Apples to Bullshit
Over a decade ago the good people of Ohio received a choice in who they get to pay for the energy that comes from their local power company. Of course it’s all a fanciful scam, because rather than just figure out what would save you the most money, they throw a bunch of these so called “deals” in front of you, each with various terms that make direct comparison rather tricky.
Of course energychoice.ohio.gov makes the bold statement that it’s “Apples to Apples”. It’s more like comparing Apples to random junk in the garage. Of course they all have different rates, but then some are only introductory rates, then switch to variable rates after a couple months. Some come with contracts that have early termination fees. Some have monthly fees that literally cost more than my electric bill already costs. They all come with a variety of gimmicks. What a great way to save money! /s
See, none of them can just compete by offering the lowest price per kilowatt hour, because then you have price wars and companies tend to lose money when those happen. Instead they have to invent a slew of different terms and conditions that consumers have to carefully weigh and analyze to see if it would be worth it or not. (Hint: It’s usually not.)
In the end it’s just another stupid game with stupid prizes. They figure if they give the peasants a choice about which company is fleecing them, they’ll be more inclined to accept that they were ultimately the ones responsible for being screwed on their monthly utility bill instead of the double dealing politicians and businesses who concocted this idiotic scheme.
Pax,
-f2x
