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Park Power Representing at Capital Ideas 41

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

On Wednesday July 15th I had the privilege of representing Park Power at Capital Ideas 41 “Doing Good in the Neighbourhood”.  Capital Ideas is about business owners helping business owners by sharing what they know in the Edmonton Journal Business section and at live events.  At this particular event I was speaking about why making positive contributions to our community is part of Park Power’s business plan.

Our Community Partner Program is something I am very proud of.  In an industry with small profit margins, the fact that we will share 10% of our profits from your power bill with awesome local charities may not seem like a competitive advantage but I believe that it is.  Park Power positions ourselves as a local independent energy retailer offering a better choice to consumers for their energy needs.  We are not a foreign conglomerate who sends pushy sales associates door to door only concerned with closing the deal.  We are concerned about what is happening in our community and aim for Park Power to be a positive entity in our community.

Check out the recap of Capital Ideas 41 below and then ask yourself if your energy retailer invests in your community like Park Power does.

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Cheap Edmonton Electricity Rates Available Now

· · 2 Comments Consumer Info, Electricity, Interesting

Right now if you are paying your power bill to EPCOR, Enmax, Direct Energy, or Just Energy you are missing out on cheap electricity rates available in the Edmonton Region and paying 40% more than you could be if you were a Park Power customer on the Floating Rate.

Pool Prices-1

Wholesale power pool prices are at a 15 year low and consumers in Alberta can benefit from these market conditions by switching to a Floating Rate plan.  Park Power’s Floating Rate is currently just over 4.5 ¢/kWh while the rates being paid by customers of the big corporate utilities are 7.79 ¢/kWh and above.

Here is what the could look like for someone on a older fixed rate plan from Enmax paying 8.0 ¢/kWh.

Avg usage of 1000 kWh/month

Enmax energy usage charges $80.00/month

Park Power energy usage charges $45.00/month

That is a difference of $35 in just one month.

While it is true that the Floating Rate is indexed directly to the market price for power and it can have some volatility to it, right now it is super cheap and is forecasted to remain low for the near term.  So why not take advantage of the current market conditions and save yourself some money.

When market conditions change and and the price of power begins to creep back up again, then you can switch over to one of Park Power’s Fixed Rate Plans and you will still be saving money since we always have lower rates than the big players.

It just makes sense to pay your power bill to a local independent retailer like Park Power who is able to offer lower rates, superior Alberta based customer service, and a much simpler, friendlier experience.

Time to get on the #LocalPower bandwagon Sign Up Today

 

 

 

 

EPCOR Electricity Rates 40% higher than Park Power

· · Leave a Comment Consumer Info, Electricity, Interesting, Uncategorized

EPCOR electricity rates have been 40% higher than Park Power’s and many consumers are losing out on savings that a deregulated utilities market has provided.

Over the last couple of years and particular over the last 6 months, wholesale electricity prices have fallen dramatically.  Currently prices are at a 15 year low and as we enter 2015 the trend continues, today, the average Alberta Power Pool price is running at $32 per MW which equates to just over 4 ¢/kWh retail price.

Pool Prices-1

60% of Alberta electricity consumers are not taking advantage of the benefit of the deregulated market as they remain on the government regulated Default Rate.

Even though some consumers paid as low as 3.7 cents per kWh last year, many of their next door neighbors, stuck on the government regulated Default Rate from EPCOR, paid more than 50% more for electricity.

If a consumer wants to cut save money on their monthly expenses, they should consider moving away from EPCOR, ENMAX, and Direct Energy and switching retailers to Park Power.

Over the last six months, consumers that moved away from the Regulated Default Rate and onto Park Power’s Floating Rate, have saved 40% on the cost of energy they consumed.  The consumers who like stability in their costs chose long term guaranteed fixed rates, which are still lower than the historical EPCOR Default average.

 

Month Alberta PowerPrices Average RRO/Default Rate Floating Rate Saving Money
($ / MW) (Cents / kWh) (Cents / kWh) (% Savings)
August 2014 $45 8.3 6.2 25%
September 2014 $24 8.4 3.7 56%
October 2014 $27 8.6 4.0 53%
November 2014 $38 6.7 5.3 21%
December 2014 $27 7.3 4.0 45%
January 2014 $35 7.3 4.9 33%
6 Month Avg. $32 7.8 4.7 40%

Consider the following: between August and October of 2014, the cost of energy declined (from $45 per MW to below $30) which is a 33% drop in cost of energy.  Note that EPCOR’s Default Rate price did not decrease. During the same period, the Floating Rate retail prices dropped from 6.2 cents to under 4 cents per kWh.

The same problem and trend repeated itself a couple of months later. Between November and December, the wholesale cost of energy dropped by 28% but the Government Regulated Default Rate went up.

Learn More about the advantages of getting off of the goverment regulated Default Rate or RRO from this interview on Alberta Prime Time

AB PriMe tiMe

While consumers who chose an independent retailer like Park Power are saving money, many are paying more for electricity than necessary to the large corporate utilities who are in turn outsourcing work and facing legal action.  ENMAX is in court fighting a $375 million dispute; Direct Energy shipped customer care and billing jobs to India; ENMAX moved dozens of IT jobs to India; Atco sold its IT division to a firm in India; TransAlta is in court facing electricity market manipulation.

In the news:

  • ENMAX appealed assessments totalling $375 Million. The issue is now in the courts. – More
  • Direct Energy outsources residential customer care and from Alberta to India. –  More
  • ENMAX is outsourcing dozens of jobs related to its billing and customer care operations to India – More
  • ATCO’s I-Tek IT services division sold to for $195 million and outsourced  IT services offshore – More
  • TransAlta faces hearing on electricity market manipulation – More

 

If you are still on the Utility Regulated Default Rate; ask yourself: why continue to pay more for your electricity to companies that have exported customer care, billing and IT services off-shore.  Choose #LocalPower with Park Power and take advantage of lower rates, simple billing and payment, and friendlier Alberta based customer service.

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Lower Electricity Rates Are Available in Alberta From Park Power

· · Leave a Comment Consumer Info, Electricity, Interesting

Lower electricity rates are available in Alberta from Park Power.  As of January 1, 2015 we are now offering service across the province.  We are excited to be able to provide our lower rates on electricity and superior customer service across this wonderful province of Alberta.

As an energy retailer, Park Power must register to offer service in the different wires territories across the province.  The distribution of electricity is still regulated and only a few companies are given territorial rights by the province to act as Wires Service Providers.  These are the companies that actually own the distribution systems and deliver electricity to residential and commercial consumers.

Previously, we were serving customers in the wires territories of EPCOR, servicing the City of Edmonton and Fortis Alberta, servicing central and southern Alberta.  As our business grows we want to be able to provide our awesome services to more Albertans.

Now Park Power is also servicing customers in the territories of

ATCO Electric, who provides distribution service for Eastern and Northern Alberta

Enmax Power who provides distribution service for Calgary, Red Deer, Cardston, Fort Macleod, Crowsnest Pass, and Ponoka

Also the City of Lethbridge Utility Services

Our market focus will still be offering #LocalPower to residents and businesses in the Edmonton Region and we will also still be supporting positive local community charities and initiatives.  The fact of the matter is that the services we provide can be of value to great people all across the province who are dissatisfied with the big corporate utilities. If someone in Slave Lake or Ponoka would like to pay less for their electricity and enjoy the ease of paperless billing and automated payments then they should be able to.

Join the movement, Sign Up Today!

Enmax Outsourcing Jobs to India

· · Leave a Comment Consumer Info, Electricity, Interesting

Enmax is outsourcing 38 jobs to a company based in India.  The jobs are related to billing and customer care operations.

Amanda Stephenson of the Calgary Herald reported on the story last week.  Why would a Calgary owned energy retailer choose to take jobs away from our province?  Who knows but it is not the first instance of the big utilities taking jobs out of the Alberta economy.

Silently, over the last few years a number of companies have moved utility related jobs out of Alberta.  Our province has lost hundreds of jobs: Direct Energy alone, as an example, had a couple hundred employees here in Alberta when they first entered Alberta’s energy market and purchased ATCO’s retail business. They entered into a 10 year contract with ATCO for billing and customer care, but slowly moved marketing, management and finally customer care and bill payment processing jobs out of the province.   When the 10 year contract finally ended they moved the last of the bill processing jobs offshore and contracted with HCL in India.  Over the last number of years ATCO iTek likewise moved their customer care jobs to Cebu in the Philippines and a month or so ago ATCO sold their IT (iTek) division to Wipro also located in India.  The trend started a number of years ago, when Just Energy purchased the competitive commercial retail customer list from EPCOR: they as well moved the jobs out of the province.

The loss of jobs at ENMAX is just another chapter in a continuing saga.

ENMAX:                  Technology support moved to India

EPCOR:                   Sold their competitive retail list to Just Energy

Just Energy:            Now has its call center is located in North Carolina

Direct Energy:         Billing was contracted to HCL of India

ATCO-iTek:              Recently sold to Wipro of India.

 

Park Power is proud to be Alberta based and 100% of the IT, billing, customer care services are managed here in the province.  We believe in this province and all of the potential it has.

 

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