Fire Progress Energy

The St. Pete Times reported yesterday that five utility companies including Progress Energy “won approval” for interconnection agreements that will give customers the opportunity to reduce their energy bills by creating their own energy through alternatives such as solar power.  Sounds great.  So let me get this straight, we have now have the opportunity to further reduce our demand for electricity from Progress Energy but we must pay for a $17 billion nuclear facility and other upgrades up front so they can increase their profit margin?  Oh the hipocrisy!  Is this some sort of attempt at a PR stunt?

There you have it Floridians.  The solution to all of your problems is to spend thousands of dollars on solar panels that might save you a few bucks a year.  Just today a report came out stating that it could take up to 200 years to recoup the cost of installing solar panels in a home.  I have to say even that sounds enticing when the alternative is to continue to receive poor customer service and continuous rate hikes from this company.  Somehow I keep flashing to the image of some guy sitting in his back yard peddling away on a stationary bike trying to generate power to run his air conditioner.  Let me be the first to thank Progress Energy for providing us with such viable alternatives to their monopolistic activities.

Are you concerned about who is overseeing Progress Energy’s business dealings?  Let’s take a moment and meet the members of the Florida Public Service Commission.  Click on the links below to read their bio.  You can also email them to tell them to voice your concerns.  Are there any conflicts of interest in their relationship with Progress Energy?  To make that determination it will take a lot more than the bio provided by the state website.  Please help me in getting to know these commissioners even more by researching their backgrounds more thoroughly.

Nancy Argenziano

Lisa Polak Edgar

Matthew M. Carter

Katrina J. McMurrian

Nathan A. Skop

According to the Daytona Beach News Journal, Progress Energy is raising rates on Floridians by as much as 31% in part to pay for new facilities focused on alternative energy.  “Along with FPL and Progress Energy facing higher fuel costs, they also are seeking more money to pay for projects, such as building nuclear-power plants and solar-energy facilities. The companies and state leaders say such projects are needed, as electricity demand continues to grow and Florida looks for alternatives to fossil fuels that scientists say cause global warming.”

I think we can all agree that finding clean energy alternatives is a neccessary focus going forward.  My question is this:  Who decided that Progress Energy should be subsidized in their efforts to capitalize off this movement?  It is very obvious that green energy is going to be a booming market in the very near future.  Companies that can come up with new technologies and the infrastructure to deliver clean energy have a very bright future.  However, they should all have to compete for their share of this market but that’s not going to happen when you have a company that will have their infrastructure paid for.  Also, what federal subsidies and contracts will Progress Energy be well positioned for after Floridians have paid for their new facilities?  What do you think about paying for Progress Energy’s construction costs?

In response to our request for your personal story about Progress Energy Lisa gave this response:

If you are fed up with Progress Energy what do you think is the solution to this problem?  Here is what I think needs to happen.  There needs to be a more powerful and less political entity providing oversight to Progress Energy than the Florida Public Service Commission .  It is obvious that their decision to allow enormous rate increases in such difficult economic times proves their unwillingness to stand up to Progress Energy to protect Florida consumers.  Second, I believe there should be an in-depth investigation into the finances of Progress Energy.  It seems to me that a company that needs to hike rates by 31% and is cutting costs by cutting jobs should be pretty bad off.

Post a comment and tell me what you think needs to happen.

Today Progress energy announced that previously reported rate hikes were too conservative and that starting in January it’s customers could see an increase of 31% in their utility bill.  This is on top of the $6 increase that commenced this month for Progress Energy customers in Florida.

According to Progress Energy the rate hike is neccessary due to rising fuel costs and a revised cost of an additional 40% for a nuclear power facility in Levy County.

Once again market fluctuations are quickly and unceremoniously passed on to the consumer. Good thing we have the Florida Public Service Commission to protect us. (insert sarcasm)

Welcome to the blog about corporate greed and about how 118 years after Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act to outlaw monopolies in this country Progress Energy is free to operate as a corporate monopoly, free from competition and therefore free from accountability from customers they serve.

I would like to hear your story about Progress Energy but first I would like to tell my story.  I finally had enough of the rate hikes and poor customer service when after years of paying my electricity bill every month to the tune of thousands of dollars my wife and I misunderstood who was going to pay the bill that month.  Instead of receiving a late notice which would have corrected the error we had our electricity turned off.  Not only that but the “representative” who turned off the power didn’t close the gate behind him and my dog ran off.  Needless to say the next few hours were spent combing the neighborhood for my dog while getting passed from one discourteous and unhelpful “customer service” representative to the other trying to find out when my electricity would be turned back on.  First I was told it would be turned on “soon”.  Next it was “at least a couple of hours”.  Four hours went by and no power.  Six hours after I called and paid my past due balance my power was restored.  Did anyone apologize for my dog running away?  No.  Why did I not receive a late notice?  Could it be that the fee they charge for turning your power back on is a nice source of revenue?

Shortly after this incident occured my wife and I did pay our electric bill balance on time. You can imagine our surprise when once again Progress Energy sent one of their “representatives” out to shut off our power.  Progress Energy, in their infinite wisdom, decided that since we had our power turned off (and apparently were having trouble paying our bills as is) we needed to pay a $300 deposit in addition to our $220 electric bill but did not see fit to notify us until our new statement came out.  As a result our balance was sufficient under their guidelines to turn the power off and get another $45 bucks out of us.  Calls to Progress Energy were once again an exercise in rudeness and standoffishness as we were basically told “I don’t know what to tell you.” It took 5 1/2 hours to get the power turned back on again.  This time it was an extremely hot day and the temperature in our home went above 80 degrees.

Now under ordinary circumstances I would just take my business elsewhere if I had to deal with customer service this poor.  But that’s the problem.  There is noone else.  Progress Energy is able to operate as they please with no regard for their customers because they have no competition and they are a monopoly.

I can only imagine in these difficult economic times how some people have been treated by this company.  I am sure that my story is nowhere near as bad as the stories of other Progress Energy customers especially those who are struggling to pay their bills.  This blog is for those people.  For now it is an avenue for venting your frustration about a company that is not accountable for the treatment of their customers and who can seemingly arbitrarily raise their rates when they see fit.

So leave a comment on this post telling your story about Progress Energy.  I will keep up with news about the company and give selected stories their own post.

I am sure Progress Energy would laugh off this website if they saw it as meaningless because they are in such a position of power.  However, if enough people who are fed up with this company like me speak their mind I truly believe we can make a difference.