Frequently-Asked Questions

Who is ESPI? Energy Services Provider, Inc. (ESPI) is a New York company authorized by the Public Services Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to provide electricity under deregulation at substantial savings to you. We have satisfied the stringent credit requirements of the New York energy market (NYISO).

What is deregulation? Utilities used to have a monopoly on the production and delivery of electricity. It was not possible for the customer to know the separate prices of these two elements. Under deregulation, utilities were ordered to sell off their production assets and were allowed to retain a monopoly on delivery. As a result, you can now buy electricity from ESPI at substantial savings without changing your delivery or billing relationship with Niagara Mohawk. Lower prices and more varied service offerings have resulted from deregulation of other industries such as telephone and airlines

Will I still get one bill? Niagara Mohawk will still be responsible for delivering the electricity to your facility over its wires, and will continue metering your electric usage. Your bill from Niagara Mohawk will list ESPI’s price of production and Niagara Mohawk’s price of delivery separately. You pay the full amount to Niagara Mohawk; Niagara Mohawk pays ESPI for supplying your electricity.

Will anything change? The safety assurance, emergency service, and reliability you expect from Niagara Mohawk won't change. You will still call them in the event of an emergency. The only difference you’ll notice is that your energy costs have been reduced.

How will I save? Both New York State government and Niagara Mohawk are aggressively supporting the deregulation process. They are offering significant incentives for switching to ESPI that increase your savings even more (see details of our New York offering). They are also advertising, in a variety of media, the benefits of switching.

Are there any other advantages in dealing with ESPI? In addition to saving you money on your electric bill, we:

1. Offer a no-risk utility bill auditing service that makes sure you are not being overcharged and are in the most cost-savings rate classification possible.
2. Compare your business operational profile with your actual usage to see if you are using energy in a cost effective manner.
3. Seek to get rebate dollars for you. Part of the electric bill you have been paying every month goes to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and is distributed back to electricity users as rebates against the costs of projects that reduce consumption of electricity. We will examine the components in your facility that use electricity and search for opportunities to get you rebate dollars for any projects you decide to implement with us. Eligible projects include energy efficient lighting and lighting sensors, heating and air conditioning, compressors, and energy management systems.

How do I sign up? We have made the process very easy. You simply fill out our enrollment form and we notify Niagara Mohawk. You may also enroll over the telephone by calling us at (866) YES-ESPI, that is (866) 937-3774. That’s it. There are no fees or costs of any kind, even if you switch back to the utility.