independence energy alliance adagio energy, A Hidden Fee Is Theft By Deception philadelhia, Pennsylvania

It sounds like the real ripoff was the base company for your area JCP&L. With deregulation and open competition it sound like their strategy is to apply this rediculus "service fee" to discourage cutomers from leaving. That is not going to last long before the government steps in and tells them to stop that practice, if they don't get sued first. Independence alliance or any other competitive company cannot control what the current electric company a consumer is with, charges for servicing outside electric providers. This type of action shuts down the whole intent of deregulation. Rather than be the pawn of JCP&L and put something like this out there you would have been better served filing a complaint with some kind of consumer protection agency to stop this practice by JCP&L.

This post is the result of a misunderstanding by the consumer on the difference between energy supply and energy delivery.  Independence Energy tried to work with this consumer to educate him on his areas of concern.

When a customer decides to switch from the utility to a retail energy supplier, the supplier of the energy will change, however, the delivery method will remain the same.  In this instance, although the customers source of energy switched to Independence Energy, the delivery was still through the local utility (JCP&L).

As this relates to billing, retail energy suppliers like Independence Energy  only charge for the supply of the energy- not the delivery.  Interestingly, at the time of the above post, Independence Energys rate per kilowatt hour was $.10925 versus JCP&Ls price to compare of $.11913.  Independence Energy does NOT, however, propose to always offer the lowest rate at all times.  The Independence Energy rate is variable and therefore subject to change.  We do aspire to price lower than the utility, but this is not a guarantee.This fact is explained to the customer at the time of their energy provider switch and is also included in the contractual agreement.

The only way to compare the cost of energy is to look at the rate per kilowatt hour.  To only look at the bill from one month to the next is quite deceiving as the electricity usage will vary. One cannot simply have a lower/higher bill from one month to the next and assume that they are paying less/more for their energy.  This is especially true for the author of this post.  In looking at this customers electric usage both before and during his time with Independence Energy, it is apparent that his varied greatly.    

The $30 delivery charge that the author of this post is concerned with was not a charge from Independence Energy.  Furthermore, his switch to an independent energy source in no way brought about this $30 delivery charge.  This charge came from his local utility (JCP&L) and would have been charged regardless of the customer exercising their choice to go with a retail energy supplier . 

We do, as addressed in this post, offer 5% and 10% cash back on electric usage every year to our customers.  This is NOT to cover any kind of charge on the consumers end and the author of this post was never told that by marketing materials or employees of Independence Energy.  This is simply an added benefit that we like to give our customers for choosing Independence Energy as their energy source.  Our customers receive 5% cash back when they choose our Green Plus product with 20% renewable energy (exceeding state minimum renewable requirements) and 10% cash back when they go completely green with our True Green 100% renewable product.  Additional benefits that we offer our customers are Unemployment Protection and Free Surge Protection. 

A power surge is a sudden increase in power and can occur at any moment, for a number of reasons. A power surge can severely damage home appliances and electronics. We guarantee up to $1000 in surge protection for all products that might be damaged in a power surge. Independence Energy customers are protected in the event of involuntary job loss. Independence Energys Unemployment Protection provides payment of all Independence Energy charges on the energy bill up to $300 per month for up to three months.

At Independence Energy we find that our customers are very happy and generally do not experience these kinds of situations.  We apologize for any misunderstanding that this customer experienced.  We pride ourselves on being an honest, open, and ethical company.  There are no hidden fees. Independence Energy is proud to offer consumers in NJ, PA, NY, IL, CT, and TX the power to choose affordable, renewable energy options to fit their financial and environmental needs. We encourage anyone reading this post to seek out the facts and learn more at www.chooseindependence.com

My name is Joe P and I am very interested in joining Independence Energy Alliance.  I read your article and have some questions of my own before I venture down this road:
1- Who charged the $30 fee you mentioned?  And if charged by your local utility wouldn't that be illegal on their part?
2- Was the rate IE was charging less than the rate your local provider was charging?
3- Were you maybe on a budget plan with your local provider so your monthly bill was steady all year and through IE you were on a normal usage plan (so other months could have been much cheaper)
4- Would you be willing to email me a copy of your 2 bills and 2 previous so I could make a compairson?

I have been to 4 meetings + numerous conference calls and read the entire rules/regulations booklet.  I even took it to a lawyer to double check the legality.  The company seems legit.  The payplan is great and obviously the Product sells itself.  However if customers aren't saving money (or at least paying the same price with the added benefits) I would agree with your article.  Thats why I'd like to do a little research if this is just an isolated event or if something else went into the bill discrepancy.  Thank you in advance for any additional information you could provide.