Recently, I received yet another “energy shaming letter” from Commonwealth Edison. If you’re a ComEd customer in Illinois, you may have received a similar letter. This letter appears to be an attempt to shame my household into using less electricity than my neighbors. Every month or so, I’ll get another letter telling me that my household used a higher percentage of electricity than my neighbors did.
I think these letters are a complete waste of postage, paper and resources. This letter doesn’t even come in the bill – it’s a separate mailing in a different envelope. Does anyone appreciate receiving letters with big bold text telling them YOU are using too much electricity? I like saving money just as much as anyone else does, but my bill is around $100 every month. I just looked up the bill I paid last week, and it was $94.50. Is that terribly unreasonable for a home with five people living in it? Add in a home office that’s used nearly around the clock, and I don’t think our bill is out of the ordinary.
Yet, according to ComEd, it is.
These “shaming letters” appear to make no allowance for empty and foreclosed homes in the neighborhood either. There are several homes on my block whose residents are retirees who only live here for part of the year. Each year they spend their falls and winters in warmer climates. We neighbors know this — ComEd likely doesn’t. Our neighborhood also has foreclosed homes drawing a minimal amount of power. I would guess if this was truly an apples-to-apples comparison, our energy usage wouldn’t be terribly unusual.
I wonder too — what is ComEd’s motivation in encouraging people to use less electricity? They sell electricity. In other market areas, when utility companies have successfully encouraged users to use less, the utility companies have raised the rates to bring in the same amount of revenue they did before customers started using less:
San Diego, California: SDG&E sells less power, so it hikes electric rates
Why we have some of the highest electricity rates in the country: Lower power use means higher rates.
Residential electric rates are up this year for an odd reason — San Diego Gas & Electric sold less electricity than expected to homes, condos and apartments last year. That meant it took in less money than it planned on. And so it’s planning to recoup those expenses on this year’s rates.
State law allows SDG&E to increase the subsidized rates that customers who use the least amount of electricity. Those rates apply to use below 130 percent of “baseline” — an amount of power that’s supposed reflect the minimum needed by a typical home.
MGE is proposing a sweeping restructuring of its rate plans for 2015, which critics say will have two effects: discouraging clean energy and conservation investments… and rewarding high-energy users. MGE officials insist the changes they’re contemplating are an attempt to fairly structure its fees. But the undeniable fact is, low users of electricity will end up paying more for power.
The problem facing MGE — and all other utilities — is that people are increasingly conserving energy, and homes and appliances are becoming more efficient. That means utilities are selling less power, so revenues are down. However, the cost of maintaining an electric grid is not going down. So utilities are trying to charge customers higher fixed rates that will stay the same regardless of energy consumption.
“Customers who don’t use very much power, they’re not picking up their fair share of what it takes to bring electricity to their homes,” Kraus says.
What’s the end game here? Reduce your usage of electricity, but don’t conserve too much… or you just may find yourself paying more for using less.
I genuinely wonder what ComEd’s goal is in sending these letters.
AuntDiane says
We get that letter all the time too. I wonder if everyone gets it?
Maybe we should all send them letters back that say:
YOU – spend more on paper, postage, resources than your neighboring companies
theresa1740 says
Never thought to ask my neighbors if they are all getting letters saying they were high. Our payment amt is just over 100 a month used to be like 90 or less for a family of 4. But teenagers in the basement with lights on playing games and assumed the extra was that. Have wondered why they come in a different envelope than the bill? Do those energy audits do anything? Just tell me to get rid of my teenagers I suppose. Never thought to call. Just toss the paper.
dancingwolves says
Husband…its beyond frugal. I grew up poor and I get it. But my husband is OCD about money and the prosepcts of throwing his retirement money away on extras that most people deem necessity.
So I was infuriated when he read the letter from ComEd and suggested we cut back. From what, we already don’t use the dryer for five months out of the year hanging clothes up; and the others months he dries the clothes until they are damp and hangs them throughout the house on furniture and doors; don’t use the electric garage door which we manually bring down; no more than one light on at a time with four of us living there doing different things on three floors….he even reads by TV light and his doctor told him he will be going blind at a younger age due to his eye condition. I am working on a book entitled
“You Know You Are Cheap When….”
My neighbor lives a couple of doors down has the same exact house. Only difference is finished basement. These are standard two story startup homes. They have a pool and wife doesn’t work in the summer while we are all gone during the day year round. They run AC maybe 30 days out of the summer and we run it 14 days at best. And you know what, their electric bill is $10 less than ours on average!
Go figure.
A coworker called ComEd and enlighted them to the fact her house is run on electric for Everything! (she purchased the home from someone who worked for ComEd). So how is she suppose to compete with someone who has gas for heating?
NFriday says
Hi- The city of Evanston decided to opt out of Com Ed a few years ago. Homefield Energy is who we deal with now. I think they purchase electricity in bulk from com ed to save some money, and they also purchase carbon shares for the city, to offset our electric use. I pay my bill online, and so I never get any mailings from Com Ed. We get calls all the time telling us how we can save on our electric bill, and I just tell these telemarketers that I know you are not going to be able to save me any money. The city warns people not to fall for this scam. I only live in a one bedroom condo, and because of the cool summer we had, I only ran my room air conditioner once this last summer. I don’t have anybody playing video games, and I use compact fluorescent bulbs in all my lights, including my bathroom, and so my electric bill only averages about $28 a month. I used to live in an apartment that had electric heat though, and we had to pay for our own heat, and our electric bill for a 2 bedroom apartment in January was $100 a month, and we kept the apartment at 62 degrees in the winter. We lived on the first floor in a corner apartment, and that is why it was so expensive I am never living in another place with electric heat.
kkris812 says
I live in a 1 bedroom apartment in a 27-story high rise. We do have electric heat but I am so frugal when it comes to turning it on. My letters state that I am in the middle. I’d like to see one of the letters saying they are in the efficient column and know what they do to be more efficient than I am. My electricity is provided by energy.me but I get a bill from ComEd. There was a lower rate for people with electric heat but that expired so we had the option of going with this company. My bills range from $25-34 excluding winter, December – Marchish.
Paul22 says
Hi Jill,
I’m a huge fan of your blog! These letters are actually an extremely cost-effective way for ComEd to help their customers save money. The paper may seem like a waste, but a comparison to neighbors is a behavioral science technique that is proven to get people to pay attention. I agree it can seem like shaming, but it’s really just trying to give you some sort of a baseline about how much you use, to spark ideas about how you might be able to use a little bit less. By sending a letter in the mail it can reach ALL types of people. If a large number of people can reduce their usage just a little bit, it makes a big impact.
Many utility companies are required by government to reduce their usage each year. They do this by offering rebates and other programs for their customers. Sending these reports is one of the most cost-effective ways to accomplish this and is more cost-effective than rebate programs, e.g. get a rebate for an efficient AC unit. Ultimately this helps the consumer by reducing the need to build more power plants.
I don’t work for ComEd, so I can’t speak about them specifically or about their rates. But I happen to know a bit about the company helps ComEd send them. Over 50 million households receive this kind of information, and they run A/B tests to prove that these are effective in helping people use less energy and save money.
Thanks for the post!
Dinkers03 says
It’s only my husband, me, and our animals. Our bill is usually $125-$150 in the summer. I have really bad allergies and ran the AC all summer into middle of Oct bc of the mold count. I WISH ours was $100. We got the same letter. We always leave a light and the radio on for our dogs too. I wonder if anybody has gotten a letter saying they’ve used less?
acm22 says
We have been getting these letters from ComEd for a few years. The square footage of our home is listed at 900 sqft. We made an addition in 2004, and it is now 2800 sqft. We have called the number on the letter several times to correct their information. We called again a couple of weeks ago after the latest letter saying we are using too much electricity compared to neighbors with similar homes. Let’s see if they get it right next time.
On a related note…a couple of summers ago, the power was cut off on part of our home. We don’t have a “smart” meter, so how does that happen? Anyone else experience this? I live in Mount Prospect.
ymacorr says
I am not sure how they calculate this. We have the biggest home on our block and it always tells me that we’re in the middle. I like to think that we’re pretty efficient, but I do have a large home that takes a lot of eneergy to heat and air condition. I would like to know what my “efficient neighbors” are doing differently.
montel111 says
I am sure that ComEd is receiving some financial remuneration by saving energy. Therefore they are using the letters to do this. What they are using is called the HERD MENTALITY. (We all want to be a part of the group.)
We receive the letter and think, “What is my neighbor doing to save electricity and how can I do the same?”
The book where I learned this from is titled, THINK LIKE A FREAK.
Reference material provided:
Think Like A Freak
laura9209 says
I get these letters all the time and I just laugh at them. I don’t care what my electrical usage is in comparison to my neighbors. It is not going to make me change my electricity usage. Is Comed going to come to my house and shut off my tv that is on right now while I’m not watching it? I think not, but I bet some people get these letters and freak out.
choppette says
We no longer have comed since we recently moved. We use to get those letters also and every month us and 4 other families on the block would compare our letters. All of ours always said we were using more electricity than our neighbors. There were only 7 houses on the block so I’m not really sure who they were comparing us to.