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parkpower · · Leave a Comment Community Building, Consumer Info, Electricity, Interesting, Solar Power
parkpower · · Leave a Comment Consumer Info, Electricity, Interesting
Recently Enmax, Direct Energy, and AltaGas have all exercised a right available to them in their Power Purchase Arrangements to opt out of the agreements and return them under the control of the Balancing Pool. These actions will have impacts on consumers in the Alberta Utilities market who might be asking, “What is the Balancing Pool and a Power Purchase Arrangement”?
If your energy retailer is providing you with a proper breakdown of your charges, like ours below, you will see Balancing Pool Allocation as a line item on your electricity bills and wonder what it is doing there. For the most part consumers have been, like this example, receiving allocations or credits on their bill.
The Balancing Pool was established in 1999 by the Government of Alberta to help manage and support the transition to a fair, efficient, and openly competitive electricity market in Alberta by performing the duties and responsibilities set out in its mandate including managing the risks and maximizing the value of the assets held on behalf of Alberta’s electricity consumers
The legislated duties of the Balancing Pool include:
Now what does it mean that the Balancing Pool is responsible for the Power Purchase Arrangements? Well when the 3 large retailers opted out of their PPA’s, the financial responsibility to the coal fired generation assets became the Balancing Pools to manage. The PPAs were long term fixed power price purchase arrangements initially set up and auctioned off to begin acting as market mechanisms on January 1, 2001 when the Alberta Utilities Market opened up for competition. The existence and the fixed price nature of a PPAs for electricity provided market price stability for the owners of the generation assets. It also added a level of market protection to consumers as well since wholesalers and retailers of electric energy had access to fixed contracted term rates for power as opposed to the wholesale spot market where the price changes constantly throughout the day. (as you can see in the image below)
With the Balancing Pool responsible for more assets a question that arises in our minds is, will the Balancing Pool Allocations that our customers have been seeing on their bills as credits start changing to Balancing Pool Charges? Perhaps, but not likely anytime soon. According the 2014 Annual Report, since 2006, the total Consumer Allocation from the Balancing Pool to Alberta electricity consumers has exceeded $2.0 billion. The largest source of cash inflow to the Balancing Pool was from the sale of electricity and ancillary services from the Genesee and Hydro PPAs they hold. So now that they will be holding more assets, it should mean more cash inflow and perhaps a continuation of allocations to consumers.
So even though the Alberta Government stated it was going to review Enmax’s decision to opt out of their PPA, conditions are still good for consumers to save money on their electricity bills. The current market price for electricity is the cheapest it has ever been and forecasts have it remaining low in the near term. Our customers on the Flow-Thru Rate plan, who have been paying 3-4 ¢/kWh for their electricity, are capitalizing on the savings available.
Maybe it’s time you reviewed what you are paying make the switch to Park Power.
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parkpower · · Leave a Comment Community Building, Consumer Info, Electricity, Interesting
2016 is into full swing now and should prove to be another interesting year for the electricity and utility industry.
The Alberta Government is starting to enact their Climate Change Plan which includes the phase out of coal fired electricity and the uptake of 30% renewable sources by 2030. The beginning of this change over will begin with incentives coming for farms and municipalities to install solar panels.
Park Power is helping you be a part of this positive change by offering the most affordable option to Albertans to support renewable energy with Green Alberta Energy. Offset any percentage of your usage for the lowest rate on Green Power available in Alberta of 1.66¢/kWh.
For the average Albertan home 100% would cost $14.11/month and 25% would cost $3.53/month.
Why not connect with us on Social Media?
Park Power is active on Facebook,Instagram, Twitter, Google Plus, and we are now trying our hands at the mobile only Snapchat. Our content on these different platforms is curated by Park Power’s owner Kris Kasawski, who tries to share content that has value to our followers.
We aim to tell our story as well as be a resource for our customers and followers for information on the utilility industry(with a slant toward renewable energy) and on Alberta’s Climate Leadership Plan. Park Power on social media is also a great source for various happenings in the local economy. We love to support and advocate for all the awesome independent local businesses we have in the Edmonton Region.
These platforms also provide a great platform for customer feedback and we would love to hear from you. Please give us a quick review either onFacebook, Google, or with the Better Business Bureau. These reviews provides great value to us for a couple minutes of your time and we thank you for them.
Park Power’s Introductory Natural Gasoffering is going well and we are glad to be offering our customers in the ATCO Gas Territories lower admin fees and a lower transactional fees on this essential product for Albertans.
For our customers who want to take advantage of getting their natural gas as well as electricity from Park Power can simply add it onto their account in the My Account section ofparkpower.ca
Our new customers are able to choose both products from us directly from our Sign Up Page when they apply for new service with Park Power.
parkpower · · Leave a Comment Consumer Info, Electricity, Interesting, Uncategorized
How can you get a cheaper electricity & natural gas bill in Alberta?
Make a Better Choice and choose Park Power as your energy provider. We can help you take advantage of the record low electricity prices in Alberta right now and help save you money.
Some consumers in Alberta might wonder how its possible that we can reduce our fixed electricity rates in Alberta by 10% heading into 2016 (from 6.3 ¢/kWh to 5.8 ¢/kWh). Some will wonder why their Dec 2015 Regulated Rate Option (RRO) Rate was 5.3 ¢/kWh when Park Power’s Floating Rate was 3.6 ¢/kWh (32% less).
Park Power is a smaller, more nimble energy provider than our big corporate competitors. As such we are able to take advantage of the low wholesale power market prices more quickly than the cumbersome, traditional utility companies and pass the savings onto you.
Are there really savings to be had? Well if you look at latest power market data below you will see that the average wholesale price for 2015 was $30.50/MW, the lowest yearly average settle price for electricity in Alberta since deregulation. Have a look at what you are paying (¢/kWh) and compare to what you could be paying after you Sign Up with Park Power.
Overall, softening demand, added generating capacity, above normal temperatures, and relatively strong wind output resulted in historic low electricity prices in 2015. Are you taking advantage of these consumer friendly market conditions? (for reference $33.34/MW works out to close to 3.6 ¢/kWh)
Customers can choose our low Floating Rate to take advantage of the savings offered right now and have peace of mind knowing that they can switch penalty free to one of our awesome and stable Fixed Rates should the wholesale market power price start to rise.
Start 2016 off right by reducing your home utility costs while experiencing paperless billing, superior customer service, and profit sharing with local charities through our Community Partner Program.
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parkpower · · Leave a Comment Consumer Info, Electricity, Solar Power, Uncategorized
GREEN ALBERTA ENERGY
The cost of greening the electricity grid in Alberta just got less expensive. Park Power and Green Alberta Energy are now putting consumers in control to GREEN any portion of their energy consumption because every little bit helps. The price per kWh for our new produce offering is 1.66 cents. How does this compare? For an average Alberta household consumer (650 kWh per month usage), you would pay 3.2 cents with Bullfrog and 1.66 cents with Green Alberta Energy: 48% less. Regardless which plan a customer is on – 1.66 cents per kWh is lower than all the other options available to Albertans.
One last point worth noting. Consumers do not need to be tricked into greening 100% of their consumption, because the grid already is partially green. At the time of pulling together this information for you; look at the supply and demand stats in Alberta. MC: Market Capacity, TNG: Total Net Generation – Electricity currently being shipped onto the grid. There is 16,249 MW of capacity in the province of which Coal and Gas represent 83% of the supply. Renewables and Cogen accounts for 17% of the installed generation in the province. If you look the TNG numbers (this gives you the intensity of what is on the grid):renewables are not running at full capacity but still represent 12% green which is being delivered to consumers.
Recommendation: Green 75 to 80% (the coal and natural gas portion) of your consumption and save some money. The bottom line: If a Bullfrog customer purchased a package, they would be invoiced $21.25 per month. If an average consumer purchased only 75% green from Green Alberta Energy in partnership with Park Power they would pay only $8.09 (based on 650 kWh per monthly consumption. A savings of 61%. Plus you will be supporting an Alberta based approach supporting renewable energy in Alberta not an Ontario based approach supporting renewable energy elsewhere in Canada.
Consumers don’t have to overpay by buying packages or baskets of green: Now they are in control of how much they want to green (they select the percentage) and they are only charged based on exactly what they consume. Plus they can take advantage of our lowest Fixed Rate Offering
Customers are billed as part of their monthly utility invoice. Simple and Affordable. No contracts – No exit fees – No administration fees. The service is totally integrated and the savings are passed onto the consumer.
Check out Park Power’s Green Alberta Energy Page This is an affordable solution for Alberta’s carbon problem.
With Park Power you can
Ø Save on Electricity
Ø Save on Natural Gas
Ø Invest in Green.
#454, 314 – 222 Baseline Road Sherwood Park AB
T8H 1S8