Last weeks good, bad and ugly

The good

J.D. Power and Associates ranked PPL Electric Utilities first in satisfaction. It was a small surprise since eight months ago the region was hit with a massive storm. It is, however, the second year in a row for PPL to get the award. One of the cool things it has done is used social media to keep its’ customers informed about power outages and other info.

Duquesne Light and West Penn Power in Southwestern Pennsylvania have both help reduce energy consumption by 3%. They have given the credit, for the reduce energy usage, to energy efficient light bulbs. Both companies are owned by FirstEnergy Corp. of Ohio.

Direct Energy just got bigger by buying Bounce Energy, a smaller but very competitive energy company in Texas. It only cost the company $46 Million and now puts them, in my opinion, in the conversation with TXU Energy and Reliant.

The bad

More news about TXU’s financial struggles has come out. With nine straight quarters of losses it is only a matter of time before we see some major changes in the Texas electricity markets. According to the Dallas Morning News article “EFH debt negotiations resume” TXU’s parent company, Energy Future Holdings, is trying to unload some of its debt. Since I’m not the expert on financial issues I would recommend reading the DMN article.

Bounce Energy was sold to Direct Energy which is already listed in the good so how can it also be listed in the bad? It’s simply really, Bounce was known for its competitive rates now consumers will have to look elsewhere to save money.

The ugly

This just got ugly, Energy Plus agrees to a settlement payment. According to an article on nyfb.org customers of Energy Plus who was billed at anytime through October 15, 2012 could have received payment. This can no longer be claimed since it ended on 24th of July, 2013.

There was a small story on our blog which could be categorized as ugly about President Obama lying about climate change (aka. global warming). Check it out here.

Know something good, bad or ugly that was left out? Leave a comment and let me know.