Expanding Our Consumer Education

By: Nick Clark

May 2020 Update

Spot Power has come a long way from signing up our first retail electricity customer in 2008. But our overarching business has come even further from its humble beginnings over 40 years ago.

Even though we continue to grow, consumer education will always be an essential piece of our business structure. We believe that Albertans deserve better. They deserve to understand what charges appear on their utility bills. Understanding the numbers is the only way to make sure you are not being gouged.

Our goal has been to point out the benefits of supporting local retailers compared to the big government regulated providers. We continue to forge ahead and do our part to reach as many consumers with the message as possible.

Unfortunately, some consumers are still begin gouged. Are you one of them?

Here is a recent example: The numbers are in for May. The Regulated Rate Option (RRO) for electricity offered by Direct Energy was 6.0¢/kWh. If you had switched over to Spot Power’s variable rate, which is under 4.0¢/kWh, you would have saved some money. Those who didn’t switch ended up overpaying.

Here is another example: the administration fees at Direct Energy ($11.61/month) are almost double the rates charged by Spot Power ($5.90/month) and well above the prices charged by EPCOR and ENMAX.

Knowing and understanding these numbers comes down to one essential item, consumer education.

What can you do? The best way to save money is to educate yourself.

“Started from the Bottom, Now We’re Here”

Not many people know the history of Utility Network and Partners Inc. (UTILITYnet), the business behind Spot Power, and 20 other local Energy Marketers in Alberta. It started with our founder, Madeline Low, who was contracted as a software consultant by Imperial Oil Limited (IOL). At that time, she was also a programmer on a variety of projects, including building Dome Petroleum’s flight reservation system and the accreditation system for the Calgary Olympics. The common thread in all these systems was the ability to manage large amounts of critically sensitive data.

Working mostly at night from home, Madeline built an Electricity Power Supervision System (EPSS) that managed the monthly billing transactions between TransAlta and IOL. The flagship system had humble beginnings but was eventually rolled out to many clients, including PanCanadian, Petro Can, Talisman, as well as scores of others in Alberta’s oil and gas industry.

Not many software products like EPSS, developed in the late ‘70s, are still in use today. The system outlasted many of the companies whose billboards used to light up the skyline of Calgary, and the competitors who tried to copy the application are no longer in business or sold out.

Since then, UTILITYnet has expanded and reinvented itself every few years. Developing green reporting tools, business applications to support companies when Alberta deregulated the energy retail sector, and load settlement applications for those that wanted to become retailers. In 2015 the company launched Green Alberta Energy, and in 2019 the ‘Solar Club’ was born to help Solar Micro Generators improve their return on their investment.

Today UTILITYnet has electricity and natural gas retail customers in over 400 communities across Alberta and Spot Power was one of the first small privately-owned companies in UTILITYnet’s network to start selling electricity to residential customers.

We have always prided ourselves on being a different kind of energy company. One that competes head-to-head with the big regulated utilities offering fair pricing, no contracts, local customer care, lower rates for seniors, customer-centric programs, and educates consumers on what is involved in Alberta’s often confusing energy market.

They told us we couldn’t compete against massive retailers like Direct Energy. To us, this was only a challenge! We are proof that a small, local business can compete head-to-head with “the big guys.”

Expanding Consumer Education

In 2016, we began blogging and launched a social media presence to expand our consumer education. With millions of reads and views, we are proud to share our industry knowledge and speak up about industry issues that other large utility companies will not.

In 2020, UTILITYnet (and by association, Spot Power) expanded once again when it started Q Wave, which offers high-speed Internet plans in competition against Shaw and Telus.

Our roots may be in electricity and natural gas, but our talented, knowledgeable team has been successful in expanding our offerings. Now consumers in Alberta can bundle their electricity and natural gas with Internet services and save even more!

As we march down this path, we continue to invest in consumer education to focus on helping our customers make informed buying decisions, not only in the energy market but in the telecommunications market as well.

In the weeks to come, we will be expanding our blog to include content related to Internet services. Stay tuned to the blog or follow us on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) to become more informed.

Buy Local. Support independent retailers. Keep jobs in Alberta. Pay Less. Switch Now.

Being Local has its advantages. Unlike some of the big utilities, we didn’t ship jobs offshore. We are continuing to expand our systems team to work on the next generation of product development and cloud computing. We are hiring. In the field of systems, if you are a seasoned programmer, with experience in relational databases, PL/SQL, and also interested in data analytics, drop us a line (1316, 9th Ave SE., Inglewood, Calgary AB T2G 0T3). We have an incredible IT shop. Consider joining us!