Most of you will want to skip this post unless you live in MD, DE, NJ, or PA and you’re interested in saving some money on your energy bill. Really. Stop reading. Stop. Right now. You’re going to be bored.
Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.
When I was first enrolled in the program I thought I had passed all the major hurdles. Apparently not. They can’t attach the new meter to my house because of the way our current meter is set up. Right now the old meter has the deck built around it, and apparently the new meter is bigger than the space in my deck. So, no peak time rebate program for me. Boo.
But, because I called to find out what it would take to be in the program, the guy let me know that I could call BGE and just ask to be in the air conditioner/fan program described in the link above. So I’m going to call now and see what that’s all about.
UPDATE: Here’s the basic process to get more information-
1) Call BGE at 800 685 0123
2) Listen to the menu options twice to be connected to a human
3) Ask about the BGE Demand Response Infrastructure program and the free programmable thermostat OR an air conditioner load control switch. I don’t know if they’ll let you do both, but I guess you can ask. We already have a programmable thermostat, so I didn’t ask.
4) They’ll ask for some address and phone information to look up your account, and then they’ll put you on the list to receive further information about the program. From what I was told you not only get this device strapped on to your AC unit to save you some energy costs, but they also give you a credit for each month you have the thing on there.
I still hate BG$E
I think I owe them over $935 bucks and for the life of me, I CAN’T FIGURE OUT HOW as I pay my budget billing every month! It boggles my mind.
Boy, that $170 is REALLY GOING TO HELP, isn’t it?
I’d sign up for that program, but I don’t have AC. Oops. Here’s hoping for a mild summer…
Meanwhile, I switched to Washington Gas and Electric, and am getting 100% of my power from wind energy, although I still have to pay for delivery via BGE. I’m also sort of curious where the hell the wind energy is coming from, since there isn’t all that much in MD. I guess I’m using all of it.
jwer- $170? I’m lost. Also, I’m pretty sure that you’re not actually using wind energy, per se, but are instead using regular coal energy that Constellation/BGE has traded/sold/bought for wind energy. So you’re probably using and paying for the equivalent wind energy while using coal and some other guy is paying for the equivalent coal energy while paying for wind. It’s complicated.
That’s the one-time rebate that the State legislature got Constellation to very grudgingly agree to. Then they almost nixed it by trying to still sue Constellation for rate hikes, but it’s apparently going through. However, $170 doesn’t help much when monthly bills are over $300 for half the year…
And yes, I know it’s traded. But the key point is, the bulk of my utility bill goes to WG&E, NOT Constellation. If I could give them any less, I would happily.
Link to the BGE rebate story.
Where’s the punchline?
I’m still trying to figure out how my bill is 935$……I’ve paid them every month. Unless they billed me for the overage on my budget billing one month……?
Lori- That I can’t help you with.
S. Reed- You knew this post wasn’t for you.
Thanks for the info. I’ve been a little obsessed with tracking and trying to minimize my household electricity use. I’m not really in need of a programmable thermostat. I have a thermostat in every room because I have electric baseboard heaters. I already just turn them up and down when I’m in or out of those rooms/the house. Without central a/c, I can’t use the load control switch. I called just for the heck of it. The customer service person seemed perplexed as to how I even knew about this. She said they hadn’t really started it yet. She didn’t say that I could be put on any list. I asked should I just keep an eye on the website or will they mail info. She said, they’ll “probably” be mailing some info.
But…but…..why? WHY BG$E!?!?!? WHY? Why do you continue to ass rape me?
*perplexed*