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Switching electric providers

wild_turkey

By wild_turkey
in Can You Help Me With This?

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  • 2 weeks later...
Nice Guy Eddie

Nice Guy Eddie 13742

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, Okie State said:

Has anyone ever had issues with a utility provider? Other than some having better billpay interfaces, they have all been indistinguishable to me. What are the typical complaints in reference to?

The only problem that I had with a provider was one that had a minimum monthly invoice amount (via a usage minimum.)   Something like $50. And they closed the monthly billing on Day 2 of my first month. $50 for 2 days of electricity.

When I called their customer support, they removed the charge but I'm sure many customers do not call.

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  • 2 months later...
SydneyCarton

SydneyCarton 49532

Posted
Posted
On 10/25/2022 at 12:18 PM, TxTower said:

Looks like rates are coming down but with lots of new providers who are still trying to lock you in on longer plans.

Sydney - what’s your take on the current plans?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sorry buddy, you've got to @ me in this forum, I don't visit here much anymoe.

Yes, natural gas prices have come way down, and likely stay down for awhile, but it's always going  to take 2-3 months for most REPs to be able to react to that and lower their own prices. Those guys have all locked in their power buys for the next 6-12 months at whatever rates, but chances are those rates were higher than if they locked power in now. It's a complicated dance/recipe, and the result is that electricity rates turn more like the titanic than they do on a dime, even when rates are low. And at this time of year summer will push prices up again in a couple months.

I believe they'll come down. I'm advising anyone who asks me to wait until the last moment their contract expires to shop and see if we can't get the rates to move down.

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SydneyCarton

SydneyCarton 49532

Posted
Posted
55 minutes ago, huge said:

My Houston area contract ends March 3.  Best bet is to wait til about a week out @SydneyCarton

 

I did notice that If I do nothing and go month to month with TXU my rate will be 17.1

Your rate will be 17.1...the first month. It'll probably be 21 in month two. Rates might be coming down, and early march is still a solid cycle to be on, so I'd wait until a day or two before expiration to shop and switch. Most years the most important thing would be staying on the Feb-March shopping cycle ahead of summer prices, but with natural gas rates falling, war in Ukrainne, etc, this year it might make sense to keep letting things play out and let rates keep lowering...IF they keep lowering. Big If. Personally, my gut still says lock something in for a year and stay on this billing/shopping cycle. 

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C-Man

C-Man 27818

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, SydneyCarton said:

Your rate will be 17.1...the first month. It'll probably be 21 in month two. Rates might be coming down, and early march is still a solid cycle to be on, so I'd wait until a day or two before expiration to shop and switch. Most years the most important thing would be staying on the Feb-March shopping cycle ahead of summer prices, but with natural gas rates falling, war in Ukrainne, etc, this year it might make sense to keep letting things play out and let rates keep lowering...IF they keep lowering. Big If. Personally, my gut still says lock something in for a year and stay on this billing/shopping cycle. 

Just checked and my one-year with PowerNext is up 4/12. I've used Energy Ogre since 10/2021.

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LosIllini

LosIllini 91

Posted
Posted
41 minutes ago, C-Man said:

Just checked and my one-year with PowerNext is up 4/12. I've used Energy Ogre since 10/2021.

Just ran an updated RateGrinder sheet- PowerNext 12 Auto is 11.1 cents and Fixed is 11.2 cents.  Great tool if you don't go the Ogre route/ plan on jumping around during your contract.  I currently have Southwest Power and Light, but they are much higher this year.

 

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harpercollins

harpercollins 394

Posted
Posted

I have a widow from church staying with us due to a power outage in her apartment. We went by her place this morning, and her next door neighbor had power but she did not, so I knew something was up. After I spent three hours on the phone with Oncor and the retail provider, I figured out that her service was accidentally terminated when a new neighbor entered the wrong building number while establishing service and then corrected it.

I feel so irritated at the company for shutting off her power without any kind of verification. How does that happen? Should I ask for some type of bill credit to make it right for her?

She just assumed it was because of the storm and hadn’t even reported the outage.

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TxTower

TxTower 686

Posted
Posted

First - have them restore her power immediately. Then make sure that there are no damages caused by the freezing temps and no power. If so, you will want them to reimburse for damages.
Let them know you’re considering reporting them to the PUC. Negotiate for a bill credit at your discretion.

Good on you for helping her.

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TxTower

TxTower 686

Posted
Posted

I’d file a complaint with the PUC of Texas. Easy to do on their site online.

Then I’d call the local news station consumer protection reporter.

Then I’d call both the EP and Oncor and let them know complaints have been filed and they should expect inquiries into this matter shortly.

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harpercollins

harpercollins 394

Posted
Posted
Odds are the widow received a mailed notice that she was “changing” providers but she probably didn’t understand or she ignored it. 

Maybe so. I checked her email where she gets her bills (and it automatically forwards a copy to her POA) but her mail is in a giant stack on her counter that’s only processed monthly or so.
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  • 1 month later...
HiggyBaby

HiggyBaby 2620

Posted
Posted

We have several threads on the topic but since this is the most active… energy ogre just switched me. My old plan expires in April and was averaging around $0.12 per kWh. They’ve managed to beat that so I’m happy. Seems like prices are trending the right way. 

CE1ABCE9-0BD0-4E5D-88B0-4D311461C2CA.png

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C-Man

C-Man 27818

Posted
Posted
13 hours ago, HiggyBaby said:

We have several threads on the topic but since this is the most active… energy ogre just switched me. My old plan expires in April and was averaging around $0.12 per kWh. They’ve managed to beat that so I’m happy. Seems like prices are trending the right way. 

CE1ABCE9-0BD0-4E5D-88B0-4D311461C2CA.png

My current plan with Power Next (through Energy Ogre) is ending 4/12. Looks like EO is putting me with Value Power at 10.3 cents per kWh for the next cycle.

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gsoda3

gsoda3 3362

Posted
Posted
On 6/15/2022 at 5:15 PM, gsoda3 said:

i just bit the bullet.  14.9 cents per kwh for 36 months, $99 early termination fee.  constellation energy.  the offer's good for both renewals (what i did) and for new customers.  14.6 cents was the cheapest i saw from several other providers but that $99 early termination fee can't be beat.  austin.

 

On 10/25/2022 at 2:02 PM, Nice Guy Eddie said:

The only problem that I had with a provider was one that had a minimum monthly invoice amount (via a usage minimum.)   Something like $50. And they closed the monthly billing on Day 2 of my first month. $50 for 2 days of electricity.

When I called their customer support, they removed the charge but I'm sure many customers do not call.

i remember you and i renewed at roughly the same time.  i called constellation and asked if they had any updated plans i could switch to, their best offer was a blended 11.9 cents per kwh for 36 mos.  i ended up signing up with some company called PowerNext.  blended 10.3 cents per kwh for 12 months.  cancellation is $20 / month remaining in the contract.  just in time for summer thank goodness.

 

image.png.f00ac04a0976fe1db3be37f12d57ff60.png

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royiv

royiv 9869

Posted
Posted
On 3/20/2023 at 10:07 AM, C-Man said:

My current plan with Power Next (through Energy Ogre) is ending 4/12. Looks like EO is putting me with Value Power at 10.3 cents per kWh for the next cycle.

EO had me with Power Next at something like .15 cents and just switched me to BKV for 12.1 cents per kWh. Annoyed that everyone else appears to be getting rates in the 10 cents range.

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Viper

Viper 12221

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, royiv said:

EO had me with Power Next at something like .15 cents and just switched me to BKV for 12.1 cents per kWh. Annoyed that everyone else appears to be getting rates in the 10 cents range.

EO just switched me from power next to BKV too. Somehow I got quoted 10.6¢ in the email though. I couldn't find that rate one their site. 

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gsoda3

gsoda3 3362

Posted
Posted
15 minutes ago, royiv said:

EO had me with Power Next at something like .15 cents and just switched me to BKV for 12.1 cents per kWh. Annoyed that everyone else appears to be getting rates in the 10 cents range.

 

7 minutes ago, Viper said:

EO just switched me from power next to BKV too. Somehow I got quoted 10.6¢ in the email though. I couldn't find that rate one their site. 

how much are you paying for EO?  if you don't want to go with their suggested plan for whatever reason can you select your own?

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Viper

Viper 12221

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, gsoda3 said:

 

how much are you paying for EO?  if you don't want to go with their suggested plan for whatever reason can you select your own?

I think it's $10 a month. maybe someone else has more experience with EO than I do, but there was no part where I had a chance to go in an approve the plan, they just signed my up automatically. They did give me plenty of notice that my current plan was ending and they were searching for a new one, so that would be the time to go and stop their service and select your own if you have one you want.

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C-Man

C-Man 27818

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, Viper said:

I think it's $10 a month. maybe someone else has more experience with EO than I do, but there was no part where I had a chance to go in an approve the plan, they just signed my up automatically. They did give me plenty of notice that my current plan was ending and they were searching for a new one, so that would be the time to go and stop their service and select your own if you have one you want.

Yes, pretty sure EO charges $10/month. I got an email from EO/Value Power that they were moving me and I had X days -- it was less than a week -- to stop the process. I didn't see the EM until after that time period was up so I think even if I didn't decide to move forward with Value on 4/12, I'd get hit with the cancellation charge. No matter as I've decided to just let EO handle it from this point. It's worth $10/month added on to my bill to not have to hassle with setting reminders, running numbers, using RateGrinder or whatever.

Those of you moving to Power Next -- the online payment portal/system is the worst I've seen with all the energy providers I've dealt with over the years. It works, for the most part, but it isn't all that helpful/intuitive and, frankly, looks cheap as shit.

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SydneyCarton

SydneyCarton 49532

Posted
Posted
On 3/22/2023 at 10:11 AM, LosIllini said:

Just pulled up the current Rategrinder spreadsheet- looks like 10.1-10.5 cents for Dallas, 12 month, 2k average usage.  Gexa, Frontier, Powernext, True Value with the lowest rates.

If you're shopping for Gexa/Frontier, you sure as shit better looking hard at their EFL and the prices at different usage. And you'd almost certainly better make sure your usage every month damn sure is within the range of that usage. Because their swings between 1k and 2k, etc. are often quite large. 

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gyroprotagonist

gyroprotagonist 2597

Posted
Posted

just booked a 3y rate of 10.6 cents (in Dallas) with value power.  my old term is up starting next month.  just searched on powertochoose.org.

i tend to just go with the longest/cheapest term i can find.  cheapest 12 month i could find was 10.2 cents.  I don't think i have ever come out of a longer term deal and the current prices are below what i was paying.

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Nice Guy Eddie

Nice Guy Eddie 13742

Posted
Posted
On 3/22/2023 at 9:16 AM, royiv said:

EO had me with Power Next at something like .15 cents and just switched me to BKV for 12.1 cents per kWh. Annoyed that everyone else appears to be getting rates in the 10 cents range.

If EO charges $10/month, the math works out that you pay an extra $0.005/kWh (or $0.01 for 1000 kWh) for their service.  I realize that is a half penny but I just don't see how that's worth it. I would pay someone $10 to point me to the right plan AND willing to pay them another $10 if they identified a worthwhile switch but not $10 every month. I'm not cheap but I don't like to give away money.

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royiv

royiv 9869

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

If EO charges $10/month, the math works out that you pay an extra $0.005/kWh (or $0.01 for 1000 kWh) for their service.  I realize that is a half penny but I just don't see how that's worth it. I would pay someone $10 to point me to the right plan AND willing to pay them another $10 if they identified a worthwhile switch but not $10 every month. I'm not cheap but I don't like to give away money.

Chances that I would forget when contract was up are high. Chances that I would monitor rates during the course of the contract are even worse. I totally agree with you in principle, but I look at it as an insurance policy for my lazy ass.

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tokamak

tokamak 6687

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

If EO charges $10/month, the math works out that you pay an extra $0.005/kWh (or $0.01 for 1000 kWh) for their service.  I realize that is a half penny but I just don't see how that's worth it. I would pay someone $10 to point me to the right plan AND willing to pay them another $10 if they identified a worthwhile switch but not $10 every month. I'm not cheap but I don't like to give away money.

I don't think EO is for people who know that Power To Choose exists and don't mind doing a little research.

That's not most people though. The average consumer signs up for TXU to get a "free" Amazon Alexa, then doesn't even realize a year later when their contract ends, thus ending up on a 28c/kWh month-to-month plan. EO is a great deal for that person.

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Nice Guy Eddie

Nice Guy Eddie 13742

Posted
Posted
39 minutes ago, tokamak said:

I don't think EO is for people who know that Power To Choose exists and don't mind doing a little research.

That's not most people though. The average consumer signs up for TXU to get a "free" Amazon Alexa, then doesn't even realize a year later when their contract ends, thus ending up on a 28c/kWh month-to-month plan. EO is a great deal for that person.

good point. When I see a TXU TV ad for free nights and weekends, how awesome does that sound. Those feel like the times that I'm most using my AC so hell yeah sign me up. 

Then if you take the time to crunch the deal, you realize that the TV ad "deal" is in fact the opposite of a good deal for the average buyer. 

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Doc Daneeka

Doc Daneeka 6793

Posted
Posted
17 hours ago, tokamak said:

I don't think EO is for people who know that Power To Choose exists and don't mind doing a little research.

That's not most people though. The average consumer signs up for TXU to get a "free" Amazon Alexa, then doesn't even realize a year later when their contract ends, thus ending up on a 28c/kWh month-to-month plan. EO is a great deal for that person.

I agree completely with this.

If your first thought is “this calls for a spreadsheet” they’re probably not adding much value. And are taking away some fun. I have my monthly usage data, which is reasonably consistent across time, and I can pretty easily see what my bills are likely to be under any plan. Granted, I don’t look to jump around from plan to plan during a contract, so I miss out on that “benefit,” but I’m fine with that  

if your first thought is “yay, free nights and weekends” without necessarily considering they’re making up that cost somewhere else, Energy Ogre may well be for you. 

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tokamak

tokamak 6687

Posted
Posted
17 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

good point. When I see a TXU TV ad for free nights and weekends, how awesome does that sound. Those feel like the times that I'm most using my AC so hell yeah sign me up. 

Then if you take the time to crunch the deal, you realize that the TV ad "deal" is in fact the opposite of a good deal for the average buyer. 

 

57 minutes ago, Doc Daneeka said:

I agree completely with this.

If your first thought is “this calls for a spreadsheet” they’re probably not adding much value. And are taking away some fun. I have my monthly usage data, which is reasonably consistent across time, and I can pretty easily see what my bills are likely to be under any plan. Granted, I don’t look to jump around from plan to plan during a contract, so I miss out on that “benefit,” but I’m fine with that  

if your first thought is “yay, free nights and weekends” without necessarily considering they’re making up that cost somewhere else, Energy Ogre may well be for you. 

My rule of thumb is that if someone is trying really, really hard to sell me a particular something, it's because it's a good deal for them, not for me. Free nights/weekends, half off all summer, and all that kind of stuff definitely applies.

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Nice Guy Eddie

Nice Guy Eddie 13742

Posted
Posted

PSA: it might be a good time to switch contracts for anyone that was forced to take .15 - .16 contracts due to bad timing of expirations last year. Like me.

Unfortunately I currently have a long term .158 but there is a $99 termination fee. With the .11 offers today, the contract fee would be covered in ~2 months.   There are also offers as low as .085 for 3 months but those are risky having your contract expire in the summer. 

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  • 1 year later...
tokamak

tokamak 6687

Posted
Posted

Time for me to re-up. Where do we think prices are going to go? They appear to be on the high side right now.

Should I lock in the lowest long-term price I can find, or pay a little extra to get a low cancellation fee? On PtC, Chariot has a 36-month plan with a $49 cancellation fee, which seems crazy. The per kWh price is a little spicy though.

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C-Man

C-Man 27818

Posted
Posted
19 hours ago, tokamak said:

Time for me to re-up. Where do we think prices are going to go? They appear to be on the high side right now.

Should I lock in the lowest long-term price I can find, or pay a little extra to get a low cancellation fee? On PtC, Chariot has a 36-month plan with a $49 cancellation fee, which seems crazy. The per kWh price is a little spicy though.

I gave up the fight a couple years back and just signed up with Energy Ogre. They move me like every six months, sometimes 12. They just moved me to CleanSky last month. It's a minor nuisance to have to update billing bookmarks with the frequent change but it is what it is.

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royiv

royiv 9869

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, C-Man said:

I gave up the fight a couple years back and just signed up with Energy Ogre. They move me like every six months, sometimes 12. They just moved me to CleanSky last month. It's a minor nuisance to have to update billing bookmarks with the frequent change but it is what it is.

EO must have a deal with CleanSky right now. They just switched me to them last month, too.

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