Sounds great, too great. Read. The. Fine. Print. Know when the contract ends and pay attention. These companies LOVE to jack prices up and hope you won't notice.

I actually used Direct Energy for a while, and right now am on their competitor Xoom energy.

When you sign up, you're locked into a rate for 1,2,3 years. This only affects the supply rate, so if eversource raises T+D charges, you'll still be hit with those as they're listed separately on the bill and charged by Eversource, not Direct Energy. If Eversource lowers the supply rates and you want to switch back to them, you'll sometimes have to pay an early termination fee. They're typically not crazy, I think the plan from Xoom I'm on right now is like $50, but something to keep in mind if you're signing up for a longer term. However, when Eversource raises the supply rates, you'll still be locked into your lower rate.

Another thing to note is if you plan on getting solar panels installed, or an electric hot water heater installed (one that is billed separately), you might have issues with one of these plans depending on how the terms are written, so read carefully or give them a call before signing up for anything.

TLDR; it's great so long as you read the terms and conditions and know what you're signing up for.

Thank you. Just signed up, my elec bill, like everyone's, has been going through the roof.

Delivery etc. are still provided by Eversource at their standard rate.

I think Direct Energy puts you directly into one of the contracts they bought, so if they buy from a supplier for XX years at a certain price then they sign up as many customers as the numbers allow for that price and term. They’ll find you a new contract when that one ends if you haven’t switched yourself already. Any leftovers they sell to Eversource.

Still no penalties for switching mostly I think because no one has been switching so Eversource still has near 90% of the customers by default. If the freedom ever starts costing them money then maybe there will be fees.

Just wait until it actually gets cold and your heat has to do some real work to keep your place warm. So far this heating season has been incredibly mild. Consider your $600 bill a preview of coming attractions.

How are the other charges like delivery charge and misc fees with Direct Energy? Also, I see multiple options, some a bit less expensive than others, all offered by direct energy. Are all of them able to be cancelled with no penalty? Thanks!

Sorry to hear that. But if you leave it at 65 you're going to keep paying a lot.

I think someone recommended a space heater... that would be a good way to keep the house lower but the space you're occupying comfortable.

A programmable thermostat of some sort would probably be optimal so you can keep it lower at night/when you aren't home.

They make plastic sheets to help seal windows further. It's going to get worse as January and February Temps roll through.

Epic!

Who are you Joe Manchin.

It’s not near the seacoast but HM Motorworks in Merrimack is the best luxury car shop I’ve ever brought my BMW to. They service lambos, porche, Mercedes, Ferrari etc

The zoo health club!

Live and learn. Check to make sure your next NH apartment has oil or gas heat.

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Your friend was not that knowledgeable about electric heat. I thought everyone knew it is VERY expensive.

Heat costs money. Electric heat costs a lot of money. You can pay the cost for the electric heat or suffer in the cold. Whining about it on Reddit because you have to pay for a service is the real bullshit.

Could always get a heated blanket, or a 1500w radiant heater. That’s enough of a heater to do one room, and then you could keep the thermostat turned down.

Unfortunately electric heat will always be hella expensive.

Ultimately, you get to pay less for the exact same 60Hz performance you’ve been enjoying. Nothing changes but your cost.

But also, your electricity producers are incentivized to produce power less expensively while also creating more overall profit through a free market system.

The cons: Only the people willing to shop around get to pay a lower rate.

Direct Energy has a fixed rate plan only available to new customers right now so they won’t raise your rate for for the 2 or 3 years, so the price per kWh is the same each month and won’t increase OR decrease over the term of the contract. A variable price offer which eversource has unless you locked in your rate in the fall, will vary in price per kWh from month to month based on the price of electricity. Direct Energy will notify Eversource for you if you switch. Right now it’s smart to switch to direct energy because it will save you money. However, the downside is if the price of electricity goes back down in the next 2-3 years you won’t be able to benefit from that. But keep in mind that there is no cancellation fee with Direct Energy.

Get a radiant space heater. One that glows red. Be sure to follow the safety precautions.

Absolutely incredible

>First off, the power plants will generate more emissions than a gas car does in order for you to charge it.

You've been mislead. Even after accounting for power plant emissions and vehicle life-cycle emissions (from manufacturing the car and battery), EVs generate lower emissions than gas cars.

This is especially true in New England because our electricity comes mostly from natural gas and nuclear power and these are relatively clean power sources compared to coal which is used in some other places.

https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/electric-vehicle-myths

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>and thirdly our infrastructure is not capable right now of handling the demand if we were all plugging in our cars everyday.

This is also untrue. Electric vehicles are typically charged overnight when the grid is running at a fraction of its peak capacity. As more EVs are sold, it will be important for utility regulators to ensure EV owners are properly incentivized to charge when grid demand is lowest.

Programs to do this are already being deployed all around the country. Unfortunately, NH is a laggard here but they'll eventually tag along in the tailwind of more forward thinking states. Some states even have special programs where grid operators can pull power from EVs to help the grid out during emergencies.

Here's an example of an EV rate plan in Georgia where charging overnight costs 1.4 cents per kWh compared to 7 cents during normal times and 20 cents during the busiest times.

https://www.georgiapower.com/content/dam/georgia-power/pdfs/electric-service-tariff-pdfs/TOU-PEV-9.pdf

Here's an article about a Telsa pilot program in CA that helped out during the grid emergency they had over the summer:

https://electrek.co/2022/08/18/teslas-virtual-power-plant-first-event-helping-grid-future/#:~:text=Tesla%27s%20virtual%20power%20plant%20in,plant%20looks%20like%20the%20future.

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I wouldn't call 65 low...

This year is a bummer but there will be more winters to come, and some will be very cold and snowy. It's just not guaranteed anymore.

Bad for those tourist industries, they'll have to figure out some way to attract summer visitors. Ski area zip lines or something.

Perhaps consider coastal Texas... Florida is getting very full and very expensive.

My great aunt and uncle have a 1920s beach house there on the gulf coast that's worth about $1M now, they paid $80k or so for it in the early 90s. Nice duplex with half they rent out and half they reserve for themselves and their guests (of which I have been one many times). The value is all in the land, if any investor ever buys it they'll demolish it and build condos or something. Kind of sad since it's such a nice house with a decent sized back yard but people want to cram into the beach and there's limited space to live there.