Is Arcadia Power Really a Way to get Free Clean Energy?
With soaring power bills and a well-founded concern for the damage that dirty energy sources are causing to the environment, the world has engaged in a series of moves to address the issues with our energy supplies and sources. Governments, entrepreneurs and private citizens share the concern of cleaning up our act before it’s too late. Developing and implementing the use of cleaner and sustainable energy sources which are affordable for the general pubic is the impetus for many who realize we’re in over our heads. Arcadia Power has come up with a plan that claims to offer a solution with benefits for the end users, but there are questions about its legitimacy as well as its ability to deliver on the promises made. They claim to offer a way to get clean energy for free, so we decided to conduct an investigation into these claims, and here is what we found.
What is Arcadia Power?
Arcadia Power is a service that helps renters and homeowners to find renewable energy sources as alternatives to their current energy sources. While some homeowners converted over to solar energy as a cleaner and less expensive type, most renters do not have this option because they do not own the property and a lot of homeowners cannot because the conversion is expensive, and it’s simply not affordable to install the solar panels and conversion equipment required. Acadia Power offers an alternative for acquiring alternative renewable energy without the expense of installation. The service does not require the use of extra hardware and the energy is renewable, affordable and available to nearly everyone.
How Arcadia Power came into existence
Arcadia Power was founded by Kiran Bhatraju, who is a native of the Appalachian region in America. He realized that the coal industry had a tremendous impact upon everyone living in the area. It provides jobs which allow workers to support their families, as well as supporting the local economies of the regions where coal is still a big industry. The problem is that it’s a finite resource which will one day become exhausted. This is just the tip of the iceberg of issues surrounding the controversial energy source. The energy produced through the industry is not safe for the environment, nor for those who mine the coal and process it into fuel and energy products. Bhatraju, who is Aracadia Power’s CEO, had a sincere desire to find alternate resources for people to power their homes with a clean energy which would reduce the costs for energy for the average consumer. He established Arcadia Power which is a free service that changes your current utility account into one that is more economically beneficial and allows consumers to choose clean energy.
How does Arcadia Power work?
Electricity is generated fro a variety of different sources in the United States. It comes from nuclear, wind, hydroelectrical, coal, solar and other sources which all feed into the main power grid for the nation. From this point, it is distributed to homes and businesses through power lines. There is no way to separate the renewable sources from others such as coal, because they all commingle together. Each time a megawatt hour of energy is created from a renewable source, it is given an REC, which is a renewable energy certificate. This indicates that the source is from a renewable resource and it differentiates this energy from the rest in the pool. Purchasing energy from a renewable source gives you the energy plus the certificate or REC. When you sign up for Arcadia Power, it purchases RECs for you and this guarantees that a minimum of 50 percent of the electricity you get is from a renewable source. You can stay with the same utility company providing your power and all you need to do is set up an account with Arcadia Power and they do the rest.
Arcadia Power’s two plans
Arcadia Power works in addition to your existing power account to find the most affordable renewable energy resources and they purchase these on your behalf. They go directly to the solar power companies and the wind farm to accomplish this. Arcadia Power is connected with 11 Wind farms and 20 solar projects with 680,000 megawatt hours of clean energy available for purchase for their customers. The first plan option is a free plan and it can hep you to use 50% of renewable energy sources for energy to power your home or business. The second plan is a premium plan that costs between $5 to $10 per month for the average residential customer. The premium plan ensures that 100 percent of the electricity you get is from renewable sources.
The Pros and Cons of Arcadia Power
The advantages
Arcadia Power can help to make a difference in our environment. The use of renewable energy can lessen the environmental impact on the earth from coal and other energy sources which deplete natural resources and produce high levels of carbon emissions. They give consumers a choice and they are causing a greater demand for renewable energy because there are no additional costs associated with the installation of Arcadia Power. Customers receive automatic alerts when there is a lower energy rate available and there are two plans to choose from with a free option for 50 percent renewable energy and only $5 to $10 per month. A dashboard is included with Arcadia accounts to let you see where your power is coming from.
Disadvantages
The major disadvantages of Arcadia Power currently are that the plan is not available everywhere and the features may vary from one state to another. In Some areas, the premium plan may actually increase the amount that you are paying for power without Arcadia Power. The company is still new in the industry as it has only been in business since 2013, and we’re assuming that given enough time, and if they maintain their current level of success, the disadvantages will decrease over time as Arcadia Power executives discover ways of increasing their coverage and making the necessary augmentations in their infrastructure in the areas which are currently under-served.
Is Arcadia Power a legitimate company?
Arcadia Power is a company that the majority of Americans have not even heard about yet, so it’s only natural to wonder if they are a legitimate business who practice transparency and deliver on the promises that they make. We checked a number of sources to confirm their legitimacy and what kind of reputation the company has built so far. We learned that they are in operation within each of the 50 states. In addition to this, they have earned a TrustPilot rating of 9.1 out of a possible 10 which is remarkably high, and they currently have more than 175,000 members using the service. The company is legitimate and they offer a valuable service for anyone who wants to do their part to help preserve our environment through the use of clean energy.
Better Business Bureau rating
According to the Better Business Bureau, Arcadia Power has been in business for five years. They have been registered members of the BBB since 2014 and they currently have a B rating. Thirty seven customers of Arcadia Power have left reviews and 25 of them have been complaints. The main reason for dissatisfaction has been in the billing system processes. Some of the former customers believe that Arcadia is not a reputable company and some even go so far as to say that they are a scam operation, but this has not been substantiated and the BBB maintains an average rating for the company, indicating that although some of its business practices do not gel well with a percentage of their customers, they are still a company which remains in good standing with the Better Business Bureau.
Is it worth using Arcadia Power?
Now that we understand Arcadia Power is purchasing RECs, which means they’re buying cleaner energy on our behalf, they’re doing the world a great service. Some customers may save power on their energy bills in the process and some may pay a little more. While there are some who may say, it’s not fair, or the REC practice is a scam to rip people off, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Arcadia Power customers are essentially working with the company to protect the earth and to create a demand for green energy that is going to conserve resources and clean up the planet. It’s not a total solution to the overall problem, but it is a step in the right direction. To clarify the purchase of RECs, it’s not a scam or a moneymaking scheme. Rather, it’s a way of creating a demand for this type of power which will hopefully reduce the use of dirty energy sources. Arcadia Power is offering a strategy for making a huge difference right now, and they’re offering us all a way to jump on the bandwagon and become a part of the solution instead of supporting energy companies who are contributing to the problem.
Statistics for renewable energy usage in the United States
Most of the electricity that is generated and used in the United States comes from non-renewable sources which are considered to be “dirty” energy because of the huge carbon footprint that they leave behind. These include energy produced from nuclear plants, natural gas and coal reserves, which are in limited supply and will eventually become used up, leaving a deficit in the resources for the generation of power. We were surprised to learn that just 13 percent of the electricity that is generated comes from renewable resources. Understanding these facts and figures gives us the rationale for the mission behind Arcadia Power, and why the services they provide are so important.
A company with great potential
We see the potential of Arcadia Power to transform the way that we use electrical energy, but they have a long way to go before large scale growth of their company occurs. Educating the masses is necessary to help consumers understand why it is so important to all join together and find ways to preserve natural resources and decrease the amount of carbon emissions and other byproducts of dirty energy which are put back into the environment as a result. Arcadia Power is onto something very timely and good for
us all, but there is still an element of lethargy within the pubic and this is one of the problems that they face as they move forward. Those who are concerned about the environment are likely to see this as a positive step towards addressing the serious issues that we all will one day face if we do not change the ways that we use energy by moving towards more responsible energy sources. Arcadia Power is in the ideal position to make a huge difference in the way we use power sources responsibly and they are a company worth following.
Conclusion
Our investigation into the Arcadia Power company has revealed that they are a legitimate business with the goals of helping to give consumers more options for sourcing their electricity. Since they offer a free service as well as a premium, it seems that the intention is to get people to use electricity more responsibly. It’s a joint conservation effort that in some cases can save the consumer money on their power bills, while in other cases, it may end up costing a few dollars more. This is one of the drawbacks, but it’s not so much an issue for those who are conservation minded, it’s actually an amazing opportunity for us to all participate in a program that is hassle free for the end user and it can make a big difference for the generations to come.