Beware of ESCO Scam Mailing

With all of the junk mail the post office delivers on a daily basis, it’s easy to get it confused with legitimate mail. Couple that with scammers, identity thieves and the like, it’s no wonder that some people are easily duped. Mr Feiner has continually railed against the postal service for poor service and spotty mail delivery, but as a government entity, can we really expect a change? This is more an example of the pot calling the kettle black.

Regardless, a new mailing found it’s way into our offices from a company called North American Power of Norwalk, Connecticut. Make no mistake about it, this is a solicitation from an ESCO trying to sign up unwitting residents to use them as your power supplier with a confusing and official looking document. 

Notice there are several telltale issues with this very official looking document. First and foremost as you remove the paperwork from their envelope, the first thing you’ll see is CONEDISON CUSTOMERS: Please COMPLETE, SIGN and RETURN this Emrollment Consent Form/Terms of Service in the enclosed postage-paid envelope. This is nothing more than an attempt to fool ConEd customers into thinking this is official and from ConEd and to act immediately. YOU SHOULD NOT!

We have previously written about ESCO's and especially the ESCO that Mr Feiner got into bed with here in the Town of Greenburgh, Sustainable Westchester (ESCO). Mr Feiner and his Town Board enrolled all 90,000+ residents into it without their authorization or approval. Next, he and his Board passed a law forcing ConEd, most likely your current supplier, to release your information to this group of lawyers. Finally, after extensive studying of ESCO’s elsewhere, it was proven that the savings are minuscule at best, if at all.

You are certainly free to choose who you wish your energy supplier to be, whether it’s ConEd or someone else. Keep in mind though that ESCO's are not providing you with the energy itself, but the transmission of it. You’ll still be paying ConEd for your energy and now another company for the transmission of it. If you look on your current energy suppliers bill, you’ll see the transmission rate and your cost. It’s usually only a couple of dollars at most and sometimes only manages to be pennies. And, once you sign in, you cannot easily or inexpensively opt-out. Another ploy they’ll use is to tell you they are using “green” energy. That too is difficult to validate and worth further investigation. 

Do what you will, but we are simply providing a caveat emptor for those who may not be aware of what ESCO’s are about or trying to do. We just want you to be informed. It will make for A Better Greenburgh.