Verde Energy
Verde Energy is an energy trading company that seeks to enroll residential electric utility customers into designating them as the wholesale supplier for their electric service. Verde Energy is one of several such competing companies that call up prospective customers, seeking to switch them from their existing plan to an alternate plan through Verde Energy.
Yesterday, I received one such call (a live call, not a robo-call), during which time I spoke to three customer service agents in Atlanta. The first one, Jeremy, could not answer my basic questions, so he handed me off to Kim, who similarly could not answer my questions. Finally I spoke to the Enrollment Manager, Andrew Houck, who told me no one had ever asked the kind of questions I had posed to him. And then he sent me an E-Mail. Below you will find my response (with his message displayed below my response).
Barry Kort <barry.kort@gmail.com>
11:36 PM (14 hours ago)
to mk, bcc: Moonbeam
Hi Andrew,
After I got off the phone with you, I did some research.
First of all, you may be amused to know that there is a prominent scholar named Andrew Houck. He is a professor of Quantum Physics and Electrical Engineering from Princeton and MIT who has his own research lab on Quantum Computing.
Regarding the 100% Green advertising claim, I checked out the two Massachusetts sites which Kim told me about -- Jiminy Peak and Greenfield.
Jiminy Peak is a ski resort in the Berkshires with one wind turbine that produces 1.5 MW when the wind blows. It provides 1/3 of the annual power requirements for the ski resort. During the off season, Jiminy Peak sells its surplus power.
Greenfield MA has a solar farm on the town landfill that produces 2 MW when the sun shines, which is enough electricity to power about half of the town's schools and town office buildings. Like Jiminy Peak, Greenfield can sell excess power when the schools are out of session and when town offices are closed on weekends.
Together, Jiminy Peak and Greenfield can produce 3.5 MW under optimum conditions, which is enough juice to power about 2500 residential homes during times of the year when power demand is fairly light.
In February, my condo unit consumed 4800 KWH, which works out to an average of 7 KW.
Thus, during February, those two green energy plants here in Massachussetts produced enough power for 500 customers just like me. But of course, Verde Energy was not buying 3.5 MW from Jiminy Peak and Greenfield, because those two sites only sold their surplus during intervals when their own local consumption fell below 3.5 MW.
What Kim was unable to explain to me is that Verde Energy buys and sells financial instruments called Renewable Energy Certificates on the domestic energy market. Here in Massachussetts, almost none of the electrical power fed into the Eversource grid actually comes from regional renewable energy sources. So customers on the Eversource grid all get their energy from the same set of generating plants. What Verde Energy does (by buying Renewable Energy Certificates) is to ensure that someone, somewhere in America, is getting power from a green plant. But here in Massachussetts, virtually all power on the Eversource grid comes from regional fossil fuel plants.
Next, I went to the Verde Energy web site to learn about the company management. There I read the biographies of Chairman of the Board, Lance Lundberg, Chief Executive Officer, Thomas Fitzgerald, and Chief Marketing Officer, Tony Menchaca.
I assume you report to Mr. Menchaca. His biography is interesting. Before coming to Verde Energy, he was Executive Vice President of CUC International and then Executive Vice President of Cendant, which was formed from the merger of CUC International and another company, HFS.
Cendant broke up after it was discovered that there was massive accounting fraud in CUC International. It was one of the largest financial scandals of the 1990s. The nature of the fraud was quite similar to that of Enron -- fraudulently cooking the books to deceive investors.
Next I turned to customer reviews of Verde Energy. There, I found page after page of complaints alleging bait and switch marketing techniques, massive overcharges, false advertising, and poor customer service. Therein, I also learned the answer to my question about the variable rates that kick in after 6 months. Although the customers were promised rates no higher than prevailing market rates, customers were reporting being charged rates in excess of 20¢ per KWH, well above the prevailing market rates in their area.
Just ten days ago, a class action lawsuit was filed in Connecticut against Verde Energy, alleging fraudulent practices, including charging customers variable rates far in excess of market rates.
Andrew, if I were you, I'd consider looking for a more ethical employer than Verde Energy. Your company's management has put you in the position of deceiving prospective customers and signing them up for a bait and switch scam that will anger, exasperate, and outrage them.
Barry Kort, Ph.D.
(Retired) Distinguished Member of Technical Staff
Network Planning Division (1968-1987)
AT&T Bell Laboratories
On Fri, Mar 20, 2015 at 11:36 AM, <mk@energyenrollmentfirm.com> wrote:
Hello,
Thank you for your time to discuss how Verde Energy USA, Inc. can get 100% green energy for you and/or your business. There is no cost to select Verde for the supply portion of your monthly electric bill. Your local utility company will continue to fully service your account and you will continue to receive one monthly bill which will include Verde Energy USA with 100% green energy.
Key benefits of our offer are:
A 100% Green Energy with a Fixed rate for 6 months!
Our FIXED rate is $0.1149 (11.49 cents per kWh).
No cancellation fees of any type or contracts! If you ever change your mind you can cancel your selection of Verde at any time with no fee.
$75 cash bonus rebate per active account. You will receive a rebate form in your welcome kit.
We also offer a referral incentive. When you are enrolled, you can have friends and family call in to enroll and receive he same benefits. When they call in and give you name and phone #, YOU will receive a $25 referral check for EACH person you refer!
Feel free to contact me directly at 1-860-973-1641 at any time if you have any questions. Thank you again for this opportunity to go 100% green. Verde means green and we mean it. Check us out online at: LowCostPower.com Please give me a call back with any questions or concerns and to enroll!
Best Regards,
Andrew Houck ext 3002
Customer Service
Phone 1-860-973-1641 Fax 1-866-817-7688
This email expires at the end of the business day, March 23rd, 2015.
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The Process of Enlightenment Works In Mysterious Plays.
