National Grid VS Direct Energy

[Webbers10]

I was wondering if anyone else got a letter from Direct Energy telling me I "have a choice in selecting my electric provider".It says I will save 5% and I can get a $50 Visa prepaid card.

Anyone have any experience with having switched? I have to think they possibly can't be any worse then National Grid and their outages lasting so long. I was out in October from Saturday night to Thursday! However, I suspect they are under the same weak link of trees etc and would be down just as long!

The 5% savings and the Visa card are pretty attractive though!

The fine print says that it is not guaranteed. So, it would be nice to hear if anyone has made the jump n the past and have seen reductions or at least equal rates!

[The Westford Gazette]

I would think they use the same infrastructure as Nat'l Grid. But the Westford Gazette is equally interested to hear what others have to say about Direct Energy.

[Tony1941]

I would think they use the same infrastructure as Nat'l Grid.

You are 100% right. How can you prove it? Look at the number of service pairs that attach to your home. The number of service pairs should be one.

There are two parts to your EBill and Gas Bill. The Energy transmission portion and the Energy supply portion.

National Grid owns the electrical transmission lines.

The supply side is the open market portion that you can buy from anyone. Will you save 5%? Most probably but what happens if company X falls on hard times?
National Grid will take you back.

I prefer to control energy usage, in te winter thermostats are set a 64F except when the house is occupied when they are set at 68F. The summer temp settings are 72F and 80F.

I am exploring peak demand service which would work out if I had an electrical water heater and shifted most of my electrical usage to off peak hours.

[Amber]

I don't know, what about a town-owned utility? The ones I know of hardly ever lose power in big storms and when they do, they're back up a hell of a lot faster than National Grid has everone else up.

For electric, I have a friend who installed a solar grid on his home. He hasn't had a bill in ages, and actually feeds back into the grid for extra savings. But it's a large up-front investment.

[Webbers10]

I remember pulling into a Littleton 2A gas station to get gas for my car after the October storm on Sunday which I believe was only a few days after the issue that last till Thursday for me in Nab. Maybe a town owned power service or a 2 town service, or a regional area owned service would be better???