OPINION: Why do they keep knocking on our doors?
They come to our neighborhoods in a van, or other times in cars. They spread out across the blocks and, one by one, they knock on doors. Or they call. And call. And call. They knock on our door and call when we are eating or sleeping, or trying to spend time with our family. They are called retail Energy Service Companies (ESCOs), and they make their money by getting people — and in some instances tricking consumers — to switch their energy service provider.
The ESCO sales pitch varies, but it usually contains a promise to save you money on your energy bills. Sometimes they say they are from the “energy company,” or even pretend to be from your local utility, which is not true. Sometimes they say a new law requires you to get electric or gas service from them, which is also not true. Sometimes they say a recent law has given you competition and choice, and if you will just show them your bills, they will tell you how to save money. You show them your bills, only to find out later that they switched your account to their company — without asking.
The knocking on your door, the calls from anonymous phone numbers, the untruths told to get your business and the broken promises to save you money, are the characteristics of ESCOs. Additionally, based on an analysis of thousands of complaints obtained from the state regulator, the Public Service Commission (PSC), by the Public Utility Law Project of New York (PULP), it appears that ESCOs also focus these high-pressure and often deceptive sales tactics in zip codes containing large numbers of low and fixed-income households, the disabled, seniors and customers with English fluency challenges.