Be careful of going green energy scams

There are many approved Phoenix energy audit companies who are providing an excellent service to homeowners and know their stuff. On the other hand, there are are a handful of bad apples out there that are ruining the name of energy efficiency for everyone. These companies are scams. They should be put out of business and homeowners made aware of their scamming.

There are a couple things you can do you protect yourself from these green energy barrier scams:

1. Check APS and SRP's home performance website yourself to cross check the company that wants to come to your home ad make sure they are on the program to begin with.

2. Make sure you are asked to fill out an APS and SRP energy audit form with your APS or SRP account number. Be careful though, just because the company has their name on the approved energy audit list and has you fill out an audit form does not mean that they will input it and truly put your home under the program. Call the Arizona Home Performance with Energy Star hotline at (602) 532-2991 at any time during the process to speak directly with the Arizona Home Performance coordinator. They will be able to verify if the company at your home has processed your audit form, is an approved contractor and schedule a program auditor to check the company's work.

3. Check out our What to look for in an Energy Auditor post to get yourself up to speed on what's important in choosing an energy audit company.

4. Check out our Top 6 List of Red Flags that if your "auditor" in question does, you know you should show him the door and have a real energy audit done. A real energy audit cost $99, so you do have to pay, but there is real value in having one done to your home. If you are, however, set on trying to get a free energy audit done, just know you are setting yourself up to get scammed... and I might add, if you are reading this and decide to actually buy a $20,000 radiant barrier energy package, don't be surprised if your utility bills fail to go down.