xoringe

Basically, yes, because the REC supply hopelessly outstrips the demand by an ever-widening gap (despite REC sales being higher now than ever). That means lots of renewables ARE getting built, which is good. But that's because of the federal Production- and Investment Tax Credits, not RECs. RECs are an inconsequential drop in the bucket.

I too used to spend a little extra for “100% renewable” plans. Then I did some research and learned that they’re mostly greenwashing. http://www.texaspowerguide.com/2017/green-energy-plans-reality/

Be wary of of the search results on PowerToChoose. Even the PUC concedes they're misleading: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Texas-regulators-clamping-down-on-misleading-13034482.php TexasPowerGuide has a more powerful tool to search those same plans and avoid the gimmicks. (Disclosure: I maintain it so Texans don't fall victim to PowerToChoose.)

It's related, except Breeze is the effect, not the cause. Vistra aka TXU closed a few coal plants in January. Without those plants, forecasts predict summertime capacity could be very tight, which has caused wholesale price forecasts to ramp up ever since. Breeze didn't budget enough of a rainy day (i.e. sunny day) fund to continue fulfilling their discount-rate retail customer contracts, so they became the first victim.

Don't wait long to find something else. The fine print on no-contract Reliant plans generally says the EFL price only applies for the first billing cycle, which could be as short as one day. After that, look to their historical pricing web page for an idea of what it will cost --- lately 16 - 18 c/kWh depending which one you got.

With electric heat, you should definitely plug in at least a couple more months (like Aug and January) to be safe.

I predict they’ll say Spark Instant Plus 12 (avg 10.2 c/kWh for your usage) or 4Change Budget Saver 12 (10.3 c/kWh). They probably won’t include Pennywise Wise Buy 3 (8.9c/kWh), which isn’t listed on PTC but is only for 3-months (somewhat risky).

Unfortunately, it’s a limitation of the extra bandwidth needed to track ~50% more retailer plans. Hope to support TNMP in the future though.

I’d summarize it like this: Deregulation transfers the electricity procurement responsibility from a single PUC to millions of [largely uninformed and unmotivated] Texans. As a result, savvy shoppers can pay less than their peers in regulated areas, but the _average_ Texan with the “power to choose” actually pays more. (That’s according to the EIA data referenced by the Chronicle article and TCAP. I’ll entertain other data if/when someone points me to another source.) Certainly some of that is consumer inattention, but much is due to the rate gamesmanship and marketing gimmicks that many retailers employ to take advantage of those less skilled at the “game”. The better shopping services just help level the playing field.

That Our Energy plan is indeed the current cheapest in the Centerpoint service area for homes with average usages over ~1600 kWh/month. It's listed on PowerToChoose, and you could have saved $110/year finding it yourself with TexasPowerGuide's RateGrinder tool.