Author Archives: RobDolin

05.02.17
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Think only big companies can go carbon neutral? Think again.

In the sharing, maker, collaboration economy of today, there are many new small business entrepreneurs. Whether you’re running your business from a home office or have a store-front or other facility, you can join companies like Microsoft that are making major strides to offset their carbon footprint.

carbon footprintAs the Puget Sound Business Journal reports, Microsoft is purchasing carbon neutral energy on the open market. This helps reduce their carbon impact on the planet, but also helps to encourage clean energy production and investment. But, did you know you can do the exact same thing?

If you’re a small business owner (or residential consumer of electric) you should consider purchasing electricity sourced from clean production such as wind and solar. In fact, when we analyzed prices we found that the cost premium maxes at about 15% but often times it is cost neutral or even cheaper to buy green electric. The only potential drawback is in selecting the right plan and switching plans at the right time to avoid getting socked with variable rates or up-charges.

That’s where Energy Simply comes in; we’ll do it for you. We analyze your usage, select and switch your energy plans for you. That way you can rest easy knowing you’re getting the best rate – and saving the planet!

11.22.16
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ES (energy simply) and EVs (electric vehicles)

Energy Simply customers are part of a special market segment. Busy, upscale professionals who are sophisticated in leveraging their consumer powers. That is why we’re dedicating today’s post to the intersection of ES and EVs.

Recently, the Chevy Bolt EV was named Motor Trend’s 2017 car of the year. “Simply put, it’s twice the car for half the price of a BMW i3,” guest judge Chris Theodore said. “A better car, better package, much better handling, with twice the range.”bolt

On the flip side of the news cycle, Tesla recently came under a bit of fire for announcing they’d no longer offer free electric charge-ups to their customers. Depending on how much driving and electric rates, the added costs are estimated between $300 to $1000 per year.

But we’re not just shilling for Chevy or slinging at Tesla. Those who wish to save on their fuel costs by purchasing an EV can save even more if they are in the cheapest electricity plan. Why? Because electric rates vary widely in Texas between lows of 3 cents and highs of 14 cents and if you are charging your vehicle you would not want to pay nearly 5 times more than you have to, right? So, smart and savvy consumer, sign up for http://www.EnergySimp.ly, and take a deep breath knowing that you’ll always have the cheapest electric rate available.

10.01.16
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Seasons Changing, Energy Needs Changing

fall

Today marks the first day of October and you have likely made some changes in your home climate control (or soon will be.)  If you’re in a warm part of the country like Texas, your electricity needs may be decreasing significantly as the weather cools-off and you can turn-down your air conditioning.  If you’re in a cooler part of the country like Illinois, your electricity needs may be increasing as you need to heat your home.  For many of Energy Simply’s customers, electricity usage varies by more than 2x between the summer months and the winter months.

If you’re not already signed-up as a customer of Energy Simply, having us keep you in the best electricity plan for YOUR home, now is a great time to consider signing-up.  Learn more about how Energy Simply saves you significant money by keeping you in the best electricity plan for your home at: https://www.energysimp.ly/how-it-works.

07.04.16
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Declare Your Independence from Your Electricity Company

Fourth of July FlagAs the United States celebrates the 240th anniversary of its Declaration of Independence, it’s a great time to declare your own independence from your electricity company.

It’s all the same electricity. Whether you’re getting your home electricity from the incumbent energy provider that can trace its roots back to Thomas Edison, some new start-up with a fancy name, or a 100% renewable, green, non-GMO, organic electricity provider; the electricity coming out of the outlets in your home is the same. (Though members of our founding team all have children under five and would hope that you consider choosing 100% renewable.)

Dozens of different home electricity plans are available. If you haven’t shopped for your home electricity recently, you’ll likely be pleasantly surprised by how much you could save.

Energy Simply Ally

To save yourself the hassle of shopping for the best plan for you (and shopping again when your contract term ends), Energy Simply is your ally against the electricity companies. For a small monthly fee, Energy Simply constantly shops the home electricity market and keeps you in the cheapest plan (or cheapest 100% renewable plan.) Learn more today: https://www.EnergySimp.ly/

01.15.16
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Over Three Million Texas Households Aren’t Taking Advantage of Energy Choice

 

You could be one of over three million Texas households not taking advantage of energy choice.

The “incumbent” power companies in Houston and Dallas, Reliant Energy and TXU Energy, have over three million (3,000,000) Texans as customers between the two of them.  Except in some very rare cases, all of these customers could be saving money by taking advantage of energy choice.

If you’re on Reliant Energy’s cheapest variable plan in Houston, you’re currently paying $0.086/kWh at 2,000 kWh/month.  That’s $172/month.  You could be on a fixed rate plan for $0.069/kWh or $138/month.  That’s a savings of $34/month; and that’s just with rough numbers(1).  Choosing a plan specific to YOUR electricity use could save you even more.

If you’re on Reliant Energy’s cheapest variable plan in Dallas, you’re currently paying $0.076/kWh at 2,000 kWh/month.  That’s $152/month.  You could be on a fixed rate plan for $0.038/kWh or $76/month.  That’s a savings of $76/month or CUTTING YOUR ENERGY BILL IN HALF!  And that’s with just rough numbers(2).  Choosing a plan specific to YOUR electricity use could save you even more.

Energy Simply provides a service to our customers for $5/month to monitor the electricity market and keep you in the cheapest (or cheapest 100% renewable) plan for YOUR energy use.  You can sign-up today at https://www.EnergySimp.ly/.  And Energy Simply is 100% customer-focused – only accepting money from our customers and never taking kick-backs from power companies.

If you’re curious, read below to see how we calculated the number of customers who could be taking better advantage of energy:

Analysis

Texas power companies don’t usually publicly report their number of customers, but the staff of the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) suggests an amount of taxes each company is required to pay proportional to their number of customers.  Paul Ring of EnergyChoiceMatters.com has a story with these numbers.  You can easily calculate the approximate number of Texas customers for each power company:

 

Company             Taxes paid          Approximate number of Texas customers

TXU Energy               $22,210         1,670,000 customers

Reliant Energy           $19,770        1,500,000 customers

Ambit Texas               $5,627          425,000 customers

Green Mountain Energy     $4,567              350,000 customers

Stream Energy             $4,203        315,000 customers

Direct Energy             $3,896          300,000 customers

Just Energy               $3,327            250,000 customers

(1) Data is from PowerToChoose.org for Houston zip code 77009 as of Friday, September 25, 2015

(2) Data is from PowerToChoose.org for Dallas zip code as 75206 of Friday, September 25, 2015

01.07.16
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Seasonal Variance and Personal Variance

How do seasons and personal energy usage impact costs?

Your electricity bill varies significantly by season.  If you live in Texas, you’re likely using relatively little energy during the winter months and likely using lots of energy during the summer months.

We use data below from a randomly selected sample of twenty-five Energy Simply customers from Texas.

SEASONAL VARIANCE: Look at the line in the graph below labeled “TX Average.”  The horizontal line labeled “1” below represents average usage.  Looking at the six months from November to April, electricity usage is well below average; but for the three summer months from June to August, usage is well above average.  If your average usage was around 1,000 kWh, you would want to find the best plan for 750 kWh in the winter months and around 1,500 kWh in the summer months.  Rarely is one plan the best plan at both of these usage levels so you’ll want to be switching plans when the seasons change (or let Energy Simply do this for you.)

Seasonal and Personal variance PNG

PERSONAL VARIANCE: Seasonal variance is a big factor in choosing the best plan for you, but personal variance is also very important.  “TX Customer 1” and “TX Customer 2” represent two customers from the randomly selected sample of 25.  They illustrate the significant variance individuals might have even from the average.  Assuming an average monthly usage of 1,000 kWh for both of these customers, “TX Customer 1” used more than 2,500 kWh in June; more than 2.5x their average.  “TX Customer 2” used about 333 kWh in February and March; about 1/3 of their average.  Most plans that are good deals at 2,500 kWh/month are not so good at 1,000 kWh or 500 kWh; and same for plans that are good deals for 500 kWh/month aren’t often so good for 1,000 kWh/month or 2,000 kWh/month.

If you want to be in the best plans for your personalized usage, you should be changing with the seasons (or letting Energy Simply do this for you.)

11.10.15
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Winter is coming: let us help you save

It’s November and winter is coming.  According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 65% of energy costs are tied to heating or lighting; and these are costs that will increase in the winter months: Winter is coming jpg

  • Colder outside temperatures mean more energy is needed to heat your home and water
  • Shorter winter daylight hours mean more energy is needed to light your home

There’s a good chance you’re probably paying more than you need for the electricity you’re going to need more of.  Energy Simply is a consumer-focused service that monitors the complex and frequently changing energy market and helps you get the best deal, personalized FOR YOUR electricity usage.  Learn more about how Energy Simply works and sign-up to start saving today:https://www.energysimp.ly/users/sign_up.

(Data and graphic from: U.S. Department of Energy)

11.05.15
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Chicagoland Residents could go green AND save 5% vs ComEd

A large number of people in the Chicagoland area are with their incumbent electricity provider, ComEd, and likely paying too much for electricity.

From, October 2015 through May 2016, ComEd is charging its customers $0.07006/kWh.  If you’re in a two-bedroom apartment and using 1,000 kWh/month, you’re paying $70.06 (plus a fixed delivery fee) per month.  If you’re in a four-paying too muchbedroom house using 2,000 kWh/month, you’re paying $140.12 (plus delivery fee) per month.

If you just wanted the cheapest plan, you could be saving about 15% and if you wanted to go green with 100% renewable energy, you could still be saving 5% compared to your default ComEd rate.

Energy Simply actively monitors the Illinois energy market including the nearly 80 plans available for Chicagoland residents as of early October and watches for the best deals for our customers.  We automatically switch you to the cheapest electricity provider for your home based on applying our proprietary models to your own energy usage.  Learn more at:https://www.energysimp.ly/how-it-works or sign-up at: https://www.energysimp.ly/users/sign_up.

10.14.15
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It’s Rob’s Birthday and he wants you to switch to renewable

Ecofriendly Birthday Cake

Picture courtesy of http://www.ecofriend.com

This week I celebrate a milestone birthday and I have a small favor to ask: please consider switching to 100% renewable energy.  As shown in a previous blog post, renewable energy is sometimes the same price as or sometimes 10%-15% more expensive than non-renewable energy.

This was a big year for my spouse and I as we raise our first child in (see my personal Facebook page for pictures) and we are experiencing all of the joys and challenges of parenthood.  One of those joys and challenges is thinking about the world you want your child to live in.

I have heard people say that the current generation is the first generation to experience the effects of pollution and the last one that can make a major change.  I hope that for sake of the next generation, we have the collective will to make a change.

Thanks–

–Rob

P.S. Energy Simply is only available in some states, but there are options to go 100% renewable in nearly all states.  For example, in Washington state, Seattle City Light and Puget Sound Energy both offer programs to go renewable:

Rob Dolin is the Co-Founder and CTO of Energy Simply.  He has over a dozen years experience in the technology industry including work in the Office, MSN, and Windows divisions of Microsoft Corp. and technical partnerships with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Sina Weibo.  Rob holds a B.S. in Engineering with Honors from the University of Illinois and a Graduate Certificate in User-Centered Design from the University of Washington..

07.29.15
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Energy Simply’s Algorithm: Technology and Consumer Focus Save You Money

Question: What do you get when you put a McKinsey and Co. Management Consultant together with a Microsoft Engineer with a statistics background? 

Answer: Energy Simply’s proprietary algorithm that helps select the BEST energy plan FOR YOU.

We look at ALL energy plans available to you, not just ones that pay us a “kick-back.” In fact we don’t take kick-backs or any incentives from energy companies. We’re only paid by you, so we’re always in your corner.

We understand MARKET TIMING and look at short-term and long-term plans and optimize for your lowest cost. That way you don’t get stuck in a long-term plan if rates are dropping and don’t get a short-term plan if rates are rising.

We FREQUENTLY ANALYZE the market looking for the best plans. If a plan is available that could save you money, we calculate and, with your permission, automatically switch you.

We MONITOR CONTRACT EXPIRATION dates so you don’t get stuck paying huge rates when your contract switches from fixed price to variable.

We customize the plan FOR YOU. A plan that might be great for you in July when you need air conditioning may not be the best plan for you in the spring when the temperature is moderate. We look at your past energy use to help choose a plan that’s right for you now and right for you in the future.