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degggendorf t1_j4x727k wrote

Reply to comment by Status_Silver_5114 in Electrical costs are obscene. by uwuwotsdps42069

> is it Arcadia that’s basically the ponzi or are they not around anymore

They are around and I use them. I don't know about being a ponzi though, it's more like arbitrage with renewable energy credits which is its own form of semi-scummy, but it's also the best option I've been able to find.

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drnick5 t1_j4yg1g4 wrote

Arcadia is a scheme. Everytime I've looked they make you sign a 1 year deal. But, power adjusts every 6 months with RI energy So Arcadia sends out mailers just after the rate jumps for the winter in October. Saying "your power company just raised your rate! Sign up with us for 4 cents less per kWh!". But what they don't tell you is that rate is locked in for a year. So when April rolls around and RI energy lowers the rate, you'll end up paying Arcadia more.
It's all a sham.

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degggendorf t1_j4yltt1 wrote

That's not how it is for me. No commitment, and I pay the current RIE rate minus 10% every month. I'm signed up with a community solar project though; do they have a different program like you're describing?

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drnick5 t1_j4ymui9 wrote

That's good to hear! It's very possible things changed. I haven't looked in a couple of years now. Is there a maximum Kwh you can use per month? Are there other fees involved? I'm guessing you still pay the distribution and transmission and all the other fees to RI energy but don't pay for generation charges as that's coming from Arcadia?

Would it be possible to see a power bill with your personal info redacted?

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degggendorf t1_j4yo5am wrote

>Is there a maximum Kwh you can use per month?

Not that I'm aware of

>Are there other fees involved?

Nope, just straight RIE bill -10%

>I'm guessing you still pay the distribution and transmission and all the other fees to RI energy but don't pay for generation charges as that's coming from Arcadia?

I only directly pay Arcadia and they handle everything in the background (too much in the background for be, I'd prefer to know more about just how it works). As I understand it, they buy the REC from the solar farm, sell it to RIE, keep some of the difference for themselves, and my payment covers the rest.

>Would it be possible to see a power bill with your personal info redacted?

Sure, I'll grab a copy when I'm on the computer tomorrow. Feel free to remind me if I forget.

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drnick5 t1_j4yolj8 wrote

Thanks for the answers! I appreciate the quick follow up!

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degggendorf t1_j501nge wrote

Here's the statement I get from Arcadia: https://imgur.com/a/psrQEtt

And here's what it looks like from RIE: https://imgur.com/a/HTTdJvJ

Those credits on the account belong to Arcadia, and have been building up since peak solar production over the summer, like if you had solar on your house and were producing more than you consumed. But because it's a community solar project, those credits belong to the solar farm (via Arcadia). So for this month, my $112 payment on a $124 bill went straight to Arcadia and the solar farm, because I/they/we don't owe RIE anything. In other months, my payment would get split between paying a "real" bill with RIE, and going to the solar farm.

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drnick5 t1_j50a3zy wrote

Interesting! This is definitely a different program than what they had before, unless I'm confusing them with another "alternative energy provider" but if I remember last I looked a few years go, they only had wind energy, and it was a locked in rate for the year.

My math at your rate for this month shows you paying 0.2998 cents per KwH factoring in all fees. Using my latest bill, I'm paying about 0.3031 per KwH. So it does seem to be cheaper.

The Data nerd and skeptic in me would love to see this tracked for a full year to make sure it actually is a savings, but it seems great!

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degggendorf t1_j50br84 wrote

> The Data nerd and skeptic in me would love to see this tracked for a full year to make sure it actually is a savings, but it seems great!

The math is always the total RIE charges minus 10%. They don't really have their own separate rate, it's always 10% less than whatever supply+delivery I'd pay RIE.

There are other community solar projects in the state, run by other intermediary companies like Arcadia. I am not sure if any other companies offer a better deal than capturing only 10% savings. I really should look into it more.

This is the official RI OER page for community solar: https://risolarmarketplace.com/

And this is the .gov site with general info and FAQs on the program: https://energy.ri.gov/renewable-energy/solar/community-solar

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drnick5 t1_j50dabc wrote

My only thought, is what happens if they have a low production year. and don't generate enough KwH to give out to their subscribers? I'm going to assume they have some sort of language in their contract to cover their ass.

Still, it does seem like a good deal!

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degggendorf t1_j50fafp wrote

I am not sure what legally binding stuff there is, but the advertised promise was that I will never pay more than RIE charges.

I don't think there's any real way for it to cost more...even if the solar farm output is 0 kWh, then I'm just getting supplied with the default RIE generation mix at the RIE rates.

Which might be something I should clarify...Arcadia is not actually my energy supplier. They are an intermediary that manages community solar projects that buys cheaper solar power from farms, sells it to RIE at market rates, and passes a portion of that savings to the consumer. On paper, my supplier is still RIE.

They are distinct from alternative suppliers like you'd find on this list: https://www.ri.gov/app/dpuc/empowerri/rate_card

edit: it looks like the "smart energy" supplier fits your earlier description...slightly lower advertised rate right now, but a 6 month commitment that will extend into next quarter's RIE rate update which will almost certainly be lower than current...so if you signed up with them, you'd have a slightly-lower rate for now, then be stuck with a higher rate later.

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