Perry Mitchell, the volunteer head of Consumers for Alternative Power (CAP), an ambiguous local group seeking to save money on electricity, met with Washington Gas and Energy Services officials last week but did not make much more progress. In fact, in the ever-evolving energy market, he seems to have stepped backward.
Mitchell left, admittedly disappointed, after the two-hour meeting, without a rate to offer as many as nearly 2,700 local residents possibly interested in joining CAP. The Ocean View resident is negotiating with a number of at least 2,500 residents but does not have contracts from the residents, only initial premature notions of interest from home owners associations across the area. Neither Mitchell nor anyone else seems sure that even if Mitchell had a rate to offer, anyone would accept.
“I don’t know how I can go about getting a more accurate estimate,” Mitchell said.
Because of the uncertainty, WGES spokesperson Kimberly August said that the Maryland-based company cannot commit to Mitchell, even though they have a program specifically suited for such residential groups.
WGES’ Residential Affinity Program offers rates to non-profit groups of residential customers such as the Delmarva Power customer-based group Mitchell is attempting to form in the Ocean View area. The company is also still offering deal first announced on April 21, which could offer savings by providing Delaware customers with long-term or short-term flat electric rates.
Another problem looms, however. As ironic as it might sound to Delmarva Power customers in the area, August said that her company can not even begin to compete with DPL off-season rates.
While Delmarva Power sells the first 500 kilowatt hours of winter power to residential-space heating (RH) customers for 13.5 cents per kWh, for example, the next 500 comes at a rate less than half of that amount. (Check the tariff section of www.delmarva.com for more information.) Delmarva Power spokesman Matt Likovich said in an e-mail that “we live in a regulated world,” which even apparently confuses some in the energy business.
“We’ve said all along that this is a strange rate structure,” August said. Delmarva’s summer rates through September for RH customers are about 12 cents per kWh. The regular residential rate remains flat at about 10.5 cents throughout the summer. The winter residential rate before 500 kWh almost reaches 12 cents but drops down to about 10 cents after 500 kWh. “The (winter) rate they’re getting is a great rate,” she added. “That’s not a rate that we can compete with.”
The 10.8-cents long-term offer to Delaware residents would not even be worth the switch, the WGES spokesman implied.
For Mitchell, the situation is probably as confusing as it is to most customers of local utility companies. At least one leading aggregator, CQI’s Richard Anderson, has been quoted in the Coastal Point as calling Mitchell’s plan noble and well thought out. But the rate that he is trying to escape from into a better place is now being doted as untouchable by others in the energy business.
“This is what really threw me for a loop. They can’t really be competitive with DPL rates. I’m not sure at all at this point,” Mitchell said.
Still, even if he could secure a better rate through the affinity program or clever negotiations, Mitchell might find out that no one was ever interested anyway. The situation has left both the Ocean View man and other interested residents waiting for some kind of definitive resolution.