Amigo Energy is No Friend of Mine
Put forth on December 23, 2008 by XicanoPwr
Posted in Mobilization, activism, energy
Like it or not, we are at the mercy of the power companies if we want to function day-to-day. Since deregulation in Texas, we were told we had the power to choose. That is what I did. At the time I need to choose my electric provider, I did an extensive research which electric provider would give me a better price for an 809 sq ft apartment loft.
While deregulation does give the consumer the power to choose from a list of providers, at the same the same time, we also have no way of knowing whether these smaller companies have the financial resources to deliver on its promises. A good example of what the future will bring for us in Texas now that deregulation is the telecommunication industry. The Act, Telecommunications Act of 1996, that was suppose to foster competition that would result in lower rates for consumers did the opposite. The new companies that sprang up with the passage of the Act quickly “flamed out.” There are signs that the Texas utility industry is beginning to crumble.
Last year, after doing some extensive research online, I decided to go with this small Latino owned Houston base electricity provider, Amigo Energy. At that time – August, 2007 – Amigo had one of the most reasonable 12 month fixed electric rates in Houston area, 12.9 cents kWh. Throughout the year, Amigo remained stable with those rates.
I didn’t have any complaints until now. Alarms went off as I noticed that my electric bill I received the previous day was three times the amount I normally paid since the time I signed up. I already expected my bill to go up since their rates went up when I had to renew my contract with them. That is a separate issue which I will discuss later on.
Before I had to renew, my electricity bill was between $70 to $80 a month except near the end of my contract period. My usage isn’t that bad, considering my loft is an all-electric apartment with an air conditioner set at 72 and one ceiling fan turned on. I have CFLs in all my lamps, which I prefer because they are brighter than the pre-installed with conventional bulbs.
Since I have cement flooring, during the cooler months the acts as a heater because the cement absorbs the the energy from the sun and during our record high summer the cement flooring acted as a heat sink. Here is a snapshot of our electricity bill.
Texas’ Cooler Months
Jan 597kwh @ 0.1290 = $79.50
Feb 546kwh @ 0.1290 = $72.71
Mar 500kwh @ 0.1290 = $66.59
Texas’ Hotter Months
Apr 633kwh @ 0.1290 = $87.12
May 566kwh @ 0.1290 = $75.37
Jun 823kwh @ 0.1290 = $109.61
Here is the fun part and where things do not add up. Last December my usage was 567 kWh, therefore, my bill for the month was $75, however, this month had to pay for $255 for using 1529 kWh at .1617 per kWh. According to this month’s bill, I had every energy sucking appliance in my 809 sq ft loft running 24/7. Amigo is trying to say I consumed more electricity in November than the record high summer.
The downside of using the automatic, you tend to assume some things are in the up-n-up. Well after some research, I realize Amigo is no friend of mine and I was not the only one in this boat. I looked Amigo Energy up on the BBB and they have had 136 complaints against them and on the blog Texas Electricity one post had 75 comments that were all complaints. Many of complaints regarded rate hicks to .2419 during the months of May to July. According to the Public Utility Commission report card on Complaint Rates for March 1, 2008 through August 31, 2008, Amigo had the “Highest Complaint Rate.”
Ever since I renewed, I have been receiving weird charges. The first two months, my bill was broken down with different rates.
August 07, 2008 to September 04, 2008 – Energy Usage (29 days) 760 kWh – rate @ 0.1692
- 8/7/2008 – 8/31/2008 – Energy Usage (25 days) 655 kWh @ 0.1697 kWh
- 9/1/2008 – 9/4/2008 – Energy Usage (4 days) 105 kWh @ 0.1640 kWh
September 04, 2008 to October 06, 2008 – Energy Usage (33 days) 170 kWh paid Oct 24, 2008 – rate @ .2010 Actual pay:
- 9/4/2008 – 9/30/2008 – Energy Usage (27 days) 138 kWh @ 0.1640 kWh
- 10/1/2008 – 10/6/2008 – Energy Usage (6 days) 32 kWh @ 0.1617 kWh
October 06, 2008 to October 31, 2008 – Energy Usage (26 days) 1092 kWh – rate @ 0.1617
October 31, 2008 to December 05, 2008 – Energy Usage (36 days) 1529 kWh – rate @ 0.1617
My guess the bill I received are estimates and not from the meter. This could be done to make up their loses due to Hurricane Ike.
Sure I could call them up and complain, however, I don’t think it would make a difference. From all the complaints I have read, every one of them say the same thing, bad customer service. Many of the complaints have been that they are unable to reach them on numerous calls and emails. If they do, the problem is not theirs its yours.
If I were the Houston Dynamo, I would reconsider their four-year sponsorship deal with Amigo Energy. The fact is the PUC or BBB will not do anything regarding their questionable practices. The only way to hit them where it hurts is their pocket book. One way effective way is if the Houston Dynamo where to drop them like a bad habit.
After the Christmas holidays, I will be writing my letter to the soccer team to drop them before Amigo Energy’s bad reputation will also drag them down.
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Tags: Amigo Energy, deregulation, electric providers, electricity bills, electricity consumption, energy | 
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This is the blog of Edmundo "XicanoPwr" Rocha, a social worker, an activist, freelance writer and founder and editor of The Sanctuary. My interests include: immigration reform, critical race theory and it's interaction with equality/inequality and freedom/oppression as they relate to the experiences of people of color in the Americas.
Para Justicia y Libertad is a Latino-centered political blog focusing on the humanistic perspective of politics, history, and society as they relate to the Latina/o community throughout Texas and the United States.
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Hitting them in their pocket book is the best revenge. If people did more of that they would either reform or go bankrupt, regardless, it would be a good thing for the consumer.
Btw, don’t bash deregulation so much…atleast you don’t live in a state with strongly regulated energy, like California, where rolling blackouts and energy “Stages” are common.
Hitting them in their pocket book is the best revenge. If people did more of that they would either reform or go bankrupt, regardless, it would be a good thing for the consumer.
Btw, don’t bash deregulation so much…atleast you don’t live in a state with strongly regulated energy, like California, where rolling blackouts and energy “Stages” are common.
I guess it is like most things in life: deregulation may not be perfect but it’s usually always better than over regulation.
I don’t think deregulation is all bad. I do have a problem when you have only one power company running entire regions. However, the problem I have is you have little fly by night companies take their money and run because there is a lack of regulations. I think as consumers, I think there is a way we can have the best of both worlds.
I was watch Good Morning America during the time the airline industry was rising their prices by adding additional fees. They were interviewing the CEO of American Airlines, near the end of the interview he admitted that it really came down to profit and the stakeholders. He said actually said, he people really want control the cost, you really need to regulate it other than that, as long as the stakeholders are unhappy, they prices will continue to go up.
The real question is how do we go about doing this because the industry will soon collapse as more and more smaller companies will go belly up.
Before deregulation I paid Houston Light and Power (now reliant) every month at about 8 cents a kWh. For 18 years I had no reason to call them about a billing error or anything.
Now, with deregulation I am caught (with amigo) in a 17.9 cents per kWh, I’ve had to call them on a number of occasions. Once because they made a slight mistake and turned my power off. For the entire night, in the summer.
I would take regulation any day. Low rates, great service, as opposed to higher rates and crap service.
I read that when I researching them and I was meaning to link to you post about their poor customer service, but I lost my bookmark to your post. It is has been busy around here and I probably thought I bookmarked it, but reality I didn’t.
From what I have read, you are not the only one they “accidentally” turned off their power when they shouldn’t. I even read where Amigo hung up on them.
Amigo Energy’s CEO, Javier Vega, told the Chronicle that the only complaints he gets its that “Amigo is a lousy company,” makes me eve wonder if he set foot in the customer service department or there is a gatekeeper that is censoring what type of complaints he sees.
Come on. How can he dismiss people complaining that they have been doubled billed or nor even receiving a bill. In fact, that happened to me too. This was right after Ike and the news reported that people were not going receive their bills because some of the post offices still didn’t have power, however, when I did get the bill, they charged me a late fee. WTF?
You would think red flags would go up when people miss a payment for that month.
John, I’ll email you about the Houston Dynamo idea I have.
And depending where you live, Centerpoint Energy comes into the mix. They do most of the meter reading in the Houston metro area.
Ever since they misread my meter back in March of this year, I have been paying close attention to my electric usage. Getting a power bill with an extra 1000 KW on it was no fun. Now, it seems the problem is back, only erroring on the low side this time.
I average any where from 1500 KW to around 2000 KW every month, but the meter reads for October and November show me using less than 400 KW and 500 KW respectively. I talked to my service provider, Green Mountain, and they said I have to resolve the meter issue through Centerpoint. This should be interesting.
On the subject of deregulation and the 1996 Telecoms Act, my wife is a media studies professor and was explaining to me tonight why radio is in its currently shabby state. It’s at least in part because Clear Channel bought up all the stations after 1996 and got rid of local programming. It’s been so long now I can’t remember a time when radio didn’t suck.
AH HA!! Thanks Texano. I thought Centerpoint did most of the readings. It should be interesting, the complaints I have read when it came to meter reading problems, “tough, live with it.” I highly doubt any of Amigo’s employee set foot outside to read a meter, it was all done by Centerpoint and that is why they are the one’s pushing so hard for those smart readers.
Dave – I am glad you brought up the media too. I had never realized that Act had such a profound affect on our media too until I was looking for a good example to use as a link. When you think of telecommunication, the first that comes to mind is telephone lines and cell towers, not television or radio. There is no doubt that Telecom Act of 1996 only affected the battle for phone lines and cell towers.
I did find the need for regulation piece I saw on Good Morning American. The irony of it all, the guy who said is an Uncle Milty follower, former CEO of American Airlines, Robert Crandall.
After reading your blog and considering everything, I don’t think it’s fair for you to write that Amigo is no friend of yours. Just like Texano said, depending on where you live, but if you are in the Houston and surrounding areas, Centerpoint does all of the meter readings. And you are right, none of the Amigo employees read meters because its not their job, it’s Centerpoints’.I’ve had trouble with my own meter, but to request someone to come out and re-read my meter, I had to go through Centerpoint, not my service provider. Companies like Amigo, Spark, Gexa, Reliant, and etc all provide you with a rate of your choice. Plus there is more to just the rate, you have to look into the service fees and what not (I did the research). Rates change all the time, if you don’t want to be locked in to your .16 cent rate, you should go for a variable rate which is usally lower in these months… but don’t forget when the summer comes around those rates will go up. I’m sure companies like Amigo that get so many complaints are from customers who didn’t do their homework and are now stuck with a rate that could have been much cheaper had they done the research. Give Amigo a break, their name seems “friendly”
I just finished sending another complaint to PUC-TX (at their advice) re: Amigo Energy. Their tactic with us is to “send no statements” then tack on late charges when I refuse to pay the difference above electric usuage. Have been told we are “legally bound” to an early termination fee if we change providers. We moved to Waco from Ohio and into an all-electric house. Went into shock over the kw rates. Chose Amigo because of intitial rate offering and thought it would be a friendly company. You know, support the little guy! What a nightmare!
Like your creative web site and thank you for all the research. What’s next, a class action suit? Oh, the Amigo web site is not compatilble with anything except Microsoft Explorer. We use Apple Safari. Can you believe it?
SW
Man I am battling these crooks right now.
Let me break it down into small bites as even thinking about this makes me sick.
Signed up for Amigo at Dynamo game for a decent Kwh rate.
Didn’t receive a bill, disconnection notice, or call. Power shut off saying I never paid my bill.
Paid reconnect fee, had Amigo email me my bills. When I got them I was blown away. Saying I used 2,500kwh in one month. I live in a 2BR apartment. My bill with reliant was never this high, not even close.
Paid a few bills, one for $400 another for $300 some.
Had meter read, tested, and apartment outlets tested by maintenance. Nothing wrong.
Reported to BBB never heard anything back.
Switched to Green Mountain.
Amigo bills me for final two bills and early termination fee of $250
I call Amigo to try and work out a payment plan. They say I have reached billing and I need collections department. They can’t transfer me, they have to email them and have them call me back. shady.
They call me back (sounds like overseas) they offer me a deal of one time fee $700 some I say I cannot afford that so they offer my 3 payments of $330 every three days wtf? I get paid bi-weekly. They refuse to take what I can offer and tell me late fees will tagged on as well as sent to collections to ruin my credit.
Just filed a complaint with PUC.
Just received my Green Mountain bill, what do you know. They mailed it and I received it, weird. Oh and my bill was $135
I am trying to contact a lawyer to fight Amigo and the bill and how they handle customers. Any advice would be such a help I have felt so helpless dealing with these clowns.
Thanks
All of you are need to stop being cry babies ….
all I know is pay your bill and have responsability
with your contracts and that will be it….
I have Amigo Energy since 2006 and if I see I have
not recieved a bill I just call them to as for
my balance and I MAKE MY PAYMENT..for electricity
I used ……but there are the ones that dont
have any responsbility and dont want to be charge
with late fees ….come on
lets give our electricity provider a help …
and guess how …????
……Paying your bills……
and Stop complaining you will never have
Free electricity!!!!
Many of you do not understand deregulation. Reliant was forced to split up their business in 2002, when deregulation began. HL&P, the utility, which owned the wires and poles, was a part of Reliant. They became independent and are now called Centerpoint.
Electrcity prices are driven by natural gas prices, since natural gas fuels most of the power plants in Texas.
The best thing to do is to lock in a fixed price with a good provider. The electricity will be the same no matter who you buy from. Right now, prices are the lowest since 2004. I am in the business.
I love reading posts that make excuses for electricity deregulation. Deregulation has failed so bad that Senator Eltife is trying to stop east Texas from deregulating in 2011. http://bayareahouston.blogspot.com/2009/02/bill-would-end-electricity-deregulation.html
You can make all the excuses you want, but the bottom line is the bottom line. We got screwed.
Amigo is screwing me around as well. They added a $98 pole reconnect fee to my bill, which amongst other things, was impossible. I have been trying for a month and I still don’t have my $98 dollars back. After bad customer service, and a rep that flat out lied to me, I can not wait for my 6 month contract to be up.
Ok. So it seems I am not the one with electricity provider issues. I don’t know what is going on. I don’t think it has anything to do with regulation/deregulation/what have you. It seems to me like someone is just screwing around trying to get rich. I don’t expect free electricity, but I also expect to receive the type of appropiate service that I pay for. I was first with First Choice Power when I moved into my townhome. I was receiving bills in EXCESS of $2000. I had the meter re-read, tested, replaced. I switched to Reliant to receive bills of nearly $1000 the short time I was with them. Now it’s only myself and my toddler living in myhome. Most hours of the day the home is empty and the A.C. is off. To receive bills of this amount is outrageous. That’s enough to pay for electric bills for everyone on my block!!! I have lived in a 5 bedroom home with my parents, and 3 siblings. Ok? Two floors, dual a.c. units… NEVER A BILL OVER $450. Where am I going wrong, and how do we stop this??? It’s not fair to us as a consumer. Because they are hurting (in which we’ve BEEN hurting) that makes it o.k. for them to STEAL money from us???? Where’s the regulation in that????? ANY ideas, PLEASE POST THEM. I can REALLY use the help. I am going to Amigo now, by recommendation of a few friends, and can only PRAY that I can survive the Summer. Now I’m wondering WTF?
I am fed up with Amigo! We switched to them last year because of their low rates only to have them double two months later. We were not under contract and we quickly switched carriers. After we had already been with the new company for 2 months I started recieving phone calls from Amigo saying that I hadn’t paid my bill and they were demanding payment right then for $340. I was surprized and I told them I had never recieved a statement for this amount and I wasn’t even with them anymore. I asked them to please send me the statement and I would talk with them again to clear it up once I knew the meter read dates and amounts. They never sent me anything, but continued to call and I again asked for a statement. Well, now they’ve sent me to collections! I am going to dispute it and maybe now I can get a freakin’ statement! The times I tried to contact them when I was an active customer, I waited on hold for almost an hour before speaking with someone that I could barely understand. I will NEVER use this company again!
My question is, have prices gone up so far as to produce bills OVER $800 for units/homes that are less than 1500 sq. ft.? That’s my complaint, and everytime I receive a bill or communication from ANY of these providers it really feels as though they are ripping me off and getting away with it. Does anyone know who I can go to for help??? Times like this, I wish Marvin Zindler was still around
Dereg is a total scam.
Sal this in the dallas morning news 3/16. I think Jacquielynn Floyd has the right idea here. This needs to be brought to the attention of the PUC.
WE NEED TO GET ORGANIZED! It has to be no deniability as to the PUC being aware of this consumer abuse perpetrated by Amigo Energy. She writes:
“What about other consumers who are having similar tricks pulled by this and other unscrupulous power providers?
“How do they plan to penalize this company (Amigo Engergy) and the many others that are using obnoxious billing tricks and dishonest collection policies to cheat the unwary?”
HER COLUMN IS BELOW: MORE PROOF OF AMIGO DISHONESTY
——————————–
PUC: Floyd 1, power pirates 0
2:02 PM Mon, Mar 16, 2009 | Jacquielynn Floyd
I’m doin’ a little victory mazurka after being fully vindicated by the Public Utility Commission of Texas in a miniwar with a retail electricity provider. Smackdown!
Dogged PUC fact-finders got the company to ‘fess up to having its bill collectors try to gonif me out of money I didn’t owe them as recently as February – even though I switched providers last August and settled the account for good in November.
Say my goodbuddies at the utility commission:
They have taken the steps to ensure that you will not receive any more calls or communications asking for payments,
That is swell news. But all is not forgiven: What about other consumers who are having similar tricks pulled by this and other unscrupulous power providers? What about the fact that it took me three months of extortinately bloated bills to switch to a cheaper plan? What about the scores of similar stories I heard from other consumers who want to know why deregulation bore succulent fruit for rapacious retail companies, but Texas residents are still paying the highest power rates in America? How do they plan to penalize this company (Amigo Engergy) and the many others that are using obnoxious billing tricks and dishonest collection policies to cheat the unwary?
These questions are not addressed by my three-graf notification from the PUC.
Here is an interesting article about Javier Vega, former CEO of Amigo Energy and wrongfully fired, about how he is suing the company for ignoring state regulators and overcharging customers:
http://www.star-telegram.com/news/columnists/dave_lieber/story/1205364.html
What insanity. I am moving and I need electricity at my new place. Deregulation in Texas. Does it work?
I contacted an Independent Electricity Broker who I had met. His company (TexStar) wanted a $450 deposit. He told me that he could set me up with Ambit Energy, but they wanted a $250 deposit. So I said: “I will just keep who I have (Amigo Energy)”. I contacted them and they want a $350 deposit to cancel my existing service and establish it at my new place. I said “H— No”. I asked to speak to a supervisor and they put me on hold until the call was lost.
Then, I contacted Reliant Energy and they only want $150 deposit. So, I guess I go with Reliant.
What I do not understand is why my existing company (Amigo Energy) is willing to lose a client forever by charging me $350 to keep being a customer. What insanity.
Jim Koontz
Here is their response:
Hello,
Thank you for your inquiry. In regards to your question, we are sorry that you feel that way. We do require a deposit on a transfer of service for your account. If you would like to cancel service please contact the call center to request this.
Please let us know if you have any additional questions. You may also contact us at 1-888-469-2644.
Thank you,
Julia Hernandez
Amigo Energy Customer Support
1-888-469-2644
They did not even have the courtesy to address me by name. Oh yeah, they are history in my life ater Jan 1st, 2009
I read these comments and just felt like I had to add my little gem of a story to the pile. I was using another power company (TXU I believe) and get a letter from them saying that they were no longer going to be providing commercial service in my area (Round Rock, TX.) I get that letter at the end of the month in May of 2008 along with my final bill with that company, ($150, which was normal for my house at $.14 a kilowatt during the summer.) I pay my bill and assume I would soon be getting a letter from my new power company within a few days. TXU did not ever specify which power company my contract had been sold too but they did say my new power company would contact me soon. About two weeks into the Month of June I receive a disconnect notice from Amigo Energy claiming that I had failed to pay my bill of $380 and would be disconnected in three days if I did not send in payment immediately. I call the company confused about my bill, assuming there had been some sort of mix up, and receive very rude treatment in which I am told that I should have paid my bill on time. This was only two weeks into the month remember, and I had previously been on a monthly payment plan like most everyone else. I frantically rush down to Wall-Mart to pay my new bill through the Wall-Mart version of Western Union, (the only way they would accept payment for some reason,) and pay my bill on the same day I received the letter. Three days later, I came home from work at around 5:30pm and find my power had been shut off. It just so happened to be a Friday and their “customer service” line closed at 4:30pm on Fridays and were only open for half of the day on Saturday. I spend the half of the day that their “customer service” line was open on hold until the automated voicemail service announced that they were closed for the day and recommend I call back on Monday. I spend the weekend without power. Monday morning I call. Monday afternoon I call. At 4:00pm I tell my boss I have to leave early so that I can sit on hold until I can get through to someone, my boss says ok and I get on the phone. After about 20 minutes of waiting on hold, a very agitated “customer service” representative picks up the phone and tells me that I’m going to have to pay a $50 reconnect fee in order to get my power back on, even though I paid their bill before the deadline. I argue that they had no right to cut off my power because I paid the bill they sent me, to which the representative replied that if I had paid my bill on time in the first place this never would have happened. “I NEVER GOT A BILL, I GOT A DISCONNECT NOTICE AFTER TWO WEEKS OF SERVICE” I yell into the receiver. “Click,” the other end goes dead. The “customer service” rep didn’t like my attitude I guess. It’s Tuesday afternoon, my fiancé who is 5’2” of twisted fury takes charge of the situation. She some how manages to find a personal cell phone number for one of the high-ups in the company. She spits and screams and lets out all sorts of evil over the phone until finally they give up and Amigo Energy rushes to reconnect my power that Friday. So to keep track of the basic math, I have just paid $380 for two weeks of service. I have no idea what rate they are charging me at because they have never sent me a bill, only a disconnect notice with an arbitrary balance due. So that is two weeks of the month taken care of, the third week of the month I spend completely with out power, there are thirty days in June so the remainder of the month consists of 9 whole days. On the 29th of June I get a bill in the mail from Amigo Energy, again without an itemized listing of my rates or any information other than a balance due of $900. I call, my little power house of a fiancé calls, nothing. No help from the “customer service.” I don’t have the money to pay. I don’t have the will to pay. The number that my fiancé had is quickly disconnected. Five days later I get a disconnect notice with a balance due of $1,400. Three days later my power gets shut off. Fortunately, my fiancé and I were not yet married and our electricity was in her name. I manage to convince a new and much better power company, (StarTex Power, I highly recommend them by the way,) to reconnect my power and they even offered me a much lower rate than I had started out with. Unfortunately, it is now April of 2010, and my fiancé still gets harassing calls and letters about her debt to Amigo Energy. As I write this, I am looking at a letter from their attorney who is threatening to sue us if we do not pay them the $1846.01 that we owe them.
I never signed up with Amigo, I was never given a choice in the matter. My fiancé and I are just a couple of broke young college kids and we don’t know what to do with this problem. I go online and I see other people with similar situations and if makes me angry, but I have no idea what to do about it.
So that’s my long and ugly story, I hope people will read this and know to stay the hell away from Amigo Energy.
If you want to contact me, e-mail me at jaypaulstrong@sbcglobal.net
“I was receiving bills of more than of $2000. I had the meter tested, re-read and replaced…. Now it’s only me and my toddler living at home. Most of the day our home is empty and the A.C. off.”
Man, that is just criminal, I thought our power bills in Europe were expensive-100 Euros a month!
I feel for you guys, hope you manage to sort it out.
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