Green Mountain Energy - Company Information

“  I have had Green Mountain Energy service for 2 years and 3 months. At the establishment of my account I requested to be placed on their budget billing. For the duration of my account with them, I have ALWAYS paid my bill in full on or before the due date. At the end of the first 12 months, I was surprised with a bill that was 4 times my expected budget bill (at Christmas time). In spite of my perfect payment record, they refused to extend the due date, although I had never been warned, other than in fine print, that the budget bill would be reconciled at the end of the term. Okay, so I paid that by the due date to prevent disconnection. My mistake was beginning another term with them. They did adjust the amount of the budget plan so that it was more reflective of my usage. Fast forward another 12 months and this time at the end of the term, I received a CREDIT bill showing a credit of $254. Of course, based on prior experience, my assumption was that due to the budget billing adjustment and my conservation efforts that I had actually paid for more than I used. I did call them to see if that was an accurate assumption and was surprised to find out that no, there had been an operations error in their system and that corrected bills would be sent out within two weeks. In two weeks, I received a bill that was close to my expected budget payment. However, one week later, I received an additional bill that was twice my expected budget bill. It was due one week after the first bill. After spending 45 minutes on the phone with customer service and a supervisor, despite this having been a Green Mountain error and despite my perfect payment history, they refused to spread the additional amount due out and would only offer a two week extension. Obviously, that means I am stuck either paying a double bill this month or next month. They said that because I was already benefiting from budget billing that their system would not allow them to place me on any sort of a payment plan for the additional amount billed. In other words, they offer no flexibility in payments, regardless of your history with them or the fact that their own error created a financial hardship for "valued" customers. I will be paying off my balance and switching companies as soon as possible. I know that other companies offer green electric products and better customer experiences. I recommend that you think twice about choosing Green Mountain as your provider, and if you do, think even harder and read every bit of fine print before you choose to request "budget" billing with them. ”

“  I have been a Green Mountain Energy customer for almost 6 years (since December 2008). They had high prices from the beginning; but I originally accepted that, based upon the fact that I was buying renewable energy. However, beginning last summer (2013), the prices (month-to-month, no contract) began to skyrocket. As such, I selected a six month contract that literally cut my bill in half. When the six month contract expired, I checked the options for renewal. The Electricity Facts Label (EFL) of the month-to-month plan showed lower pricing than any of the contracts (with significant termination fees). I decided to keep the month-to-month; but wiser for wear, I would closely monitor the price (by checking the Electricity Facts Label for my current plan regularly on their website). The pricing was in accordance with the EFL for two months after the contract expired. When my bill increased by $0.02/kWh on the third month, I checked the EFL, it had not changed. What was I missing? It was a busy month, I didn't look deeper. Now, on my most recent billing cycle, the price has been raised by another $0.02/kWh ($0.04/kWh higher than the EFL states). OK, I smell something rotten. The EFL states that "this price is the price that will be applied during your first billing cycle; this price may change in subsequent months at the sole discretion of Green Mountain." Well, that is to be expected, the contract is month-to-month; but, the EFL will change when the price changes, right? Wrong! As stated in the EFL: "For information about the current price, you may call us at 1-866-785-4668." This is not a phone number dedicated to updating you with current pricing; it is simply their customer "service" phone number. There are no automated options to check your pricing. Basically you have to talk to a customer service representative (CSR). OK, I'm a long time customer; they will be able to work something out that makes me happy, right? Wrong! Speaking with the CSR, he explains there is nothing he can do. OK, can I speak to someone with more authority? After waiting on hold a few minutes, the same CSR says the only thing that can be done is to sign a new contract. I explain to him that is the last thing I will do without getting some degree of satisfaction. He inquires about what would make me happy. I suggest a rebate. He states that would be impossible. I request an adjustment to this month's bill (there is still one week before payment is due, via auto-pay). No can do. Further, it is explained to me that the only way I can know what I will be charged on a given month is to wait for the bill to arrive. Now, I already know that they will not budge on price adjustment; how can awaiting the bill to check my pricing possibly help me? No explanation is offered as to why the online EFL is not updated; it just isn't, ever, unless you sign a new contract. I explain that amounts to a deceptive trade practice; further, since I am not under contract, I will be leaving Green Mountain Energy. Coming to this website, reading the reviews, I see I am not alone when it comes to Green Mountain not caring about customers. It may not do any good, but I do intend to file a complaint with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC). ”

“  I can not wait till my year contract is up with this energy company. I have never been ripped off as much as I have with them. I travel A LOT. So, I never have time to look at bills. I have never seen a company that charges $20 to send a reminder notice. I don't ask for reminder notice! Then they turn the power off on Fridays which leads you to request priority connection. Who wants to go the entire weekend with no power? No one! They have lots of hidden fees and I live in a 1 bedroom apartment and barely at home but my bill is always $150 and up. This month it is $198! Let this nightmare be over! ”

“  I can admit that their customer service is great. I always get an answer when I call. I am very big on customer service. Their pricing is ridiculous!!!!! When I called to get answers, the ladies and gentlemen were really nice but were never on the same accord as to where and why I was getting the bill I was getting. Ive been sent a bill twice a month four times. I will be disconnecting with them and moving to a better company. ”

“  I called to have my power disconnected because I was moving. They confirmed the cancellation date. I continued to be billed past the cancellation date. I called customer service, spoke with three different agents, and then finally a supervisor. (2 different phone calls, total wait time and call time over 30 minutes) The supervisor then went and pulled the phone call from when I initially called to cancel service (HA! Unbelievable). She came back on the phone and confirmed that I actually did call to cancel service. She then put me on a 10+ minute hold to "recalculate" my prorated bill. When she came back, she apologized, and then asked me to hold again so they could calculate the appropriate taxes. After being on hold for long periods, and calling multiple times, they reduced my bill to the correct amount (something that any reputable company would have done in 5 minutes the first time I called with the first agent!). I don't write reviews. The only reason I decided to do this is because of the condescending attitude of the agents I spoke with. They repeated themselves over and over stating "again sir, you should have called back to confirm your cancellation." What? After they confirmed the initial cancellation, why would I call back to ask for confirmation again? And they repeated "Again, sir... you should have called back to confirm everything." Wow. I couldn't believe what I was hearing so asked to speak to a supervisor multiple time. After almost an hour and 2 phone calls over a two day period, my bill was reduced by $30... probably not even worth it. Unfortunately for Green Mountain, I will not be using their service again... ”

“  My first bill was not sent to the address I provided as my billing/mailing address, hence much communication and complication to get them to remove the late fees and finally to get things sent to the correct address. At signup GME made a great offer of a Gift Card. BUT instead of them giving it to me after I met the qualifications, it took months of applications, phone calls and emails to finally get the gift card. Maybe they hassle enough so many people give up and GME doesn't have to ever release it. Last straw - my next door neighbor has just spent 6 days with no power because GME did not inform them there was another step to the payment they thought they had made, even though GME could see the payment on their system. I am switching in a couple weeks when my contract is up. Disappointing, but I can go Green with someone who will also provide better customer service. ”

“  Prices per / KWH are higher than all others after the initial rate cute to get you to sign up.. If this is really a Green Energy company and they are getting all kinds of Fed. and State Green Energy Tax Break and grants then why are their prices so high????? Only one answer and it's not a Green energy answer - GREEDY ENERGY COMPANY. ”

“  Green Mountain was easy to set up, customer service was nice, electricity bills were decent, and I had no problems until Spring of 2011 when the billing nightmare began. My bills during the winter had been extremely low - which I associated with being out of town and never turning on the heat. In March of 2011 I received a bill for $600. Outrageous. I lived in a 1 bedroom loft that was about 500 sq ft. After calling and being put on hold about 6 times someone came back and said "We've been estimating your monthly bills since you began service in June of 2010. This $600 charge is for all the past due amounts that you never paid." If that's even true, shouldn't I have been billed the following month for overages the month before? After spending 3.5 hours on the phone and getting very frustrated because no one understood simple accounting, they decided it was a "computer glitch in the system" and the computer was showing that I had never made any payments at all and the $600 bill was 9 months of bills rolled into one. So the bill was righted and I only had to pay for February usage... Until April's bill came saying not only did I still owe $600, but they were charging late penalties (for bills that I had already paid) and adding on my March bill to my new total - a whopping $800+. All in all, GM has more "computer glitches" and misunderstandings than any other service I utilize. I would not recommend using them unless you don't care how much you are paying for their service.... which is incidentally not truly "Green." All electricity comes from the same grid - they just pay to own a few wind mills and call it green. Basically, they support renewable and Green energy and you pay a premium. ”

“  Customer of 3 years. They sent me a
"disconnect notice" because of payments they
claim were missing from LAST YEAR. The
payments were made from my check card, and were
not returned, but they "don't know where they
went". I sent them documentation I made the
payments, as they requested, then they asked me
to send them a current bank statement showing
they didn't credit me anything this month.
WHAT? First, you write off something from last
year if you "can't find it and can't prove
where it went" That's your problem, not mine!
Then when I prove I made the payments, you
can't ask me for a bank statement just so you
can review my charges! When I told them I was
calling a lawyer because, they started clearing
it all up. After 3 days of this! Still in the
process, but will be cancelling my service at
the end of this contract for sure! ”

“  I am very disgusted with Green Mountain's payment methods. I only stay with them because their rates are good. When it comes to paying my bill, they stink. Every single month I have to tell the automated phone system that my service has been cut off in order to pay my bill. The website, when I try to sign in, has never heard of me before, in spite of being a customer for over a year with this company. They do not send the password when requested. When I try to pay by phone, it loops me around and around. The only way to pay is to say my power is cut off. I know that they are making payment difficult in the hopes I will agree to pay a $6.00 fee JUST to pay my bill. I think I need to inform the Public Utilities Commission that this company also has dishonest billing procedures. Very sad that almost every company is only trying to rob us of what little extra money we have. Very sad indeed. ”

“  For no reason I was denied for a renewal , after my 12 month ended.I always paid my bills on time, so I dont understand what the problem was.Anyhow, I shopped around and got a much lower rate with a different service provider! Green Mountain Energy lost a customer! ”

“  Payments sent 15 days prior to the due date - payment held past due date by company resulting in late fees - push was for auto pay when complaints made - once registered mail used payment recorded and cleared prior to due date and no late fees occurred from then on. ”

“  Double charged me for my bill then, the money disappeared and it showed me owing a bill again for the same month paid (twice)... where is my money? Why can't someone do something to fix this problem? UPPER MGMT never called back when they said they would and now I have over $300 missing and theoretically owe another $165 that I've already paid twice. CS has been no help and the mgr told me they aren't authorized to give out corp information. WHO ARE YOU HIDING FROM and why can't we can't we get in touch with corp if there is nothing to hide? I have been with this company almost 4 years and since they've joined teams with BILLMATRIX, it has been a tailspin. If they continue with BILLMATRIX, I will not renew my contract in December.
”

“  Green Mountain Energy company seemed to have a great idea to me, renewable energy. it was a little more expensive then normal but what the hay, not much more, so i signed up. after a short while they started raising my rates slowly every month, up to about .17 per kwh. i called to complain and they just commented yea we will do that depending on the market. they did get the price down a little but 1. it took 3 months to take effect and 2. it started going back up the next month. THEN i got behind on a bill due to lack of work. when i hit 31 days late i came home to no electricity and no way to get it back on since their customer service is not available from friday evening through monday morning!!!! AVOID at all cost. poor customer service with horrible hours (no weekends), constantly raise rates and then if you get it lower it will take 3 months or more.i tell everyone i know to stay away, and so far they have ”

“  CUSTOMERS BE AWARE! GREEN MOUNTAIN ENERGY IS USING DECEPTIVE PRACTICES AND CHARGES YOU AS MUCH AS IT CAN. PAY ATTENTION TO THIS, IF YOU WERE ON THE AVERAGE BILLING BEFORE YOU INSTALLED YOUR SOLAR PANELS YOU'LL PROBABLY CONTINUE PAYING THE SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY AS BEFORE. HOW'S THAT? WELL, THIS IS WHAT THEY TOLD ME: "AVERAGE BILLING" IS NOT A PLAN IF YOU CALL TO SWITCH YOUR PLAN FOR THE SOLAR REWARDS WE WILL DO IT, BUT IT DOESN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH BILLING, THESE ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS". ONE OF THE SUPERVISORS TOLD ME THAT IF GETS THE PHONE CALL HE WON'T TELL ME TO CANCEL... HOW ABOUT THAT? THE WORST THING IS THEY DO NOT HAVE A COMPLAINT DEPARTMENT, YOU CAN FIND MAYBE THREE PHONE NUMBERS ONLINE, BUT THE PHONE CALLS ARE REDIRECTED TO THE SAME PLACE OVER AN OVER, I EVEN TRY TO CALL THE HEADQUARTERS IN AUSTIN, TX, AND THE PHONE CALL ENDED IN THE SAME DEPARTMENT, SURPRISINGLY THE SAME AGENT ANSWER THE PHONE... REALLY UPSETTING. BOTTON LINE MY PLAN WAS CHANGED AND CREDITS WERE POSTED BUT THE AVERAGE BILLING AMOUNT PILED UP AND I NOW HAVE TO PAY TO AVOID EXTRA LATE FEES OR RUIN MY CREDIT.STAY AWAY FROM THEM. ”

“  Talked to three different agents within the same day and each time got different pricing, no one knew why the previous agent gave me the lower rate ”

“  I signed up for Green Mountain in November 2012, my bills were reasonable until the super hot texas summer started, my bills in the summer ranged from $325 to $400. I called Green Mountain and was told it wasn't them it was my AC. Called my apartments over and over to come fix my AC and they said it was my energy company not my unit. This went on for over 4 years, crazy bills and my apartment was always hot, my apartment manager told me she had a 5,000 sq foot house and her bills were like $250! I wasn't in a position to move until a couple of years ago, into a bigger apartment. I switched to TXU and have NEVER had a bill over $90 in the summer and I keep it freezing at night. My new apartments "prefer" I sign up with Green Mountain, but I will not make that mistake again. ”

“  My plan was ended six months ago, and they didn't informed me and when I spoke with the customer service, they said they already mail me a notification which I didn't get it and I told him what about email and he has no answer and because of that my payment was jumped almost to double because my plan turned to month to month contract which is more expensive from what I had. ”

“  My experience with Green Mountain Energy was not bad until 2018. You would think to be their customer since 2015 they would have treated you better. I consistently renew my contract annually to get on their fix rates plan; however, this year I didn't receive an email reminder from them, as a result, I did not sign for a fixed rate and my electric bill was ridiculously high. I recently called Green Mountain Customer service to ask about my billing. They said: "I am currently on a month to month." Which is about 80 plus more per month compared to what I used to pay with a fix rate plan. I asked, "is there anything you can do to help with the previous rate and who can I talk to help address this." Their response was "I can add a $30 courtesy credit on this month account." I asked: "What about the other month?" Their response: " Well, we did send out the letters to your house three month in advance and there is nothing we can do if it is you who didn't take action." I asked, "who in their right mind know and decided to pay a higher rate?" Overall, I am not satisfied how they treat their long-term customer and help their customer solve their problem. I would not recommend this company to anyone! ”

“  The service is fine but the bill is too much. I was with them for 4 months and I just kept seeing my bill sky rocket! Don't switch with them. ”