A pilot marketing program that offered entertainment perks to Comcast customers in the Pittsburgh area who switched their electric supplier has ended.
In March, the Philadelphia-based cable giant partnered with NRG Energy Inc., a competitive electricity supplier, to offer rewards — including prepaid Visa cards, Fandango tickets and three free months of HBO, Showtime or Starz — to encourage customers to enroll in NRG Home. The promotion was initially available only to Comcast customers who have Duquesne Light as their electric utility but was eventually opened up to customers of West Penn Power, Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania and People’s Natural Gas.
Representatives from both companies confirmed Wednesday that they made a mutual decision to phase out the program.
“In essence, the pilot is ending,” said NRG spokesman David Schrader. “Comcast and NRG have agreed to not move forward with it.”
Notification letters have been sent to some customers already. The rewards program gave customers a fixed rate of 6.5 cents per kilowatt hour for 12 months. Those customers will automatically be transferred to NRG Home’s variable rate plan at the end of their contract if they decide not to shop for another electric supplier.
Comcast will continue to evaluate opportunities for similar energy rewards programs in Pennsylvania and other deregulated states, said Comcast spokesman Robert Grove.
Daniel Moore: dmoore@post-gazette.com, 412-263-2743 and Twitter @PGdanielmoore.
Clarification: This story was updated on Jan. 29, 2015 to reflect that the program expanded to include more utilities than Duquesne Light.
First Published: January 29, 2015, 5:00 a.m.
