ECONnergy Advises Customers to Conserve to Avoid Utility Bill Sticker Shock

ECONnergy warns of high energy prices and suggests consumers conserve energy to prevent high bills.

Spring Valley, NY - ECONnergy Energy Co., Inc., one of the largest deregulated Energy Service Companies (ESCOs") in the Northeast, is suggesting that all energy consumers do their best to conserve energy to avoid getting hit with staggering natural gas and electricity bills. Especially during the unusually cold weather affecting the Northeast, usage is up and customers may be unpleasantly surprised when they get their energy bills next month.

There are a number of factors contributing to higher energy prices," says William Golemboski, Ph.D. Economist and Director of ECONnergys Electric Forecasting and Supply. These include: higher oil prices due in part to continued labor unrest in Venezuela and the threat of war with Iraq. On top of that, bitterly cold weather is driving natural gas prices higher throughout the Northeast, as home-heating use competes with electric generating plants for tighter gas supply. Lastly, outages at key power generating plants in the eastern part of New York State are contributing to higher power costs."

With prices nearly double their historical levels, ECONnergy is keenly aware of the impact this can have on consumers and businesses alike. Even though our customers pay less than they would have had they stayed with the utility, prices are still higher than normal," adds Jonathan Gewirtz, a company spokesman. Weve seen whats happened during past price spikes when consumers were unaware what the energy they were consuming cost until it was too late. We want consumers to be alert in advance so they can reduce their bills and lower overall demand, thus helping prices come back down in the process."

Despite the fact that less energy consumed means less revenues for the company, For us, the bottom line has always been saving people money," says Saul Horowitz, ECONnergys co-founder and CEO. If its in the customers best interests to reduce their energy use in order to have a manageable energy bill, then thats what well advise them to do."

For a helpful list of conservation ideas from the New York Public Service Commission, visit www.askpsc.com/conservation.