Bait and Switch: Electric Supplier Edition

I received a letter this afternoon from Verde Energy, my electrical supplier.

 

The big news: 

• Your current generation rate is 0.0999/kWh. You are currently under a fixed plan, which means your generation rate will remain fixed until 12/14/2014.
• Your generation rate will be 0.2099/kWh in your next billing cycle. 

Yes, you are reading that right, my energy rate is going to more than DOUBLE next month. The letter is dated 12/31/14 and arrived 1/5/15.

Needless to say, I hopped right on this, and procured a different supplier with a much more reasonable rate (the CL&P standard rate is, at present, 0.12629/kWh) - but I'm still pissed off that, from 12/14 through whenever the new supplier kicks in,. I'll be paying 21 cents / kWh.

And for what it's worth CL&P is damn useless here. I visited the Electrical Supplier website at www.energizect.com and was directed to the CL&P phone line to return to standard generation rate. The "electrical supplier" option was a simple pre-recorded message, and when I punched through to get an operator, it was a 30 minute wait. I hung up, and went to sign up with a different supplier.

Imagine how many people would ignore this letter or not notice until the next billing cycle. I'm planning to put the expiration date of the next contract period into my phone to get a reminder next year BEFORE the rate expires.

Electrical deregulation is, as far as I am concerned, a big freaking boondoggle in line with consumer credit - with all these independent energy producers playing fast and loose with "come on" rates and then, after the honeymoon period, lowering the boom, and hoping they get a few people who miss the transition to a "screw you" rate.