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Door-to-door energy sales ban to protect Alberta consumers

· · Leave a Comment Community Building, Consumer Info, Electricity, Interesting

Here is a News Release that came from the Government of Alberta today regarding the use of door-to-door sales tactics for energy products. As Park Power aims to be A Better Choice for Albertan’s we have never used door-to-door tactics.

Door-to-door energy sales ban will protect consumers

November 25, 2016 Media inquiries

Starting Jan. 1, 2017, Alberta will prohibit unsolicited door-to-door selling of energy products to protect people from misleading, high-pressure sales practices.

Alberta is banning door-to-door sales of:

  • furnaces
  • natural gas and electricity energy contracts
  • water heaters
  • windows
  • air conditioners
  • energy audits

The government has received well over 1,000 complaints about energy-related, door-to-door sales. Many have come from seniors and families who felt tricked into buying furnaces or water heaters on the spot. In other instances, consumers felt unrelenting pressure to sign energy contracts with salespeople visiting their home two or three times in one day.

“We heard loud and clear from Albertans who are frustrated by knocks on their doors and aggressive sales pitches in their homes. That’s why we’re taking action to protect Albertans by ending aggressive door-to-door energy sales.”

Stephanie McLean, Minister of Service Alberta

“We support the government’s action to protect consumers from door-to-door energy sales. We know that seniors are often targets of misleading, high-pressure sales tactics and this ban will help prevent many seniors from feeling forced into energy contracts and purchases they don’t need or want.”

Gordon Voth, President, Seniors United Now

“It’s our mission to advance marketplace trust, and one of the ways we do that is to call out unethical business practices. While BBB recognizes the many legitimate and trustworthy businesses who sell door-to-door, we hope these restrictions on misleading and high-pressure sales tactics will help create a marketplace where buyers and sellers can trust each other.”

Mary O’Sullivan-Andersen, President and CEO, BBB, Serving Southern Alberta and East Kootenay

“The RCMP welcomes this change. Our investigators have helped Albertans who have succumbed to fraudulent, high-pressure sales at their door. Real financial and emotional harm is often the result from these tactics, particularly among vulnerable persons in our communities. With this ban, we expect to see a noticeable decline in criminal incidents of unscrupulous, door-to-to-door sales of energy products.”

Superintendent Guy Rook, Alberta RCMP Officer in Charge, Federal Enforcement

Energy companies have multiple channels to sell directly to Albertans, including telephone and online sales, kiosks and advertising. All of these options remain open to them. Consumers are still able to invite salespeople to their homes, free from the pressure of having an unexpected, unwanted visit.

This action caps a week of government actions to improve the electricity system to protect Albertans. They include:

  • Putting an electricity price cap of 6.8 cents per kilowatt hour in place for families and small businesses on the Regulated Rate Option from June 2017 until June 2021.
  • Announcing the creation of an electricity capacity market to provide a future supply of reliable power at stable, low prices.
  • Reaching agreements with power companies to provide an orderly transition from coal-generated power to new, reliable sources of electricity by 2030.
  • Protecting taxpayers by achieving a settlement with Capital Power, AltaGas and TransCanada Energy that sees payments to the government in exchange for the early return of their Power Purchasing Arrangements.

Tips

Alberta’s Utilities Consumer Advocate website offers tips on buying energy products, helps customer shop around by comparing utility rates online and explains utility bills. UCAhelps.alberta.ca

Anyone with concerns about door-to-door energy sales can call Service Alberta’s consumer protection line at 1-877-427-4088 or visit servicealberta.ca to learn more about their rights.

Related information

 

Media inquiries

Tina Faiz

587-986-1505
Press Secretary, Service Alberta

Local Energy Retailer Joins The Fight To End Family Violence

· · Leave a Comment Community Building, Consumer Info, Interesting

This was originally posted by Nick Clark of Green Alberta Energy. Click here to view the original.

Local Energy retailer joins the fight to end family violence

Please allow me to introduce you to Kris Kasawski, founder of Park Power. He represents the future of Alberta’s energy business. Someone who cares and is passionate about his beliefs.

Kasawski is focused on engaging more men in the conversation around family violence and building healthy relationships. We believe supporting this cause is truly important, and hope you will join us in helping to spread his message.

Since a very young age, Kasawski has been aware of the issue of family violence in Alberta.

During his elementary school years, his mother was a teacher at A Safe Place, a local shelter for women and children fleeing abusive relationships. Through his mother’s experiences, he learned early in life about the negative impacts of family violence.

This is one of the many reasons Kasawski has decided to collaborate with Strathcona County Family and Community Services on the #SCspeakout Campaign, focused on engaging the community in the conversation around building healthy relationships and ending family violence.

“This has allowed me to leverage my position in the community – as a male, a father and a business owner – to effect positive change towards an issue that is so close to my heart,” said Kasawski.

November is Family Violence Prevention Month in Alberta and this year marks its 30th anniversary. Hundreds of Alberta communities and thousands of individuals are actively involved in preventing family violence by providing public education and services.

Residents of Strathcona County are doing their part. During the month of October, a number of red silhouettes were erected around the town as props to encourage community engagement and to get the conversation started about the issue. The Regional Walk Against Domestic Abuse included a group of local advocates and non-profits and was sponsored and led by Park Power. Now, November has been proclaimed White Ribbon Month.

The White Ribbon Campaign is part of an international movement that symbolizes people’s commitment towards positive relationships. Everyone has a role in creating a safe, strong community and to wear a white ribbon means you are showing your support towards ending family violence and building healthy relationships. White ribbons can be picked up at any Strathcona County facility as well as Baseline Chiropractic and Wellness Centre and CrossFit Sherwood Park.

“This campaign has been a good opportunity to leverage my brand and my skill set to bring light to an important issue.”

Kasawski believes that Park Power, which offers competitive rates on Electricity, Natural Gas and Green Energy in partnership with Green Alberta Energy, has a duty to give back to the local community.

“My goal is for Park Power to be a positive force in the community,” said Kasawski. “This campaign has been a good opportunity to leverage my brand and my skill set to bring light to an important issue.”

But it’s not just the #SCspeakout Campaign that has seen support from Park Power. The company also has a Community Partner Program in place which shares 10% of its profits with local charities.

“I really value our Community Partner Program and like the idea that as Park Power’s customer base grows, so do our donation amounts,” said Kasawski. “For me, it’s about Park Power being a better choice. It’s a new model of business in a traditional industry that allows us to offer lower rates than the traditional players, while still being able to share our profits with awesome local charities.”

“I wish more consumers knew they could save money on their electricity and natural gas bills while making positive community contributions.”

Strathcona County Family and Community Services Resources:

Park Power A Finalist For Sherwood Park Chamber of Commerce Business Award

· · Leave a Comment Community Building, Consumer Info, Interesting

Park Power is proud to announce that we are a finalist for a 2016 Sherwood Park Chamber of Commerce Business Awards.

As one of 3 finalists for the Don Neil Young Entrepreneur Award we are super excited to see how we will fare at the awards ceremony.  As a locally owned business offering lower rates and better service than our foreign corporate competitors while investing 10% of our profits back into our community, we think we have a good chance of winning.

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We will be rooting for some of our awesome customers who are also in the running for 2016 Business Awards for the Sherwood Park Chamber of Commerce.

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Local digital advertising agency Bluetrain is a finalist for Business Of The Year.  Bluetrain is team of true marketing professionals offering everything your organization needs to be known in the digital space.

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Spark-The Branding Shop is a welcome addition to the Sherwood Park community and is a finalist for the New Small Business category.  They offer loads of great promotional products as well as hosting a co-working space and a wonderful art gallery/event space.

Park Power Supports SCSpeakout

· · Leave a Comment Community Building, Consumer Info, Interesting

Join Park Power in helping bring awareness to the issue of Family Violence with the #SCSpeakOut Campaign. 

red-silhouetteShow our community that you care and get engaged in the conversation, both in person and on social media, around the complex issue of family violence. The hashtag #SCSpeakout will be used in as a tool to engage more of the community in the conversation and get us working towards positive solutions for ending family violence.

 

 

 

 

 

white-ribbon

In the month of November, you can join Park Power in supporting the White Ribbon Campaign.  Hosting a White Ribbon display in at your business, have your employees, where White Ribbons, and together with your community take a stance against family violence and towards healthy relationships.

Why not become a part of these community campaigns focused on personal well-being, healthy relationships, and eliminating family violence?

Park Power partners up with Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS)

· · Leave a Comment Community Building, Consumer Info, Electricity, Interesting

Park Power is proud to announce our latest addition to our Community Partner roster, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) Northern Alberta who have been positive and effective nature advocates in Alberta since 1968.

CPAWS NAB logo transparent

As a collaborative organization, CPAWS works with government, forestry and oil industry representatives, and communities to find conservation solutions for Alberta’s wilderness and wildlife. They also advocate for the creation of parks and protected areas in Alberta so that both current and future generations of Albertans can enjoy the nature-based outdoor activities the we love.

As a Community Partner with Park Power, CPAWS Northern Alberta will get 10% of Park Power’s profits for each customer who chooses CPAWS as their Partner of Choice when signing up for one of our awesome electricity and natural gas plans.  These customers also have the option of adding a top-up donation onto to their monthly power bill which will be donated, along with Park Power’s profit sharing donation, to our Community Partners on an annual basis.

Our Community Partner Program is a favourite aspects of our business model. Through it, we are able to integrate our corporate giving automatically into our billing software and offer the same easy giving option to our customers which makes supporting awesome local charities a breeze.

Park Power is A Better Choice for your electricity and natural gas than all those big traditional utility companies.  By offering lower rates, superior Alberta based customer service, and sharing our profits with great Alberta charities we give our residential and commercial customers the satisfaction of saving money on their utility costs while supporting a local business that puts their growth towards good in the community.