Businesses Paying Twice for “Free” Energy Broker Services

Businesses engaging fake “energy consultants” to help with energy supply procurement are realizing significantly inflated natural gas and electricity supply prices, up to 25% – the result of a highly diabolical deception, called the “double-dip”, being orchestrated by their energy-brokers-in-disguise.

As implied by the name, victims of the “double-dip” are paying twice for energy supply “consulting” services, and they don’t know it. Energy-brokers-in-disguise embed undisclosed, unauthorized, and exorbitant hidden upcharges into their clients’ energy supply prices – in addition to “consulting fees” negotiated between the “consultants” and energy consumers.

Energy Supply Brokers Take Advantage of Consumer Trust

The double-dip is most diabolical because there is purposeful intent to two-time energy consumers by taking advantage of their trust. These fake “consultants” create misplaced trust by claiming they are being fully transparent and upfront about the cost of providing energy supply “consulting” services. Hence, pre-negotiated “consulting” fees. The victimized energy consumers think that they have agreed to a fair price for energy supply consulting services, valuing the transparency. But having successfully lowered the guard of energy consumers, and knowing that energy consumers – in a mindset of trust – would not fathom that hidden upcharges are being built to the energy supply prices by their trusted sources, double-dipping energy brokers and auctioneers double-dip.

This is really happening, as a school district in Connecticut learned. The school district agreed to an upfront “consulting fee”. They found out that their “energy consultant” allegedly embedded additional hidden upcharges of $180,000 into their electric supply price.

Energy Brokers Pretending to be Energy Consultants

As a side, an increasing number of energy brokers and auctioneers are employing the double-dip tactic. Energy consumers are becoming more educated about how energy brokers make money using hidden upcharges. Consequently, energy brokers are trying to distance themselves from the negative perception associated with energy brokers. As a result, they are re-branding their business as energy “consulting” firms. To further the image, they offer “transparent” fees for services. But that is just part of the ruse. At the core, these fake “energy consultants” are energy brokers. They generate their primary source of revenue by embedding hidden upcharges into the energy supply prices they garner from energy suppliers. Different branding, same hidden upcharge approach. But with the double-dip, energy brokers ding their customers twice, on the front-end and the back-end.

You can read this post to better understand how energy brokers markup energy supply prices.

The result – significantly inflated energy supply prices, up to 25%.

If you don’t believe me, ask any energy supplier.