Need help picking from Bad to Worse Electric plans

uh....

(goes to shop for solar)

 

I second this. I have been using Texas Power Agents for close to two years as a result of seeing them recommended on this board. They have been able to negotiate better than market rates with companies, I assume by offering a large quantity of subscribers that they have. So they aren't just looking at the same rates that we see on Powertochoose, they are negotiating directly with the providers.

 

Same here. The 3 year plans I am on for about $0.105 per kwh including all fees is expiring this October. I'm expected for it to go up at least 40%.

At this price, I should look into solar in more detail. At my old price, I determined that it wasn't really wroth it. The pay back period was in the order of 15 years or more. Now it should be about 10 years.

I am still not convinced that it's worth it, but maybe.

 

In the near future, we might be building more complex spreadsheets to figure out the best path for all of this stuff

• Rates for Electricity
• Does the potential Electricity provider have a good Solar buyback program
• Electricity usage versus what the solar setup generates/creates
• Cost of a Solar panel setup
• Payback period for Solar if the REPs (Retail Electric Providers) have decent buyback programs
• If Solar and buybacks from the REPS will significantly with funding consumer home battery storage
• Edit: Weigh the value of Tax Credits for some of the above.

Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency

 

DIY is the way to go for cost savings, about 20-25% the cost of a 'professional' setup. Of course, you need the knowledge in all parts of the process and if you're on-grid, you need a structural engineer and master electrician to sign off. You also do the maintenance. Not for everyone and not even for most people but it's certainly an avenue. You can work the costs in a way that the tax credits cover almost all of the cost, too.

 

I have no idea about your taxes, but maybe adding insulation to you attic will help with your Summer and Winter electricity bills.


Insulation Tax Credit

What products are eligible?
Typical bulk insulation products can qualify, such as batts, rolls, blow-in fibers, rigid boards, expanding spray, and pour-in-place.

Products that air seal (reduce air leaks) can also qualify, as long as they come with a Manufacturers Certification Statement, including:

• Weather stripping
• Spray foam in a can, designed to air seal
• Caulk designed to air seal
• House wrap

______________________


More information at the link.

 

I agree that DIY is the way to go for cost savings, but some/many will want to explore the Numbers first before even choosing a path of Professional versus DIY.

While I was looking up the information about insulation, came across this link that furthers your point about tax credits.

Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency

 

Thanks for the link. My solar panel comment wasn't a joke, I talked to a buddy who did his own and he mentioned all of these credits. I'll be maxing them out yearly for a while.

 

Since jchu14 does mostly serious posts and my response was to both of you, I treated (upgraded?) your post about solar as serious and responded in a serious way.


Speaking of solar, here is a link giving a broad overview of Electricity buyback programs in Texas. Since I am just starting to get up to speed on this topic, I am unable to speak to the accuracy of what was written.

Complete guide to Texas net metering: solar buyback plans, REPs & regulated utilities

As I mentioned earlier, we are going to need to raise our Games as Spreadsheet Jockeys* so proper evaluations can be done when making decisions regarding

• 
  
  
  • Evaluating Electricity Rates
  • Does the potential Electricity provider have a good Solar buyback program
  • Electricity usage versus what the solar setup generates/creates
  • Cost of a Solar panel setup
  • Payback period for Solar if the REPs (Retail Electric Providers) have decent buyback programs
  • If Solar and buybacks from the REPS will significantly with funding consumer home battery storage
  • Weigh the value of Tax Credits for some of the above.

__________________________
* Humor

 

The complexities can really be endless once you factor in solar and buy back rates. Most of the plans I see are buying back at whole sale rate which can fluctuate from fraction of a cent/kwh to 10s of cents per kwh. So estimating the true cost of solar will be complicated.

One thing on my to-do list is to take 15 minute interval data from smartmetertexas.com and figure out my consumption based on hour of the day to see if a free night plan is worthwhile when we have to EVs that can be set to charge at night only.

But I have a feeling that without a solar panel system, the high daytime cost will easily overwhelm the savings at night.

 

Even if one develops a nice DSS (Decision Support System) to figure out the best path, rules/policies can change and trash what was previously a good decision.

California reduces payments for rooftop solar power — for second time in a year (November 2023)

Today’s ruling is a regulatory sequel.

Rewind to the summer of 2022: Single family homeowners with solar panels were paid a fixed price for any home-made solar power. The prices they received were close to the retail rate for electricity.

Last winter, the Public Utilities Commission did away with that, replacing it with a flexible rate that amounted to a massive pay cut for solar-producing single family homeowners, trimming compensation by roughly 75%. The new rate applies only to new installations, not existing solar arrays. At the same time, the commission funded $900 million in new incentive payments to single family home residents to help them purchase new systems.

**********************

It appears that some of the rules/policies for existing solar situations will be slow to change, but some things are changing for new installations. There is more interesting stuff to read at the link.

Of course California has been gung ho about Solar for a while and the Energy Industry (Oil & Gas) has had quite a bit of influence in Texas for decades. So it may be years - decades before Texas becomes truly gung ho about solar and has to tweak/adjust rules and policies.

You should have no problem figuring out how to calculate the best path.

*****************

Branching off somewhat in a different direction.

At the moment, massive AI setups are projected to use huge amounts of Electricity and the increased demand will make it less likely that electricity prices will go significantly lower.

Google plans to reuse heat after expanding a data center for AI

Google says it’ll give away heat as its data centers gobble up more energy for AI.

Google’s data centers are expanding to support its AI ambitions, and a new project in Finland shows one way the company is trying to grapple with the environmental impact of that growth...

...Already energy-hungry data centers are now even more energy-intensive when used for AI. Reusing the server heat is one way to mitigate the effects that AI has on the power grid and environment. After all, if Google isn’t careful, its scramble to inject AI into Search and other products could derail the company’s climate goals and place added pressure on energy systems where it operates...

...Training and running AI requires new and more powerful data centers, which risks stressing out power grids with soaring electricity demand. There’s also growing concern about fossil fuel power plants meeting that demand at a time when they need to be replaced with renewable energy to keep climate change from becoming a bigger disaster...

 

I can't remember, but my parents were on a 3-year plan where it looked like they were paying around that much, too. I helped my mom renew on a new plan about 3 or so weeks ago... it's something like $0.143/kWh, I think. Sorry, mom, but that's all I could do.

 

I saw this company posted on a reddit post.

NEC Co-op Energy

It's not-for-profit provider that offers a month to month flat rate plan. The rate changes every month, but you don't have a contract and there is no cancellation fee.

The rate seems very competitive. For Centerpoint, the price is $7.50 monthly base charge and 8.5¢ per kwh, not including the 4.089¢/kwh and $4.39/month Centerpoint fees. Average price for 500 kwh is 15.3¢/kwh, 1000 kwh is 14.4¢/kwh, and 2000kwh is 13.8¢/kwh.

So if you would like to get on a month to month plan without cancellation fee and see what happens to prices in winter time, this seems like a great option.

 

My awful ridiculous plan expires in February and I am looking forward to that. The problem though is that if you are up for renewal in the winter, these providers only offer good rates on 3 month plans just to make sure you have to renew again in the middle of the summer anyway. I freaking hate this.

 

Has anyone used Rhythm Energy? I found a 6 month plan with them but all the good reviews look paid then there's bad reviews for various reasons. Our usage last year was under 1000 kwh each month except from June to September. Highest was 1600 in August.

 

From the industry, and this is my advice. Look at the EFLs on powertochoose. Ignore everything with bill credits or other complexities. Do full-year increments. Find the energy charge you're comfortable with. Don't need to do math.

The companies like energy ogre are probably worth it if you have a single family house. Maybe not for an apartment. And of course solar does complexify things.

I expect prices will be going up the next few years, so you might want to lock in a longer contract. But of course if I'm thinking that, the guys in pricing are probably also thinking that and they may have already baked in that expectation. On those same lines, you can't play the market by buying in spring or winter or whatever. No one can predict the future, but the guys looking at forward markets have a better chance than you do.

 

Is reliant just the WORST
I mean their idea of Nights and Weekends is giving your penny off

Rocket River

 

I had them for a year and no issues. Only moved on for a better kWh rate. Seems like every power company has bad reviews on Power to Choose. In April I signed up for a cheap 3-month deal with Constellation. No more cheap 3 month deals on Power to Choose at the moment.

 

The plan I was looking at wasn't available until September. Didn't notice that until I tried to sign up so ended up having to go with a different company and a 2 year plan which I don't love but whatever.