On Sun, 2 Nov 2008 22:39:45 -0600, Igor Chudov <ichudov[at]algebra.comwrote:

- quote -


I haven't seen this offer but the last offer I did see also committed
you to switch your gas bill to the same company if and when it became
available to you. It was also only for the electricity and not
delivery costs.
Thumper

BreadWithSpam[at]fractious.net wrote:

- quote -

OK, this makes more sense. I've never lived in an area where I could
choose between electricity providers, so this didn't occur to me.

-Will

william dot trice at ngc dot com

Ron Rosenfeld <ronrosenfeld[at]nospam.org> writes:
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You're probably right on. Dominion just offered a three-year
lock-in rate for NStar customers who switch.

As far as I can tell, they are both offering to lock in
prices at relatively high historic rates - based on end
of the summer pricing and after a huge run-up in production
costs (which have already been passed on via rate increases).
(I can't find a real reference on price histories - anyone
else know where to look?)

Note that they are only talking about locking in generation
charges, not distribution charges. That's the only part
where there is competition, of course. Even if one buys
one's electricity from another supplier, the delivery is
done by (and payments are made to) NStar.

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On 2008-11-02, beliavsky[at]aol.com <beliavsky[at]aol.com> wrote:
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They based old 12.547 cents price on $140/barrel oil, right?

And they are generous enough to offer you to lock in 12.25 cents when
oil is $64 per barrel?

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beliavsky[at]aol.com wrote:
- quote -

I saw that flyer and I thought it was from a competitor, not NSTAR. A
1/4 cent off the total 20 cent or so cost for delivered electricity
hardly seemed worth the effort.

Joe

On 2008-11-02 12:18:44 -0800, Ron Rosenfeld <ronrosenfeld[at]nospam.org> said:

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I have heard of similar deals offered by suppliers of oil and gas for
home heating. That too suggests it is a plan to prevent customers from
switching and not a matter of predicting the future price of
electricity.

On Sun, 2 Nov 2008 13:33:44 -0600, Will Trice <me[at]invalid.com> wrote:

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Seems to me they are trying to keep you from switching to a different
supplier. If you do switch, they can turn around and charge you the
variable rate price for the months you were paying the fixed rate price.
--ron

beliavsky[at]aol.com wrote:
- quote -

Assuming that NSTAR is not being legislatively or otherwise forced to
offer this plan, what's in it for them? It seems like you'll buy
more-or-less the same amount of power regardless of price (within
reason), so why would they offer to lock you in at a discount to current
rates? Are they anticipating a dramatic drop in the rates they can
charge going forward?

-Will

william dot trice at ngc dot com

I live in Massachusetts, and NSTAR, my electricity provider, is
offering me the choice to lock in a rate of 12.25 cents / kWh for the
next three years. The current rate is 12.547 cents / kWh and changes
every six months. That rate is 60% higher than the rate 3 years ago,
according to a letter from NSTAR encouraging enrollment in the fixed
rate plan.

I don't have a forecast for electricity prices and am inclined to lock
in the 12.25 rate. I could absorb a big increase in electricity prices
if I had to. What have other people done with similar offers? I wonder
if on average there is "edge" in letting the rate float or in locking
it in.