Ontario Power Authority urges residents to be wary if someone wants to inspect your furnace – March 19, 2014 Etobicoke Guardian

A Match 19, 2014 Etobicoke Guardian article is entitled: “Ontario Power Authority urges residents to be wary if someone wants to inspect your furnace.”

An October 2012 blog post about door to door energy scams is among the most visited pages, according to data from Google Analytics, at the Preserved Stories website. I owe thanks to Phil Gray for bringing my attention to the topic of door-to-door energy scammers some years ago.

When I posted the October 2012 item, I had no idea that this would be a topic of such wide interest. Another page that is often visited – again, I would never have imagined there would be such interest – is a December 2012 blog post about how Erving Goffman launched his academic career.

The Etobicoke Guardian article, by Tamara Shephard, begins with the following opening paragraphs:

• Ontario Power Authority (OPA) officials are sounding the alarm after an Etobicoke resident reported she received a solicitation call to inspect her furnace from someone purporting to be with the authority.

• The OPA co-ordinates province-wide conservation efforts, plans the electricity system long-term and contracts for clean electricity sources.

• The authority does not inspect residents’ heating or cooling systems or solicit participation in its programs by phone or at the door, a spokesperson said Tuesday.

• “We want to make sure all residents are aware the OPA takes very seriously unauthorized use of its name, logos, brands and program information,” OPA spokesperson John Cannella said. “We do not call consumers to solicit participation in our saveONenergy for Home programs. Our programs do not require door-to-door sales or calls, or the inspection of any heating and cooling equipment.”

[End of excerpt]