Please, permit me to be a bit surprised by the first part of your comment. In your place, instead of looking at…the editorial manager of the journal and its functionality (!), I would have primarily looked at its Editorial Board to make an idea of its level! Secondarily, I would have checked some of the papers published so far, and to the overall details of the journal’s page. I would also have looked at the Impact Factor, if any; in case of a newly launched journal, the Editorial Board would have been crucial. In this specific case, although it is not my field, I see that Energies actually has an IF, although I cannot judge on the quality of its Editorial Board.
About the fee of 3k$ fee you paid, even if I had that money I do not think I would have wasted it to have my paper Open Access: I would have found other ways to circulate my paper. Frankly speaking, 3k$ seems to me quite predatory….