We're moving shortly from Manor to Round Rock and I now have to pick an electricity provider. I've never had to do that before. Anyone here have suggestions and/or live in the area? I've looked into Green Mountain (good for the conscious, bad for the checkbook), Startex Power (great for the checkbook, know nothing about their service), TXU, Amigo, etc., etc. I was lucky to live in the Bluebonnet Co-op zone for the last 5 years. Any help/advice would be very useful and appreciated.
Look into Tara Energy. While right now is not the best time (since prices for gas have gone up) they will come down eventually.
I thought of that, but didn't want to make this choice based on my allegiance to the Dynamo...unless it got me free tickets.
www.powertochoose.org/ If you want to go green, Gexa has a 100% wind option (they are a subsidiary of FPL, which is the country's biggest wind generator) that is cheaper than Green Mountain -- 14.2 cents in Round Rock right now.* But, go to the powertochoose website. That website is so good, no one should need to start these threads. * Disclaimer: JuanValdez works for Gexa Energy and owns stock in the parent company. Signing up with Gexa will marginally improve JV's stock returns and year-end bonus. But, he ain't lying to you.
^ thats' the site...I use Amigo, not because of the Dynamo, but because they were the cheapest at the time...I think I looked at it recently and Gexa was pretty close...I'll have to do more research... Btw, if you're looking for the cheapest, wind providers are not for you...
Not sure how far reaching their services are, but I'm in Houston and I use Affordable Energy. They've got a $6.95 monthly fee, but a rate of only 12.1 cents. Since moving into my apartment (620 sq. feet) I haven't paid over $29 a month. That'll definitely change as the weather keeps getting hotter, but it's a nice starting point.
New Gexa customer here. Just out of curiosity, what happened? Is customer service that important? I can't remember the last time I called the power company.
haha, very funny... My boss has had gexa for years, and he's never complained about CS...I've had great CS with First Choice Power too...I had terrible CS with TXU and Reliant and typically, they are the most expensive...It's all about saving $$$...make sure you know the c/kwh and how much the monthly charge will be (which should be apart of the c/kwh calculation)...
what is the average rates for an apartment at about 1,100 sq feat? thanks in advance for any numbers any one is able to give me. looking to move out in 3-6 months and want to write out some sort of budget.
my apt is 895sq ft (2 bedroom, 1 bath) and my past few bills have been: $74 $91 $94 $70 $67 $77 then again my 14.4¢/kwh rate isn't the cheapest around. budget between 120-150/month and you should have some money left over.
We have a 2/2 apartment that is about 1185 sq ft and it runs on average around $120-130 but we have Reliant which is one the most expensive. I say budget between $100-150 to be on the safe side.
I just emailed a friend of mine that works at ERCOT. Hopefully, he'll have some insight, especially when it comes to some of these newer guys (Riverway Power, StarTex, etc.).
At the time, I worked in the building that their main office is located. I had called the service folks and their support team dropped the ball on me two times! I wasted 4 calls on the same issue. In the elevators, the people would talk about customers that they recieved calls from an angry customer and hang up on them. Maybe its better now...this was 3 yrs ago.
We used to have a real problem. There was a short stint where we were getting wait times to talk to a CSR of 45 minutes. It was a start-up, so a lot of processes needed maturing. But, since they were bought by FPL, they've been upgrading their systems and professionalizing a lot. I think customer service is much better now than it was. The big boys may still give you better service. They're incumbents so they've been donig CS a long time. And, they're Tier 1 providers whereas most of the start-ups are Tier 3. Tier 1s provide more service, like complex billing for commercial customers, handle complaints about down powerlines (mediating for you with Centerpoint), etc. I think when you are looking at the little start-ups, billing and customer service is going to be the concern because their processes are not robust. You'll get errors on your bill and have trouble correcting it through CS. Incumbents will have that trouble less. Gexa is getting there too with all the big FPL money now. But, the hassle may be worth it for the lower price. I've been with Gexa since they were young and didn't get any big problems.
Outside of the customer service complaints, is anyone happy with Gexa? My contract is up with First Choice and they're far and away the cheapest on powertochoose.org.
