Duke Energy Trading and Marketing formed an alliance withOrlando, FL-based Enviro-Check to sell gas and energy services tothe multi-family housing (MFH) industry. The agreement is a uniqueteaming of a major gas and power marketer with a conservation andsub-metering company.

Enviro-Check promises to save customers 20-40% on their waterbill and up to 15% on their gas bill through demand-sidemanagement. But with the Duke alliance, the company said it canreduce its customers’ utility expenses by an additional 10-30%.

Duke’s “SmartRate” program, now available through Enviro-Check,allows customers to lock in a low competitive price for up to twoyears. The unit price stays the same regardless of quantity of gasused. In addition, the program eliminates balancing penalties andworks to reduce the seasonal effect of winter and summer on utilitycosts. The company also provides consolidated billing and summaryreporting.

“We aggregate services so that our clients get all the servicesthey need from the same source,” said Chuck Wright, executive vicepresident of Enviro-Check. The company specializes in implementingcost and energy reduction programs, replacing aging fixtures,installing utility meters, providing reading, billing, andcollection service, and now supplying natural gas.

©Copyright 1998 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. Thepreceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, inwhole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent ofIntelligence Press,Inc.