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Group Formed to Oppose Opt-Out Municipal Aggregation
Updated 1:20 pm ET to reflect that Crius Energy, the parent of Viridian Energy, confirmed after this story was originally published that Crius Energy, Viridian, and Crius' other retail energy brands are not affiliated with Citizens Against Municipal Aggregation in any way
A new group has formed to oppose opt-out municipal aggregation efforts, and appears to be active in New Jersey and Illinois.
Specifically, Citizens Against Municipal Aggregation (C.A.M.A.) has launched a website, NoAggregation.com, and individuals acting on the group's behalf have reportedly sent letters to municipal leaders in New Jersey counseling them against starting an opt-out aggregation. Most of the information on the C.A.M.A. website relates to Illinois.
Matters could not find on C.A.M.A.'s website any contact information (other than leaving a public post to the main page) for C.A.M.A., nor any information about the group's members or backers.
The group apparently launched this summer, however, with the domain noaggregation.com registered in June and a C.A.M.A. Facebook page launched in July.
A proxy was used to register the domain name noaggregation.com so information on the actual registrant is anonymous. However, several hours after the domain noaggregation.com was registered, the similarly named domain noaggregation.us was registered. Moreover, as of the time this story was published, the domain noaggregation.us simply redirects to noaggregation.com
Proxies cannot be used to register .us domain names, so information on the .us domain registrant is available.
According to the public WHOIS database of domain registrants, the registrant name for noaggregation.us is Robert Quintana and the registrant organization for noaggregation.us is RLQ Consulting Group.
The registrant email for noaggregation.us is bob@bobquintana.com, the same email address used by a Bob Quintana, a "Viridian Energy Ambassador" (ambassador being one of the compensation levels under the MLM model), and a Bob Quintana who is President and Founder of RLQ Consulting Group, which describes itself as a management consulting and sales force development firm based in the New York metropolitan area.
An email from EnergyChoiceMatters to bob@bobquintana.com concerning Citizens Against Municipal Aggregation was not returned by publication time.
Update Crius Energy, the parent of Viridian, confirmed after this story was originally published that Crius Energy, Viridian, and Crius' other retail energy brands are not affiliated with Citizens Against Municipal Aggregation in any way
C.A.M.A. likens opt-out aggregation to "legalized slamming" and its website states, "[r]esidents in aggregated communities default to a company they did not choose. If they did not actively choose to opt out, then they did not choose a plan or a supplier that met their particular situation. 95% of residents in government aggregated communities will end up with a company they have not chosen."
C.A.M.A. also cites recent press reports of non-aggregation competitive supply rates, and in some instances default service, being lower than the opt-out aggregation's rate.
C.A.M.A.'s website states: "Through a process called municipal aggregation highly-paid energy brokers (who earn big commissions) are trying to usurp consumer choice, and get your elected officials to enter constituents into complex, multi-year contracts with companies frequently owned by the utilities themselves (re-monopolization). C.A.M.A. (Citizens Against Municipal Aggregation) seeks to shed light on this practice which is a throwback to the old way of paying too much for our energy, and the 'good-old-boy' networks that have ruled the energy markets for far too long!"
C.A.M.A.'s website states: "Municipal aggregation is a throwback to the 'old way' when consumers did not have a choice. It defeats the purpose of electricity deregulation. Deregulation fuels price competition, and innovation. Many aggregators are utility-owned and represent an effort to re-monopolize the market."
C.A.M.A.'s website states: "Many of the aggregated municipalities are committing to contracts that remain in effect for several years. Those residents are locked into a long-term agreement, which often include increases after the first year of the contract and built in penalties for switching out early to their provider of choice. Politicians’ involvement in hedging a volatile commodity represents a significant risk to their constituents’ — YOU! Commodity trading is a highly technical and speculative industry, and NOT suitable for town managers and local politicians."
C.A.M.A.'s website states: "Aggregation stifles local small businesses that help stimulate the local economy. Aggregation decimates local investment in new renewable projects and destroys American job creation."
C.A.M.A.'s website states: "Deregulation fuels entrepreneurship. Viridian’s [sic] mission is sustainability, and we focus on supporting local economies and creating jobs in our communities."
C.A.M.A.'s website states: "While our government is one of the best in the world, let us not forget that our individual voices made us what we are. We are still fighting all over the world for personal freedom, and the right to choose. Let us not be too eager to give up our choice and hand over more control to our (local) governments. Energy independence in America is being fueled by deregulation. Should local governments be involved in manipulating the FREE MARKET? Anytime BIG GOVERNMENT begins making choices unintended consequences arise. Government should be the referee not the player."
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September 17, 2013
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Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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