they got out of the contract after doing so

[prae]

seems like a few EEs in this thread to me?

[old&slow]

$1300 to get out...I wonder if enmax would cut me a deal to move over to them?
I wish I could reach my ass with my boot cause I'd be kicking it right now...

[old&slow]

Originally posted by CLiVE
Note that many companies will threaten liquidated damages for ending a contract early, but will rarely chase after you if you do not voluntarily pay them. You can weigh that risk for yourself.

What's the worst can happen if I pursue this avenue...?

[Penis McNickels]

Originally posted by old&slow


What's the worst can happen if I pursue this avenue...?

Creditors hounding you and possibly small claims court. At $1300 there is a chance they may go after you...

[redx2nv]

Originally posted by brendankharris
DE is a scam, they do not own any assets within the province, they rent them from Enmax, TransAlta, Etc.

To me I would rather purchase from the people who own it.



that doesnt seem that bad, seeing as one of the largest Gen plants in Northern alberta has 3/4 units down, and 1 more to come offline in the next few years. (Wabamun for those who care)

Prices are going to surge, especially since ours is mostly coal generated, TransAlta is in quite a bit of heat with environmentalists, and the growth has strained the existing network beyond belief.

Semi true, they are shutting down whitewood(the one on the side of the highway on the way to jasper).

But, they are ramping up production at the rest of the sites(highvale, genessy, keephills).

They have bought just under $150 million in mining equipment this year($40 mill from our company alone), energy cant be slowing down.

[The Cosworth]

Originally posted by redx2nv


Semi true, they are shutting down whitewood(the one on the side of the highway on the way to jasper).

But, they are ramping up production at the rest of the sites(highvale, genessy, keephills).

They have bought just under $150 million in mining equipment this year($40 mill from our company alone), energy cant be slowing down.


your right, I was working on the K3 project before I left the transmission side.

I guess my point though is that it costs more money to build new generation then to operate old generation, so as new stations are retrofitted or expanded it is seens as an increase in capital costs and AESO will allow a price increase.

[Davetronz]

I just signed up with EasyMax and it was by far the best sounding deal out there... As far as they informed me, there was no penalty to get out of the contract, but a 30 day notice was required.