So my 12month plan with First Choice is expiring in a week...a couple weeks ago I called about renewing. Right now I've been paying a healthy 13.6cents/kwh ...when I called they said the renewal rate (at that time) was 21cents/kwh! I knew energy prices were going up but jeez! So I figured it might be good to shop around again. Well I had Reliant before First Choice and they used to be one of the higher priced companies. But when I checked a few weeks ago, they were on of the cheapest. They were offering a 24month plan at 15.5cents; I figured with energy prices the way they are it might be good to lock in at that rate for 2 years. But I didn't want to risk canceling my current plan too soon and pay cancellation fees. Hopefully that price wouldn't drastically change in just a few weeks. Well today, I went ahead and agreed to go onto a monthly plan with First Choice for the time being (which is now 26cents!). And once my current plan expires in a week, I'd go ahead and start the process of switching providers. Well I checked Reliant's prices and the plans that were 15.5 cents are now 18cents! So I don't know what to do now. Should I wait it out a few months with First Choice until fall arrives and temperatures cool down; see if energy prices decrease and then lock in a plan? Or should I find the lowest plan now and lock that in for a year? Considering how unstable the energy industry is I'm afraid prices could keep skyrocketing...but I don't wanna lock in a plan at say 16-17 cents only to find out 3-6 months from now there are plans at 14-15 cents. In the meantime I'm during everything possible to keep my energy usage down...I got energy efficient bulbs in the living room, all blinds are closed during the day, thermostat is at 78 (just cool enough for us), I try not to have both the computer and the tv on at the same time during the day (I'm a teacher so I'm at home right now). And then at night I turn off all the power strips, since the tv, dvr, game consoles and pcs are still on even when you turn them off.
This might help... http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=146396 this, too... www.powertochoose.org/ I went with StarTex. I'm paying 12.5 cents/kwh on a 3 year deal.
And that 2 year deal is now at 17.5cents! You know another thing that might be helpful is to list tips for saving energy. I've done about as much as I know how...last month's bill was HIGH...I also made sure to replace the air filter. Doesn't help that my complex isn't the most energy efficient. There's a couple of ok deals right now...Stream and Green Mountain are in the 16cent range, Reliant has a variable monthly at 17....I could do that for now and hope that prices go down in a few months and then lock in a long term contract, and I'd be saving 10 cents. Just don't know if it's a good idea to get a long-term contract right now during peak Summer season...then again that's what I did last year and prices only increased.
That "locking in a rate" **** doesn't always work. I signed up with TXU Energy a while back and the guy offered like a 13 or 14 cent rate, locked in. Well, several months after I signed up, when the rate somehow went up, I called in and asked about it. I got some BS line about how there are different rates and the base rate was still 13 or 14 cents, but that after you used a certain amount of kilowatt-hours a different rate kicks in. Anyway, it was all a bunch of horse**** and now I don't trust any of them when they tell me I can get a fixed rate.
When they do annual plans, they know they will pay more for electricity (wholesale) in the summer than they do in the winter. In the winter time, you'll likely see the long-term plans at higher rates than the monthly plan, and you'll see them lower than monthly in the summer. I don't think what time of year you sign will matter.* I'd go ahead and sign the deal now. * It's possible there's some marketing impact from the season. They probably have an easier time selling annual plans in the summer, because the rate is lower than monthly. In the winter, they may try to cut their margin a little bit just to incentivize more winter prospects to sign up for annual plans.
I recently heard that a competitor of ours was offering an annual contract with a variable rate. That is, the customer is stuck with them for a year, but they are free to change the rate. Gotta read the fine print. Anyway, with a month-to-month, they'll be changing your rate anyway. Everyone needs to watch their rates every month. They will migrate you up to a new rate to keep pace with costs. So, a 17 cent monthly may look better than an 18 cent fixed, but that 17 cents is only good for the 1st month, then they'll raise it. So, my advice to everyone is check your rate every month. If you find lower prices on powertochoose (which you will when we get to fall and winter), call your provider and say you want a lower rate.
I'm in the same boat as you. I have renewed yet simply because the thought of going from $0.137, which is what I was paying last year....for 100% renewable energy, all the way up to the low $0.17, makes me want to puke. The good news is that you can almost get renewable as cheaply as you can get regular now. For fixed rate plans in my zip code, the best renewable rate is currently stream energy at 16.9 cents. There are only 4 cheaper options. ugh...i guess i should renew...
Yeah that's a plus, Stream and Green Mountain are about on par with other prices. I was thinking about Stream but the BBB doesn't have any info on them which scares me a little; I don't want to go with a company that's gonna screw me with their customer service. Likewise I don't want sign with someone that hasn't been around long but has good rates. What sucks big time is this monthly rate First Choice is giving me is double what I have right. My July bill is gonna be huge...so It'd be best to switch to just about anybody else at this point.
It is like 8 cents in oklahoma.... I have a 13 cent rate right now with direct energy. Giving us the power to choose companies in Texas actually drove up the price instead of lowering. Places where they have one or two providers I have seen pay a lot less.
I've been with Stream for over a year now, and they've been pretty good for me. One of the things about Stream is that they sell their electricity in a sort of pyramid scheme. We signed up because my uncle-in-law tried to get my wife to sell the electricity "underneath" him. We didn't want to mess with that, but we did sign up for their electricity. I think the money they get from screwing people over in their pyramid scheme allows them to have pretty low rates. Though I may be way off base there.
I don't think it is the deregulation of retailers; perhaps the deregulation of generators. It probably costs your provider 11 cents or so right now to buy the electricity they sell to you, plus some additional variable load expenses. MN and OK are on different grids than TX, but if they are buying from the market at prices we see in ERCOT, they must be subsidizing the cost for the consumer.
you guys in deregulated markets are getting ripped off. In Austin we were never part of the regulation and we have lower rates. I joined the Austin Greenchoice program which is higher rates for us but green energy and its still lower than what most of yall are paying plus I'm locked in at that rate for 5 or 15 years, forget the specifics.
