LCEC – Lee County Electric Cooperative

Energy Survey Scam Alert!

North Fort Myers, FL – April 27, 2011 – Electric utility customers in Southwest Florida should be cautious of unsolicited calls or visits to their home from companies claiming to conduct energy surveys. Local utilities, LCEC and FPL, do conduct free energy surveys, but only at the customer’s request. Neither utility solicits customers for this service through random phone calls or visits to businesses or residences. “We urge our customers to be cautious if approached or called by these disreputable firms,” LCEC spokeswoman Karen Ryan said.

These telemarketing firms are using the utility names to gain access to homes or to sell their services with the promise of governmental rebates. In recent weeks, both utilities have received calls from customers to verify authenticity of the solicitations and the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs has logged more than 1,000 complaints about this home energy audit fraud.

Employees of both utilities carry a badge with their photo and typically will be driving a clearly marked utility vehicle. Unsolicited phone call complaints regarding energy audits can be referred to 1-800-HELP-FLA or customers can contact their utility to verify.

Visit http://www.lcec.net/energysurvey/ to schedule a legitimate energy survey.