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Yesterday Progress Energy rep asked if I wanted to enroll in a service in which during peak use times the electricity to our air conditioner would be cut, though the fan would still be able to circulate air. We would receive $25/year for enrolling in this program.
Do without A/C on the hottest days of the summer in order to save $25 a year?
Does anyone actually do this?
Exactly.....They'd have to pay me ALOT more then $25/yr to have CONTROL over MY thermostat!
Exactly.....They'd have to pay me ALOT more then $25/yr to have CONTROL over MY thermostat!
This is a small step toward what is known as Demand Response in the SmartGrid industry. It helps utilities manage their load, so they don't have to go on the open market and purchase additional power during times of peak demand. Today, almost everyone is on a flat rate plan, so the price for electricity is the same at 3PM in the middle of July as it is at 3AM. Obviously, the load is much much higher at 3PM, since everyone is running their AC. Some areas have mandated a move to time-of-use pricing where it may cost you 10x as much to run your AC during the hottest times of the day. Stay tuned - this will spread to more areas in the years ahead.
I don't understand how progress energy is responsible for you entering in the wrong bank account #. How do they know it isn't the account you want money drafted from? I know it is frustrating, but trying to misplace the blame isn't going to make it go away. In their eyes they couldn't complete the transaction because you made an error - Perhaps they could have been nicer about it, but that doesn't change the fact that the error was yours. If people were allowed to make this kind of mistake with no penalty many would abuse it to buy time before they forked over money for their bills.
I agree that you should set up bill pay through your bank. I've done that for 6 years with progress energy and never had any problems.
Progress pays >5% dividend, do what I did and buy enough stock to pay your electricity bill every month. For most people that is only going to be around $30k, and it is the gift that keeps on giving.
I was a little miffed when my electric meter broke and they billed me for "average" consumption even though I was able to show them how while other folks bills increased if you were to look at my previous months bill you can see my usage went way down because we doubled our insulation. They didn't care.
Exactly.....They'd have to pay me ALOT more then $25/yr to have CONTROL over MY thermostat!
I participated in this program several years ago when I lived in another southern state. I don't remember the rebate amount they offered, but I do recall that I couldn't tell any difference in how my A/C operated, nor was my house any hotter. It was like free money to us, but I know to the power company the ability to take a lot of condensers offline for short periods of time really added up for them.
Yesterday Progress Energy rep asked if I wanted to enroll in a service in which during peak use times the electricity to our air conditioner would be cut, though the fan would still be able to circulate air. We would receive $25/year for enrolling in this program.
Do without A/C on the hottest days of the summer in order to save $25 a year?
Does anyone actually do this?
My next door neighbor actually signed up for that. I only know that cause we live in a townhouse and the PE guy was kind in my back yard and I went out there and said "what are you doing?" He told me he was there for my neighbors house to hook up a box for that program. I just came back inside and shook my head. Some people can be suckered into buying anything I guess.
Maybe you should call back and speak to someone else. I'm sure not everyone in their customer service department is rude. I used to work for them. If you're nice and explain the situation, they would probably give you a credit. You catch more bees with honey than vinegar.
Um i was nice to begin with. The first guy immediately treated me like an idiot because I had trouble with the website. The second guy was super sweet, sealed with a kiss, but he said I couldn't talk to a supervisor either.
I don't understand how progress energy is responsible for you entering in the wrong bank account #. How do they know it isn't the account you want money drafted from? I know it is frustrating, but trying to misplace the blame isn't going to make it go away. In their eyes they couldn't complete the transaction because you made an error - Perhaps they could have been nicer about it, but that doesn't change the fact that the error was yours. If people were allowed to make this kind of mistake with no penalty many would abuse it to buy time before they forked over money for their bills.
I agree that you should set up bill pay through your bank. I've done that for 6 years with progress energy and never had any problems.
Look, I am not mad bc I may have made a mistake, and I am not saying it is their fault. But they make it so I can't see there is a mistake and then fix it. They said my payment went through!! And then 2 WEEKS AFTER the fact I get a letter saying a mistake was made. That is BS. Through and through. Any other website I make a purchase with my credit card on tells me by DECLINING my card if I enter the number wrong.
And for the 1000th time, it was not my bank account number it was my credit card number!!!!
I signed up for ebill through PSNC and forgot to do the automatic draft. Luckily it was in the winter and the couldn't shut it off. I realized a couple months later my bill wasn't getting paid and fixed the issue. I guess I got lucky! I wasn't charged any sort of inconvenience fee, but it was completely user error so I wouldn't have been surprised to get an additional charge.
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If you're nice and explain the situation, they would probably give you a credit. You catch more bees with honey than vinegar.
