Chamber Chatter Episode 18-Chamber University and Energy Savings

On the latest episode of Chamber Chatter, we talk about the great energy savings that you can get through the Chamber!

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
This podcast was recorded in the IHeard Radio, Lima Podcasting Center. With
us here today for Chamber University onour Chamber Chatter podcast is Kathy Alcessor.
And Kathy joins us as one ofour value added programs at the Chamber.

(00:22):
And we're so happy to have Katheywith us today. Hi Kathy, how
are you? Hi? Julie?I am great, Thank you? How
are you doing good? Very good? We are going to talk all things
Chamber Energy here today on our podcast. So, so what I'd like to
do first is ask you to introduceyourself. Tell us who you are.
I am Kathy Alcesicer, as JulieHead said, and I manage the Chamber

(00:45):
Energy Program, which is a benefitoffered to members through the Lima Allen County
Chamber of Commerce. Okay, great, awesome, And tell us a little
bit about what you're offering, maybesome of the things that our featured product
checks right now and some of theprograms and the savings that can be offered
to our members. Sure. TheChamber Energy and Sustainability Program is a benefit

(01:11):
that helps members save on their energycost by both managing and potentially lowering the
supply rate on both gas and electricas well as helping lower usage through different
energy efficiency projects such as solar andled lighting. Awesome, and you know,
I know all the all the effectsof this great program and how all

(01:34):
the benefits can save everyone. Butcan you tell us, why tell everybody
else why this is a great programand maybe give even some of those client
sample stories that you've shared with usalong the way over at the Chamber or
absolutely, absolutely, you know weare trusted partner of the Chamber. We're

(01:55):
vetted by SOKCA and NOAC, whichallows us to be part of over one
hundred and eighty chambers throughout the stateof Ohio, helping members save on their
utility costs. We're free resource toanswer any energy related questions right now.
It's no secret that energy costs haveincreased, just like so many other things,
and many of us pay our billonline without ever even looking at it,

(02:15):
so we have no idea what we'repaying. The Chamber Energy Program provides
a complementary free bill review to helpmembers understand what they are currently paying and
what options they have. We canhelp residential, small commercial, all the
way up to large manufacturers and everyonein between right now throughout the state of
Ohio. The standard utility price hasincreased to over eleven cents per kill a

(02:38):
lot hour, And just to putthat in perspective, the rates that we're
seeing are between six and a halfto seven and a half cents depending on
the term that they choose. Ifit's commercial or residential, it's priced out
a little bit differently. So ifmembers haven't shot, now's a great time
to lock in the lower rate.There's will help offer them savings and protection
against the volatility. If they arein a contrust and that contract had expired,

(03:01):
there is no limit on how mucha supplier can charge, so we've
actually seen members paying nearly triple whatthey should be paying. And some of
these great stories. We love toshare stories, and some of them are,
Hey, you're in a great spot, you're in a contract long term
and you have a really good rate. Stay where you're at. That's what

(03:23):
makes us that trusted partner. Andthen there's a lot of folks out there
that aren't in a great spot.Again, if they're sitting on that standard
utility rate, we can save substantiallyresidential homes between their gas and electric.
Right now, we're seeing savings ina couple of thousand dollars at times.
We had a manufacturer in the Limaarea that had their contract had expired unbeknownst

(03:47):
to them, so when they didsend in their bills for that complimentary bill
review, we found that they werepaying double what they should be and we
were able to save them nearly seventythousand dollars. If a member is a
restaurant and owner of a restaurant,we can help reduce the sales tax that
they're paying on their natural gas billbecause they use natural gas in the cooking

(04:08):
process. And nonprofits, all nonprofitschurches, they are tax exempts and oftentimes
if they haven't shots, then they'restill paying tax. If they were working
with somebody that didn't file the correctpaperwork, they're paying sales tax. And
most of the time we can helpsave that church or nonprofit a thousand to
fifteen hundred dollars additional just in reducingtheir sales tax. And that's an addition

(04:31):
to how we can help them withtheir supply rates. The one of the
examples that we had was a manufacturerthat reached out to us to specifically do
solar and the whole process to startthat energy efficiency project is to start with
that bill review make sure that folksare paying what they should be paying,
and it helps us give them thecorrect return on investment as well. And

(04:53):
what we found was they were notpaying what they were supposed to be paying.
Another example of their contract had expiredand they're pain triple what they had
been pain what they should be pain. So we're able to save them about
two hundred thousand dollars annually, whichthen allows them to put that into their
solar project to help them save longterm. So those are just a couple

(05:15):
of the examples. The market isvolatile right now, making it a really
good time to lock in that sixthstraight. Yeah. I just I'm always
amazed that the wind that contract lapsesand then they can go ahead and charge
anything and so that just skyrockets theircosts. It's amazing that you can identify

(05:36):
that then and point that out tothem and let them know of all the
different options available out there so thatthey can reduce that and then take that
savings like you said, and sometimespurchase something like solar, you know,
which would benefit them even further.So that's awesome. Absolutely. Yeah,
So for the listeners out there today, tell us a little bit about how

(05:58):
they can get involved, where theycan go for more information. Absolutely,
so you know, send us yourgas and electric bills. Whether you're specifically
looking to have your bills reviewed,or you want to do solar or led
any type of energy efficiency projects,it all starts with a review of your
bill. You can send it tous and we'll let you know what you're

(06:20):
paying and what options you have.If you're in a contract and you're not
sure when that is set to end. Again, just as Julie had mentioned,
that is so important to know whenthat ends. We can help obtain
that information for you, and oncethey decide which terms they'd like to go
with, we can send over anagreement through DocuSign. We process everything on
their behalf, so it's very simple. They'll still receive their bill from the

(06:44):
utility company and pay it the sameway as they did before. The only
difference now it'll show their new supplywith their supply rate. And to help
manage this process, going back toagain what Julie was saying about, now
that's a scary place to be.Most people don't have time to worry about
when they're energy agreement ends, sowe do that for them. That's part
of this whole process. So oncea couple months after the new supply agreement

(07:09):
has started, we'll reach out tothe member to obtain recent copies of their
bills just to review them. Wewant to make sure that everything's following properly,
that the right suppliers on the bill, the right rates on the bill,
and if it's not, then we'regoing to work directly with that supplier
to make sure that they get backto where they need to be. And
in the same aspect, there area lot of scams and frauds out there.

(07:30):
There's a lot of people that arecalling. They can be pushy and
they can be rude sometimes, andso we do have members it happens almost
every day that a member gets pulledout of their agreement. The supplier will
reach out directly to us. We'llwork with the member and the supplier and
get them right back where they needto be, pretty pretty quickly and pretty

(07:53):
easily. So again it's it's havingthat partner that's really looking for your best
interests and then we're going to reachout to the member before the expiration of
the agreement. We want to makesure that we have your renewal options.
You can sign up. You canactually renew a year to two years in
advance, you know, depending onwhere the market is. If we've seen

(08:13):
a dip when we think it's agood time to renew that future start.
Everything will stay the same until theend of the contract and then automatically the
new contract will start, so youwon't fall into that high monthly variable rate,
which right now with the volatility inthe market, is really the scariest
place to be absolutely, and soof course they can go to Lima Chamber

(08:33):
dot com and search our contact INFOEand call us or pick up the phone
and just call us at four onenine two two six zero four five.
We're happy to pass along information.And you've got some contact in FOE as
well, right Kathy, Yes,I absolutely do at the same saying,

(08:54):
you know, going to the chamberwebsite, that's that's a great way to
get started. They could eat mailto bill review at ce A team dot
com or they can call me directlyat three three zero six six two six
two four four and we'll be thereto answer any questions that they have.

(09:16):
Perfect. That is awesome. Well, we want to get these members and
in our community out there saving moneyon energy costs so um. So we
really thank you Kathy for joining ustoday telling us all about Chamber energy programs
and all the special things that youoffer. You guys work hard to make
sure that people don't overspend on thoseon those costs. We really appreciate you

(09:37):
at the Chamber. I appreciate thatjewelry. And one one last thing that
I would I would just like tolet members know is that if they are
considering energy efficiency projects or just likemore information, this really is a great
time. There are so many grantsand incentives available that we're seeing solar and
LED lighting projects with a year paybackor less sen that and the Lima area

(10:01):
is any REEP zone which would allowaccess to the Rule Energy for America program
which is offering up to fifty percentof the total project back as a grant,
and we can help manage that projectfrom start to finish as well as
process any people who are necessary tomake sure that members are taking forward the
image of these incentives. Yeah,I was interested in that map that I've

(10:22):
seen you provide, and Lima islocated right in and our whole area,
not just Lima, but the wholeregion and our Allen County region and our
surrounding counties. They are eligible forall of these amazing discounts and grants,
so bend loans. So yes,thank you Kathy. Anything else that you

(10:43):
want to let us know about,No, no, I just I appreciate
you having me on to talk andhopefully we can keep helping members save on
their utility costs. Yes, absolutely, that's what we were going to do.
So thank you again Kathy for joiningus US. We will talk to
you soon and again for listeners umcontact Lima Chamber dot com for more information

(11:05):
and we can help guide you inthe direction of great savings. Thanks so
much, Kathy, Thanks Jully,have a great day. Okay you too.
This podcast was recorded in the iHeartRadioPodcasting Center. Thanks for listening.