Electricity Provider Basics

[Eddyline 116]

Our son is moving to Dallas next month and has to sign on with an electricity provider.  We have not resided in Texas during the era of electric deregulation, and really don't know where to start with this.  Of course, the apartment management is referring us to their "preferred" electric company, which I suspect may not offer the best rates.  Any guidance would be very much appreciated.

[luke duke 6412]

powertochoose.org

Read the fine print on the plans. Going 1kWh over or under a certain threshold can have a big effect on your bill on certain plans. I’d imagine, with an apartment, his usage would be

[Chilly Water 415]

Avoid variable rate plans and read the Electricity Facts label. Some plans have minimum usage requirements, some have different pricing tiers based on usage. Having some idea of how much electricity he’ll use would help a lot.

An apartment is unlikely to go over 1000kwh unless he runs the a/c low all day. I’ve seen cheap plans in the past that are a flat $30 for all use up to 999 kWh but if you go over, they add $100 plus charge a few cents per kWh. That can expensive quick if he’s not careful.

Edited June 27, 2018 by Chilly Water

[Eddyline 116]

Geez, this is worse than shopping for car insurance...

[destroya 376]

Providers have structured their rates to appear to be the most best deal on powertochoose.com, ie you pay a flat rate for any usage between 501 and 1000 kWh which shows a really low price per kWh on power to choose but is a crappy plan if your average usage is 700 kWh. 

If he can get the average usage from the apartment complex he can plug those numbers into powertochoose to see what rate is the best deal based on his assumed usage. 

[WhatTheBuck 28776]

6 hours ago, luke duke said:

powertochoose.org

Read the fine print on the plans. Going 1kWh over or under a certain threshold can have a big effect on your bill on certain plans. I’d imagine, with an apartment, his usage would be

I love a cliffhanger. 

[gyroprotagonist 2592]

16 hours ago, WhatTheBuck said:

I love a cliffhanger. 

it's just assumed that any numerical value involving currency defaults to tree-fiddy, right?

[xoringe 3]

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.)

[Eddyline 116]

13 hours ago, xoringe said:

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.)

Thank you.  Definitely less confusing than PowerToChoose...

[Gardner Barnes 1562]

14 hours ago, xoringe said:

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.)

You did a great job here.  For the hell of it, I plugged my KWH numbers in Austin but using my parent's zip code in Dallas.  I would have saved $1200 last year over Austin energy using your recommended provider.

TL/DR:  Fuck AustinEnergy

Edited July 2, 2018 by Gardner Barnes

[Shenanigans 31]

On 6/27/2018 at 10:50 AM, Chilly Water said:

Avoid variable rate plans and read the Electricity Facts label. Some plans have minimum usage requirements, some have different pricing tiers based on usage. Having some idea of how much electricity he’ll use would help a lot.

An apartment is unlikely to go over 1000kwh unless he runs the a/c low all day. I’ve seen cheap plans in the past that are a flat $30 for all use up to 999 kWh but if you go over, they add $100 plus charge a few cents per kWh. That can expensive quick if he’s not careful.

I use one of these plans. It is pretty awesome. There are only 2 months in the year I typically go over 100kWh, July and August. That shoots the bill up to about $140 but throughout the rest of the year I'm paying $30 and it still comes out way less than just about every other type of plan I could find.

As long as you are prepared for the big price bump those two months it is no issue. I was on a month to month plan previously and my monthly bills were around $110-$150 already before I switched.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13510]

Another Chronicle article how only 1 in 6 Houstonians bother to switch electrical providers each year even though the real savings are in switching:  https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/It-pays-to-switch-power-plans-but-few-Houstonians-13047949.php?utm_source=chron&utm_medium=linkmodule&utm_campaign=btfpm

Dallas is only 1 in 8 have recently switched.

Deregulation has been great for those that care to learn and search.  The other 80% pay too much.   For the average Texan, deregulation has not led to any savings.  

[bigcigar 1164]

On 7/1/2018 at 6:38 PM, xoringe said:

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.)

Awesome. Just tried it out, signed up and paid the $10. I usually read through lots of EFLs to find a good plan. Hopefully your data works.

[chesthair 231]

18 hours ago, bigcigar said:

Awesome. Just tried it out, signed up and paid the $10. I usually read through lots of EFLs to find a good plan. Hopefully your data works.

I was just coming to ask about this and saw this thread bumped.  couldnt remember the name of the site.  ill get on TPG and give it a whirl.