If you start it in the fall/winter, you’re postpaying your bill.
you do have a point.
yeah, but balanced billing is deceiving. You start thinking… “OOHHH… it’s december and my gas bill has barely gone up at all”. People seem to love this warm fuzzy feeling. However, if you actually total up your bill you’re paying more per year for gas.
I did budget billing once…and learned my lesson. You don’t realize this until you go to close your account.
The same people who do budget billing, are the ones that feel great at the end of the tax year when the government gives them their own money back and fail to realize you just let the government put your money into their savings account all while you earned no interest on it.
the worst part is those people somehow normally get more back than they have paid in taxes.
How does one pay more for gas in the end if they are on budget billing? Cited sources? 
Because your rates are locked typically… whereas most month-to-month bills the rate that you’re charged varies. Plus the same thing as with paying your taxes such that you get $$ back; you’re loosing out on all the interest from the months that you are paying for more than you’re using.
I found out through personal experience. I went to close out my account because i was moving…then got hit with a $300+ bill in the middle of May. The additional $300 that seemed to come out of nowhere, put my average bill above my average without budget billing.
you are paying in advance for the “estimated” cost of future natural gas. During the summer, there were rumors that gas would be 2x’s as much as last year for this winter’s heating. So during the summer, you already started to pay for this speculation. If you were on budget billing, it took this into account and, but now you hear that natural gas costs for this winter will be 25% lower then last year.
That interest savings is negligible, and in the winter when one would be paying $150, but only paying $60 would counter act the difference. I see no problems there, the one I do see a problem with is the locked in rate if it is true.
Totally not to de-rail this thread…but if you’re using the government for an interest free savings plan, you have horrible financial management. If you want, find out how much you “would” owe the government and set that asside into a savings or some other investment that will actually earn you money. The goal at tax season is to not owe anything and not get anything back.
I know prepaid anything is a bad “investment,” but that topic aside. If you are overcharged, you will get that money back in the way of a credit, and consequently, if you are undercharged then you have the pay them. But they usually adjust every 3 months to limit this from happening.
I wasn’t referring to the interest on the taxes, I was referring to the interest on the ~$100 in prepaid heating. I agree completely in getting no money back, or owing.
Like I said, budget plan is only prepaid heating if you start it in the spring or summer. If you start it in the fall or winter, you are getting an interest free loan on part of your heating bill. There are no extra fees, contrary to what’s been said in this thread, and in the event you do pay more you get squared away when you close the account.
i like ice cream.
And that is the way I looked at it. Since I started my budget billing cycle in October, I felt fine with doing so and figure it makes more financial sense. Not to mention, it’s nice to know the exact amount of expenses I have each month.
Anyhow, back on topic, ECNY :tup:
What are the exact savings from switching from NYSEG electric to ECNY, are the rates actually lower or is it that you just don’t pay the 4.75 Municipal sales tax?
Their website shows a nice comparison for National Fuel vs. ECNY rates but can’t find anything for electric…
Electric is more complex than gas since it has a different rate every hour. There is no easy comparison that can be provided on ECNY’s site.
Basically, there is a Merchant Function Charge (MFC) of $0.003/kWh on your bill that goes away. ECNY charges the utility rate + $0.0012/kWh.
You would save the following by switching from the utility:
Based on 5,000 kWh/year:
- Bill Issuance charge: $0.89/month or $10.68/year
- MFC: $0.0018/kWh (difference of $0.003 - ECNY fee of $0.0012): ~$9.00/yr
- 4.75% County Tax benefit on the utility portion of the bill: ~$16
Total Savings ~$36/yr
It’s worth noting that you save #1 and #3 regardless of the supplier you choose. These are benefits to buying from someone other than the utility.
Are there any hidden fees?
There are no hidden fees.
This is from the FAQ on ECNY’s website. This is why I thought I would get two electric bills. It doesn’t specify that commercial and residential customers are any different.
I called and listened to the recording about their current rates for electric supply and wasn’t impressed. $0.066/kWh for peak hours, which is 53% more than what I’m currently paying. $0.054/kWh for off peak though, but still 25% more. I hope they’re a lot cheaper at other points in the year to even things out.
I spoke with the Director of ECNY and let him know that the message needs to be changed. He is going to have one of the employees update it with the correct information (NYSEG utility rate plus $0.0012/kWh). They also will be clarifying the FAQ to state that residential customers will receive only one bill while commercials receive two.
I can understand why you might be confused. Thanks for posting about this.
I was really unsure of this also but this is how i got the concept…
Just think of this as buying Gas and Electric at Bulk Rate/Group buy…its will always be cheaper then buying it in smaller quantity.
You know how some company has this promotion “The More You Buy, The More You Save” This is the same theory.
Residental electric and gas are charged the standard rate but if you have a group of 2000 members there is a discount. Like buy A Shirt for Regular Price get the 2nd one Half off kind of deal.
Its simple. the more members the better the rates, etc.