Through Clean Nation by Stream Energy, you have a very simple and easy way to pitch in and clean things up for our kids and our future generations. This program provides you with the opportunity to help replace fossil fuel-based generation with clean renewable generation, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, preserve the environment for future generations, and create a better financial future for you and your family.

As a member of Clean Nation, you are signing up for a monthly subscription of just $19.95. In return, Stream Energy will issue you a Green-e® Energy certified renewable energy certificate (REC) each month. You will still receive an energy bill from your current supplier – but now you are offsetting your non-green electricity usage with a clean product that is 100% renewable and 100% domestic.

We’re not only helping promote a cleaner tomorrow for future generations, however; we’re also providing environmentally responsible individuals with financial incentives for carrying the banner of renewable energy.

Stream Energy compensates people for becoming Renewable Energy Partners (REPs) and encouraging their families and friends to support clean energy. Regardless of where they live or who their electricity provider is, customers residing in all 50 states may now purchase RECs from Stream Energy and get paid for gathering other REC customers.

So breathe easier; energy deliverance is at hand. Help clean up our nation, create income for your family, encourage energy independence and leave a better world for our children. It’s the power of clean living, thanks to Clean Nation – brought to you by your best friend’s energy company, Stream Energy.

Back in March, we shared with you that members of Stream Energy’s management team each took shifts in the firm’s Customer Care department. During that exercise, we all fielded calls from customers and helped them with their needs. It was universally acclaimed by our team as a great experience that helped the firm’s decision makers better understand not only our customers, but also the day-to-day work lives of our frontline folks who serve those customers.

For the past several weeks, we’ve been repeating the exercise, but this time in Ignite Associate Support. Once again, Stream’s executives are taking turns on the phones, interacting directly with our Associates (many of whom are new to the business), as well as experiencing the lives of our dedicated employees who work hard to provide you with excellent service.

Yesterday, our own chairman Rob Snyder took his turn in Associate Support. Now you might claim that I’m biased (after all, the guy signs my paychecks) but I wonder how many CEOs out there take the time to answer phone calls in their company’s call centers? I’m betting it’s a pretty select group.

Part of the fun of this program is that we’ve been able to spend some time working hand in hand with members of our Associate Support team. Brad, Jamie, Dennis, Jennifer, Patrice and Steve Flores’ whole gang all work very hard to help our Igniters, and I know that the firm’s leadership have a greater appreciation of how comprehensive that service is.

We’re just getting started, so for the next month or so, you may find yourself on the phone with one of our executives when you call into Associate Support. We’re looking forward to talking to you!

Stream Energy, the largest network marketer of energy in the world, is taking the next step in our ongoing commitment to Captain Hope’s Kids, a charitable organization which meets the critical needs of homeless children.

As previously announced, we have launched an online webpage that allows our friends to make a direct donation to this worthy charity, as part of our campaign called “A Big Difference Starts Small.”

Participation is very easy. Simply visit the online webpage where you can elect to make a charitable donation in the amount of your choosing.

“We are very proud to draw deserved attention to Captain Hope’s Kids, which in 2009 touched the lives of 32,000 children from homeless families,” said Stream Energy Chairman Rob Snyder. “Families with children make up 47 percent of the homeless population in the Dallas metropolitan area. Captain Hope’s Kids provides needed goods and services to these unfortunates – and Stream Energy is going to help.”

Today our friends at Captain Hope’s Kids launched an “Awareness Boom” to help spread awareness about the plight of homeless children in North Texas.

Stream Energy is a committed supporter of Captain Hope’s Kids, and we are pleased to help promote today’s Awareness Boom as part of our ongoing support campaign called “A Big Difference Starts Small,” which Stream Energy Chairman Rob Snyder ushered in on New Year’s Eve.

But we need the help of our employees, customers and Ignite Associates.

As part of this effort, we have created an online webpage that allows our community to make a direct donation to this worthy charity.

Another thing we’re doing to help Captain Hope’s Kids is through the sale of Ignite-branded license plates via the state of Texas. For every Ignite-branded license plate sold, a portion of the revenues is given to Captain Hope’s Kids. Stream Energy and Ignite will not receive any revenue from the sale of these plates.

As Rob has said previously, “We are very proud to draw deserved attention to Captain Hope’s Kids, which in 2009 touched the lives of 32,000 children from homeless families. Families with children make up 47 percent of the homeless population in the Dallas metropolitan area. Captain Hope’s Kids provides needed goods and services to these unfortunates – and Stream Energy is going to help.”

Anything you can do to help us make today’s Awareness Boom a success is greatly appreciated. Please spread the word and make a donation today.

This past weekend, it was Stream Energy’s privilege to host an Easter Egg Hunt for children served by Captain Hope’s Kids.

As you may know, Stream Energy has been a corporate supporter of Captain Hope’s Kids (CHK) for several years now. During the 2010 holiday season, Stream Energy Chairman Rob Snyder kicked off our “A Big Difference Starts Small” campaign with a series of commercials which highlighted the good work done by CHK in meeting the needs of homeless children in the North Texas area.

As part of our ongoing commitment to CHK, we invited many of the children helped by CHK and their families to join Stream Energy employees and our own children at Sandy Lake Park on Saturday, April 2, for an egg hunt, a visit from the Easter Bunny, lunch and more.

As a Stream Energy employee, I can attest that having the opportunity to meet these children who we’ve supported through various initiatives, and being allowed to participate in their lives for part of a weekend, helped us appreciate to an even greater extent the value of doing something good for others.   

I asked several of my fellow employees who helped put on this event what they thought, and here is what they had to say:

 “I think it was a huge success, and I think everyone had a great time. The kids enjoyed the hunt and they really enjoyed finding money in some of their eggs. Plus, the employees and their families had a good time as well.” – Meka Moore, Loyalty – Quality Assurance

“This event is now classified as my favorite Captain Hope’s Kids event because I got to spend some time with the kids. They were adorable! I originally thought they would be shy or withdrawn, but from the moment they bounced off that bus, they were there to have a good time. I LOVED IT!” – Joanna McQuien, Sr. Manager, IA Compliance & Ad Approval

“I believe that whether you were there on your own or with your little ones it was a lot of fun and truly eye-opening. It is one thing to know that you are providing diapers, Christmas toys or stuffing 2,000 eggs for kids, but to actually see their little faces with huge smiles and grateful parents is another thing. I look forward to the next time Stream Energy can plan another event with Captain Hope’s Kids.” – Zhila Garza, Business Analyst II

“The Easter Egg Hunt was such a great experience for everyone involved. It allowed the employees of Stream Energy to meet the wonderful children that benefit from Captain Hope’s Kids. Getting to see the children and see that we really are making a difference in their lives is an experience that is very uplifting and humbling. It makes all the time and effort given to support Captain Hope’s Kids very well worth it.” – Brian Hale, Internet Communications Editor

“Words can’t express what we experienced on this day. Yes we’ve been very successful with the toy drives and the diaper drive but to see the kids of Captain Hope’s run, play and laugh was truly priceless.” – Gayrelyn Miller, Front Desk Coordinator

Stream Energy would like to especially thank two of our vendor partners for helping us put on this Easter Egg Hunt. Our friends at Bob Lilly Professional Promotions were kind enough to print and donate commemorative T-shirts for the occasion, and our friends at Impact Printing were gracious in supplying commemorative bags for the children to use in gathering Easter eggs.

At Stream Energy yesterday, our Chairman Rob Snyder shared with our management team a few pieces of interesting news to hit the web. I thought that our consumers and the folks who follow us might be interested in these news items.

There has been a fair amount of debate over the years in Texas by a variety of parties on whether or not energy deregulation is best for consumers. Having been a part of one of the leading electric retailers in Texas for over six years now (i.e Stream Energy), I’ve been privileged to witness the evolution of deregulation firsthand.

Reflecting upon the report that appeared in the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram yesterday – Electricity deregulation paying off for Texans – it is gratifying to learn that third-party industry watchers are coming to the conclusion that energy deregulation is a success.

Now when you couple the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram report with the news that complaints to Texas PUC fell 28% in 2010, as reported by Restructuring Today, you can draw the conclusion that consumers are in fact receiving the benefits that energy deregulation promised – namely, competitive pricing, greater options and improved service quality.

Today at Stream Energy, we launched a new initiative – members of the firm’s executive team, from Chairman Rob Snyder on down, are taking shifts in Customer Service, answering phone calls from our customers.

The reasons why we’re doing this are simple: 1) we want to interact with our customers, answer their questions and help them with their energy service, so we get direct feedback on their needs; 2) we want to demonstrate to our team mates in Customer Service that we appreciate them and the work they do day in and day out to take care of the people who have selected Stream Energy for their families’ energy needs.

The initiative is straightforward enough: over the course of the next several weeks, two members of the executive team will spend three hours on the phones on their assigned day. Each day, a new pair of executives will take a shift. To make sure that everything runs smoothly and that our customers receive optimal care, each executive is being paired with a Customer Service agent.

Today, our Senior Director of Human Resources Deanna Shelton and I had the privilege of taking the first shift. 

To be totally honest, I was a little nervous but my agent partner, Veronica, made the whole process easy on me and was an immense help. For the first 30 minutes, she answered the calls and I listened in, and then it was my turn to talk to customers. It was a lot of fun – the customers were gracious, and the materials we had to work with were a big help. But most of all, I was fortunate to have Veronica who answered my questions and anchored the computer process (which quite frankly is a lot more involved than you may think). I can tell you that Veronica is a pro and did an outstanding job!

The part that I enjoyed the most about my shift was actually talking with the customers and getting to know them on a first-name basis (albeit briefly). The whole experience was very enlightening, and I give credit where credit is due – to Veronica (and the whole Customer Service gang).

I asked Deanna Shelton what she thought about her shift, and she told me, “My experience as a Customer Operations Agent went very well today due to the superpowers of my shift buddy, Andrea, who happens to be one of our best agents! For me, the experience validated what I’ve known for over five years now – our agents have the hardest job here, and thankfully we have folks like Andrea providing our customers with great service!”

I totally agree with Deanna’s assessment. It was great to understand what our customers experience when they call in for assistance, and it was also wonderful to walk in the shoes of our Customer Service Agents and better understand what their days are like. I’d gladly do it again.

Okay sure, I’m the PR guy and so you’ll no doubt expect me to toot our horn, but Stream Energy and Ignite really have built a pretty amazing business success story in a short amount of time.

The company has been in business for six years and in that time has become one of the largest electricity providers in Texas (one of the largest energy markets in the WORLD); expanded to Georgia and Pennsylvania (with more states coming soon); and generated several billion dollars in revenue. We’ve won or been nominated for some pretty significant awards, like Platts and Ernst and Young; received a sizeable amount of media attention; and even launched one of the largest New Year’s Eve fireworks displays in the United States.

Pretty “Big Time” stuff, for sure.

There are also the many stories of people who, having gotten into the Ignite Opportunity, have seen their lives and their fortunes enhanced by the residual income generated by their customers’ energy bills. We’re talking about tens of millions of dollars in residual payouts to the everyday people you find living in your neighborhood.

But in giving this some consideration, I think that some of the significant things that separate our firm from other companies are the little things we do.

A specific example that I’m referring to is our practice of giving people the card.

By “the card” I’m talking about birthday and employment anniversary cards.

We have in the neighborhood of 260 Stream Energy employees. And for each one of them our boss, Stream Energy chairman Rob Snyder, personally handwrites a card for their birthday or Stream Energy anniversary.

It may not seem like a big thing at first glance, but I can tell you that this simple gesture has made a profound difference in the spirit around here.

Think about it. How often has your boss even remembered your birthday, let alone given you a card? And when the CEO of the company writes you a personal note – and I mean a real note, not simply “Happy Birthday” – well, I don’t know about you but I haven’t seen many CEOs in my professional career who take the time to do that FOR EVERY ONE OF HIS EMPLOYEES. All the way down the line.

I really hand it to Rob for doing that. Personally, I’m good about writing cards for my wife and kids, but that’s about it. This guy is writing them for everyone in our corporate office. It makes people feel appreciated. And that’s one of our competitive advantages. Our employees know that they matter.

Paul Thies

This holiday season, the Stream Energy employee family has been actively engaged in a toy drive to end all toy drives. In 2009, we set a record for toy donations made to Captain Hope’s Kids, and it was our stated goal for 2010 to smash last year’s results.

In a word, we crushed it.

Thanks to the combined generosity of all Stream Energy employees and many of our Ignite Associates, we gathered 2,313 toys for Captain Hope’s Kids this year.

If you visited the Stream Energy office in Dallas yesterday, you likely noticed that a camera crew took over the Diane Davis Auditorium space.

This was part of our planned New Year’s Eve sponsorship of the Big D NYE Fireworks Spectacular and New Year’s Eve countdown on WFAA Channel 8.

But we’re not just simply sponsoring one of the largest fireworks displays in the United States; we’re also using that bully pulpit to help spread the word about the good works performed by Captain Hope’s Kids.

Senior staff from Captain Hope’s Kids joined Stream Energy chairman Rob Snyder on camera to share their appreciation for all the toys donated by Stream Energy employees. More importantly, they shared the message that homeless children in our community need support. And their friends at Stream Energy are there for them!

As we prepare for the New Year, enjoy a video clip from WFAA promoting our Stream Energy Fireworks Spectacular.