Electricity Provider recommendations?

We are about to finish our current term with our electric provider, and I'm looking for a change. I used YEP for the last 18 months, and found their customer service poor, they are difficult to contact directly and they don't mail the bills at the sime time each month. Nothing earth-shattering, but I've had better.

I'm leaning towards Reliant right now since they have a strong track record and extensive online access, but they aren't the absolute cheapest.

If anyone has a strong suggestion or a major warning, I'd love to hear it.

Yes, I've perused the powertochoose.org site

TIA

I've had great luck with StarTex power at the Palatial POS Palace for almost 2 years.

I like them so much they are now the Official energy provider of the World Headquarters. :1Place:

http://www.startexpower.com/

2nd vote for StarTex....I have had them 3 years and others I have referred like them too.

I've been with Champion Energy for almost 2 years...no complaints.

I used the 12-month guaranteed rate and they lowered by KwH cost last summer to get me
to re-up for another 12 months.

We switched from First Choice to TXU about 16 months ago. We had First Choice at the apartment in Euless and it was fairly cheap. When we moved out here, it literally doubled in price per KwH. But we'd have to break contract, so we just rode it out (can you say $400+ month winters..I had to :().

TXU was actually the cheapest for us way out here, by far - so far our bills have been almost exactly half of what we were paying for First Choice out here that first year. I signed when they were giving away $150 sign on bonuses and 3% cash back each year. We just got a pre-paid Visa from them a few weeks ago. They also gave us $20 or so credit towards some affiliate website of theirs for CFL bulbs and other energy-related things. It made the bulbs the same price as what they are usually at Walmart, so I made use of them. Not really the best incentive, but the pre-paid Visa every year is nice, as was the initial $150 card.

I have no complaints, but I haven't had to call them about any problems. Bills come within a day or so of each other each month. I have an app for my phone to see my usage in "real time," pay my bill, and a few other little things you can play around with. There is no "low usage" charge that First Choice had if you use under 600KwH a month.

I looked around a few months ago and some other companies had a penny or two lower rate, but they seemed like little mom and pop jobbers. I have had bad experience with those types of operations in NY, so I'm not going to risk dealing with that over $10/mo (we use ~1000KwH a month on average).

Happy Gexa user here.

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Originally Posted by redmenace

Happy Gexa user here.

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+1. Bills match the spiel.

powertochoose.org.

Our provider was just purchased by Cirro, who I hate so when the term is up we'll be switching.

APNA has been good for me.

Stuck with a co-op in Frisco. They are not good not bad, reasonable price.

Been using txu on a similar plan to rob. Never had any issues with them, and had no problem getting service to the house we bought last summer when we just wanted power on for the inspection- we weren't sure if we were even buying the house at that point. Customer service was great.

Another vote for TXU. Haven't had a single issue, the rates are reasonable, and their online stuff is really easy to set up and access.

Meanwhile, my TCB parents have skipped around a few different providers over the last couple of years, and the providers always find a way to piss them off. Billing issues, false advertising, poor customer service, you name it. I'm happy to pay a teency bit more for the pleasure of zero hassle. But, as Rob and Simon said, I think it evens out with the little freebies they keep sending. In fact, I think I'll let TXU buy my lunch today (if I can find their gift card).

I had TXU at 12¢ kW and now I am at 9¢ with APNA. I am sure that APNA will make me mad someday but TXU was charging me 33% more than my current provider.

^This!

I'm down to $0.085!

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Originally Posted by POS Racing

^This!

I'm down to $0.085!

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Its cheap because Scottie uses Trilithium crystals to generate the power. :-)

i hit powertochoose.org and change my provider every 3 months. take less than 5 minutes to do and i never pay more then 5 or 6 cents a kwh.

I'm at $0.083 with Champion ::Bleh::

TXU must have come down...........they were ripping my head off compared to most providers on powertochoose....

I remember watching a news story back when they deregulated electricity. I was fearful when the TXU spokesperson said they welcomed the new competition.

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Originally Posted by VFR750

TXU must have come down...........

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Not sure how the rates differ between your area and mine, but when I looked at TXU at the Euless apartment they were ~$0.13 KwH. First Choice was $0.11. When we moved out here (Haslet), First Choice jumped to $0.23KwH. Not a typo. TXU wasn't even an option at that point (3 years ago almost to the month).

Now we pay TXU $0.10537 KwH but they have a $5.95 service fee. They advertised it as $0.11 KwH including the fee for 1000KwHs, which is correct with the math. They actually only bill the $0.10537 + $5.95 fee though, so when we peak at like 1400Kwh one or two months a year, we only pay the 10 cents, not the 11 "advertised" price. Once I get a job out of the house we should only peak at 1000KwH or so, which should be nice. But I'll shop around at that point again since I would be paying ~12 cents during normal months.

Between the initial gift card and the yearly one I just got, I'd guess it averaged out to $0.09 KwH or so this past year. Which is a lot cheaper than I've paid in any other state. And seems to be right on track with the others here. So I can't complain.

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Originally Posted by CosmosMpower

Stuck with a co-op

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+1 I'm stuck paying about .11 + a $15/month service fee.

I use TXU. I have for over a long time. The main reason is average billing. But I also get the perks like the cash back and special offers. Average billing kept me from having an $800 electric bill a couple of years ago before we replaced out AC units.

Just switched to their 100% wind energy plan. Its a bit more expensive but I can shove the noses of my snooty neighbors in it, who rave about their Hybrid saving the planet when their kids have the AC turned way up while leaving the doors open on the house.

TXU is too high, IMHO. Checked out a bunch, and the winner for me is Champion Energy, with StarTex being a close second.

I generally have 4-5 months every year with less than 800 kwh, so I prefer a plan that doesn't penalize you for any usage under 1000 kwh, which most of the "cheap" ones do. Thanks to everyone who provided useful input. People's actual experience with the companies is much more valuable to me than the numbers provided by powertochoose.org alone.

I have Reliant here in Plano. Never had to choose a power provider before I moved here, so I just picked the one that I could do online without talking to anyone, with a month-to-month contract in case it sucked. My plan says this:

Average price 11.1¢ per kWh, based on 2000 kWh, includes the following:

• Energy charge: 7.9¢
• Base charge per month: $0.00

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Originally Posted by p4R4d0x

Average price 11.1¢ per kWh, based on 2000 kWh, includes the following:

• Energy charge: 7.9¢
• Base charge per month: $0.00

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How does that work? If the rate is $0.079 KwH, how are they saying the average is more? Variable rate type plan? That could get interesting really quick...

The "average" price TXU gave me for 1000KwH is the $0.11. The actual is the $0.10, which when you add the $5.95 service fee, is $0.11 for 1000KwH. But saying the average is $0.xx, the actual is $0.yy, and the service fee is $0 is..different?

There are several fixed fees in your electricity bill (meter charge, service fee, oncor delivery charge, etc) as well as a monthly fee (depending on the provider) in addition to your per-kwh rate. The more you use, the more the flat fees are spread-out, so your price-per-kwh decreases accordingly.

At 1000 khw of use, the Champion plan should run me right around $0.09/kwh, which is a good price, imho. I especially like the fact that there is no "base charge" unless I drop below 500 kwh/month, which would be amazingly low, even for me. I try to ignore the 2000kwh pricing numbers, since I have only hit 2000 one time in the last 4 years (last August.) I'm generally between 700-1100 kwh/mo, except in June, July and August, where its 1400-1500. Not bad for a 36-year-old 1800sf house. Good windows, extra-blown-in insulation, 14-seer AC, gas heat, attic vents,brick veneer and BIG TREES sure make a difference.

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Originally Posted by OZMDD

There are several fixed fees in your electricity bill (meter charge, service fee, oncor delivery charge, etc) as well as a monthly fee (depending on the provider) in addition to your per-kwh rate. The more you use, the more the flat fees are spread-out, so your price-per-kwh decreases accordingly.

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Right. He quoted there is no base charge a month. They left off the other fees but added them to the average apparently, which TXU doesn't (they just add them after the average advertised rate). My asking was based on not seeing the other fees added into the average quoted price for my plan, so I just assumed that's how they all did it (i.e. I was thinking the average cost was KhW cost + the base fee (none in his case), and the other added fees were added after the fact).

Going by the rate he posted he would pay the same for 2000KwH as I would, despite his rate looking much cheaper up front. But like you, I average no where near that so it's a moot point.

No idea. I don't know anything about this stuff, but i'm guessing because it's a tiny 1 bedroom that I'm actually paying for, nowhere near 2000kwh. I picked it because it was the lowest number (7.9) and was confused when the first bill came, but never thought about it when I had time to do anything about it.

You should be under 1000KwH easily. 2000 shouldn't even exist on your meter. Unless this tiny 1 bedroom is a shed with no insulation or door.

We have a small 1600sqft house with high ceilings (30' in most of the house, 9' being the lowest), electric heat/AC, and all kinds of stuff that uses some power when it's off (blu-ray player, TV, receiver, sub, etc). I also work from home 8+ hours a day, so the heat/AC is on a lot longer than it would otherwise be, as well as the fact that I have lights, my computer and monitor, and computer speakers/sub on that entire time as well. We average 1100KwH a month, peak at ~1500 in the coldest/hottest months (the coldest being the highest because of the high ceilings). So yeah, if you're over 1000KwH a month you have some issues. Or you live in a growhouse.

Champion Energy has been my exclusive provider for several years. It is more than just $/kwh. Read the fine print of the fees. It can easily increase your final effective $/kwh by 10 to 20%! Also, the rate is seasonal and depends of the price of natural gas at the time you are shopping. If you don't like what you see, check back in a week. The price is like the price at the gas pump that goes up and down all the time.

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Originally Posted by Rob®

You should be under 1000KwH easily. 2000 shouldn't even exist on your meter. Unless this tiny 1 bedroom is a shed with no insulation or door.

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Just checked, every month but one has been 250-400 :lol: