IGS Energy

• Minimum Usage Fee
• Long-Term Contracts

Minimum Usage Fee

Several deregulated energy companies require customers to use a minimum amount of energy in order to use their service. The minimum usage fee was put into place in case some customers do not meet that requirement. IGS Energy charges its customers $6.95 when this happens. Even though having this fee isn't favorable in the first place, $6.95 is a fair price when comparing it to other companies who charge up to $10. As long as customers use the minimum amount of deregulated energy, then they shouldn't worry about this fee.

Long-Term Contracts

Some consumers like the idea of long-term contracts because they are guaranteed a certain price for a long period a time. This means if prices go up, which in a lot of industries they tend to do, then they don't have to worry about those fluctuations until their contract is over. These people like long contracts and IGS offers a good option of up to 36 months for a contract.

• Rates
• Undisclosed Information
• Short-Term Contract Terms
• Deposit and Termination Fee

Rates

IGS Energy's fixed rates are $0.096/kWh for electricity and $0.609/kWh for natural gas. This is an average rate you can commonly see with others. It isn't the best price and it isn't the worst either. It would be best to continue to shop around if the price is a "make or break" for you.

Undisclosed Information

IGS Energy has a handful of unpublished information that we view as valuable to potential customers. For example, we could not find variable rate prices for both electricity and natural gas. Also, there was no information regarding payment types available. This is a big concern because if the company only offers one or two options, then customers need to make sure that those payment types will work with their finances before signing into the minimum year-long contract. Other missing information was extra charges that could incur such as late payment fees and monthly service charges. Having undisclosed information doesn't give a consumer accurate knowledge of a company and therefore the potential customer will be walking into the service essentially blind.

Short-Term Contract Terms

Although some customers like the option of being in a long-term contract because it locks in the price for the contracted amount of time, there are other customers who like the option of short-term contracts because customers can avoid cancellation fees. Also, some people might be looking for a temporary service so they can continue to shop around until they find a better and more permanent solution. IGS Energy is not the best in this scenario because the company's shortest contract term is 12 months. Customers in these situations prefer monthly or even six-month contracts. If you are one of those customers who don't like to be tied down, then IGS might not be the best fit since its minimum contract length is one year.

Deposit and Termination Fee

A lot of companies require a deposit when signing up with a service. IGS Energy asks its customers to put down $300 when they initially start. When we compare this amount to the other deregulated energy companies, IGS is in a slightly better position because most other companies don't even openly disclose how much their charge their customers. While commend IGS for being upfront with their deposit amount, $300 is a bit pricey still in comparison to the few companies who also openly disclose their amount. We have found deposits as little as $150, which is a big savings in comparison. Also, we took a look at how much it would cost a customer to pull out of a contract. This fee is $200, which is also high when most companies don't usually exceed more than $150 to terminate.