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Change Your Community: Pride BBQ and Silent Auction

· · Leave a Comment Community Building, Interesting

Change Your Community: Pride BBQ and Silent Auction

Please join our Community Partner the altView Foundation for Gender Variant and Sexual Minorities for their annual Pride Week BBQ Thursday June 12, 2014 from 6-9pm and the Sherwood Park Chamber of Commerce 100 Ordze Ave in Sherwood Park.

This will be a great event with a free BBQ, a silent auction, and a community challenge with some interesting and engaging discussions and activities about how we can help ‘Change Our Community’ and shape the world that we live in.   The event will also feature Dr. Ruth Dyck Fehderau as a keynote speaker. Dyck Fehderau carries a PhD in English from the University of Alberta and teaches numerous LGBTQ related courses in the Department of English and Film Studies at the university.

It’s Pride Week everybody engage yourself in positivity that surrounds this great event.

 

Is Enmax’s Choose Free really Free?

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

Is Enmax’s Choose Free electricity promotion really free?

You may have heard about this promotion happening right now and thought to yourself, “Hey, that sounds like a great deal.”  Before you jump in here are some things to consider

Here is the skinny on Enmax Free Power giveaway.

A. Conditions:

1. You must sign up for both Electricity (at 7.79 ¢/ kWh) and Gas ($5.99 /GJ or Floating + $0.99 /GJ) for 5 Years.

2. Administration Fees are $7.10 per month for Electricity and $7.10 per month for Gas.

3. The customer will receive electricity at 0 ¢ /kWh up to a maximum of $750 for one year: applied just to the energy portion of the bill. This applies to either the first or third year of a 5 year contract. (The $750 is not what the customer would receive, but rather this is a cap on what the offer is valued at. This is equivalent to a customer using about 802 kWh per month – to achieve the maximum benefit). Once the $750 credit limit has been reached the customer will continue paying the 7.79 ¢/kWh rate.

4. If the customer cancels the contract the penalty is $95 per Electricity Site and $95 per Gas Site calculated for the remaining term of the 5 year contract. (A double dip penalty – will be expensive!)

B. Analysis:

1. One year free electricity comes at a cost.  You must remain an electricity and gas customer of Enmax for 5 years and should

2. The administration charges per month are not $7.10 but really $14.20 (as the admin fee is applied to both Electricity + Gas).

3. Remember you must buy gas and possibly pay $5.99 /GJ. Over the last couple of years (including the spike in price during February of 2014) the average Regulated Rate for Gas which follows the market price was $3.08 /GJ. Using history for comparative purposes, then consumers signing up for gas at $5.99 would be paying almost 100% more for gas compared to what they would have paid if they were on the Regulated Rate.The average consumer using 8 GJ per month would be paying over $275 a year more for gas (which is $1,375 over the 5 year term in premium rates) compared to what they would be paying if they were on the regulated rate.

4. Hidden in the “Fine Print” take note that ENMAX has now implemented a cancellation fee which it never had before. If you want to try or need to get out of this contract it will be expensive. If you cancel at the end of the first year of free power the penalty cost would be $760. On an annual basis the exit fee is not $95 but rather $95 X 2 (for both commodities) = $190 per year remaining on your contract.

 

How does this compare to Park Power’s current Residential Value Rate?

1. On a 3 year contract you would pay 7.75¢/kWh for your energy and $6.50 for your admin fee. Lower than Enmax’s $7.10

2. The 5% interest you earn on your $200 deposit brings your monthly admin fee down to about $5.40.

3. If you want or need to get out of your contract with Park Power you may do so free of charge.  We only ask that you give us 10 days notice of the cancellation.  After that you receive your $200 deposit (that has been earning you a 5% annual return) back.

4. We are offering you a great rate on electricity with superior customer service based right here in Alberta, not in India like Enmax.  We also won’t charge you any exit fees should you have to cancel your service before your contract is up.

 

Don’t believe the hype it makes more sense to choose a lower rate of electricity from Park Power and stay on the Regulated Rate for natural gas.

Shop Local and Power Our Community.

Compare Electricity and Natural Gas Utility Options

· · Leave a Comment Consumer Info, Electricity, Interesting

How should you compare electricity and natural gas utility options for your home? Many Albertans are uninformed about the options available to them when choosing utility services (power and natural gas) for their home.  They may be unaware of how deregulation has affected their choice and how sometimes the regulated option may not be the best one for them.

Since 2001 for Electricity and 2004 for Natural Gas Alberta residents have had the ability to choose to receive their power and gas from a retailer regulated by the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) or from a competitive retailer like Park Power.  The AUC reviews and approves the rates charged by the regulated providers, in the Edmonton region these are EPCOR for electricity and Direct Energy Regulated Services for natural gas.  If a customer chooses a regulated retailer, the rate the customer pays will change every month based on the market price for either electricity or natural gas.  If the customer chooses a competitive retailer they will have the option of choosing to pay the floating (market) rate or paying a fixed rate for a prescribed term through a contract.

One of the most important things to understand when considering a regulated or competitive retailer is that your choice or retailer does not affect the delivery of electricity or natural gas to your home, only the price you pay for it.  The delivery to your home will still be made by ATCO Gas or AltaGas for your natural gas service and EPCOR, Enmax, ATCO Electric or FortisAlberta for your electricity service.

Here is a comparison of our current rate offerings to your options from the big retailers operating in the Edmonton region.

Park Power’s current electricity Discount Fixed Rate  – 6.3¢/kWh Guaranteed until Dec. 31, 2020 and free to cancel with only 10 days notice.

Park Power’s current electricity Variable Rate   – May 2017 Rate 3.71¢/kWh  (6 Month Average 3.70¢/kWh). Free to cancel or switch rates at anytime.

Park Power’s current Discount Natural Gas Rate of Market Price + $0.75/GJ. Guaranteed until Dec. 31, 2019 and free to cancel with only 10 days notice

A Sherwood Park, AB company independently owned and operated serving customers all over Alberta.

 

Direct Energy competitive electricity 3 year fixed rate   6.99¢/kWh Cancel for free if you give 30 days notice.

Direct Energy current floating Natural Gas Rate of Market Price + $2.00/GJ

North American head office in Houston, TX and a subsidiary of UK bases Centrica PLC.

 

Enmax 5 year fixed electricity rate – 6.59¢/kWh. Cancel for free if you give 30 days notice.

Enmax current floating Natural Gas Rate of Market Price + $0.99/GJ

Headquartered in Calgary, AB aiming to deliver long term value to its largest shareholder, the City of Calgary.

 

Just Energy 5 year fixed electricity rate             6.59¢/kWh. Pay a $75/year exit fee should you cancel before the 5 year term is up.

Just Energy only offers a fixed Natural Gas Rate of $4.69/GJ

Headquartered in Mississauga, ON

 

To me it seems like an easy decision to shop local and sign up with Park Power but the choice is up to you.

Shop Local Save Money

 

Winter Sunshine Can Help Reduce Your Energy Costs

· · Leave a Comment Electricity, Interesting, Solar Power, Uncategorized

Have you ever considered how passive solar energy from the low winter sun can help you reduce your energy costs?

Passive solar is the concept of collecting, storing, and distributing solar energy without the aid of any mechanical devices.  Solar energy is collected during daylight hours through a building’s south facing windows, stored as thermal energy in the floors, walls, and furnishings, then distributed as heat during the later part of the day when the amount of solar energy entering the building decreases.  This concept can be quite useful in the sunny Capital Region where we rank #7 in Canada for Sunny Days During the Winter Months.

How can  you take advantage of passive solar energy to reduce your energy costs?  If you have any south facing windows in your home or office be sure to open the curtains or shades during the sunny hours of the day to capture the solar energy and ensure that those same curtains or shades are closed during the darker hours so as not to waste any of the heat collected.  Other things to consider when trying to capture passive solar energy is that materials with more mass or density (floors, walls, countertops) capture and hold that energy better and release it slower than materials with less mass, so try to expose the denser materials in your home or office to more of the sunlight entering through the south facing windows.  Capturing solar energy passively will help reduce the need to actively heat a building with a furnace thereby reducing both the electricity and natural gas consumption.

So as we carry on through a cold but sunny streak of weather consider trying to capture some of that lovely free energy that shines down upon us.

New Community Partner – The altView Foundation

· · Leave a Comment Community Building, Interesting, Uncategorized

Park Power is proud to announce the addition of our newest Community Partner, The altView Foundation for Gender Variant and Sexual Minorities.

The altView Foundation is a great group of people creating positive change in our community.  Their core values of Acceptance, Community, Openness, and Honesty and a Vision Statement of creating and encouraging acceptance and inclusion of diversity within Alberta aligns well with Park Power and our goal to help build community and create positive change.

Please check out www.altview.ca and see how open, inclusive minds can help create better communities.

The Community Partner program provides another source of funding and support for the altView Foundation.  When customers sign up with Park Power, with their monthly power bill they can choose to make a donation to the altView Foundation.  Also, Park Power has committed to sharing our revenue with our Community Partners, The Boys and Girls Club of Strathcona County and the altView Foundation for Gender Variant and Sexual Minorities.