Just a warning to members to avoid any dealings with Just Energy, a “supply company” in my case for Natural Gas.
On behalf of Just Energy, an Independent Contracter #816371 came to our home to sell my wife savings on energy by signing a 5 year contract to provide our natural gas. Yes, she made a mistake. They offer a 2month savings of 5% but do not tell the “indepent contracter” to inform you they plan to vary your rate so that you will be paying much more than the normal commodity price for the month the delivery company (National Fuel) would charge you.
I called National Fuel today to check their rates for same months of service listed below (not listed on bill). On the bills I could find last night:
In January 2014, I was billed at $ .81/ccf by Just Energy vs. National Fuel’s then price for Dec '13 of $.56/ccf. A 45% greater cost, this increased our bill by $68.14 to a total of $263.01
In December 2014, I was billed at $.78/ccf by Just Energy vs. National Fuels then price for Nov '14 of $.46/ccf. A WHOPPING 70% greater cost than using National Fuel.
Last winter (2013/2014), I noticed our bills seemed very high, but blamed very cold weather and the age of our home. Looking back now, I see that I payed Just Energy as much as $100 more per month in the coldest months than National Fuel would have charged me. I estimate that Just Energy charged us between $600 to $800 more than National Fuel would have in the 18 months we stayed in contract with Just Energy. They also charge a $50 exit fee to end contract.
This is a business that hooks people by indicating a savings for them so it can deliberately take advantage of them by charging in my case up to 70% more. Do you see that as dishonest and unreasonable?
It might have been these guys who came around to my neighborhood a couple years ago trying to lock people in. I asked him why they wanted me to lock in to a price when natural gas prices were not only falling the past few months but predicted to continue doing so and when he didn’t have an answer just moved on to my neighbor. I followed him and said in front of my neighbor, “Maybe you didn’t understand me, you need to stop trying to scam people and get the hell out of this neighborhood before we have a real problem.” At which point my neighbor started looking very angry at the guy too and he high tailed it back to his car.
No company will go door to door trying to lock you into a rate because they think it’s going to save YOU money.
If you’re looking to save money switch to these guys: http://www.ecamerica.org/
No contracts, you can switch back at any time but you won’t want to because they consistently beat National Fuel’s prices.
Thanks guys, I did cancel the contract and the supervisor even waived the $50 exit fee, how sweet. I’m just posting this so you can warn your trusting relatives.
I guess I need to look into this - I have National Fuel and General Electric. Are National Fuel and General Electric the middle man or a main supplier?
Part of my job is to educate people about scams/high priced suppliers - most of whom come to your door or call you on the phone and mislead you into giving out your account number.
Just Energy is up there as being one of the worst. Lesson learned there I suppose, but there are advantages to being with a supplier, as long as you have a good one.
With that said, make sure Just Energy didn’t get a hold of your electricity bill as well. They will appear on the supply portion of your bill if so.
We (NFG) get calls all the time by customers getting taken by these suppliers. Alot of customers call the cops. I love when they come to my house and they pinch their deal. Ive had ppl tell me they work for national fuel. I ask them for their ID and then show them mines. They leave rather quickly
They only saved me $33 vs National Fuel which is the lowest savings since I switched to them several years ago. Still a savings though so can’t complain.
I’m very leery of any fix rate plans from for-profit entities because companies don’t start pitching them when they expect prices to rise. They start pitching them because their long term data shows prices are going to fall and they want to get people locked before it happens.
There’s definitely a risk when taking a fixed position. It’s really not about beating the market, more so securing a price so you can get a handle on your bills and avoid any market spikes. On the offhand, you can lock in at a good rate, and then the market tanks and youre stuck - so pitching it as a way to beat the market isn’t ideal.
That being said, NOCO (where I work) has a fixed residential rate of 0.487 per ccf for 12 months. As mentioned by Beck, the market price in November was 0.461 and the going rate in December (with NOCO) is 0.52.
Looking at your rates really quickly, you have a rough estimate average of about 0.60 per ccf last year, so a fixed of 0.487 would be an improvement - but hindsight is 20/20.
