Do Energy Companies (Reliant in Particular) Really Read Meters?

houston's way to big for any of that

 

It probably makes the most sense if you compare it to how telecom has changed over the years... you went from a single provider to a number of competing companies.

In Arkansas, you probably have a single utility company and/or municipality that handles all of your utilities (electricity/gas and possibly water)-- by that, I mean they handle the delivery, maintenance, meter reading, billing, customer service, etc. Rates are set through a public utility commission, but essentially, it's a monopoly with no competition and no substantive difference in "product offering". That's the regulated view, and it exists throughout much of the country. Rates tend to remain fixed for prolonged periods, and when there are increases, they are often significant because they haven't reflected real market prices for a while, and because the utilities don't have to worry about losing you as a customer. As a customer, you have no real choice in the matter (unless you elect to buy your own generation and just live "off the grid").

In a deregulated environment, and in Texas this is purely for electricity, the transmission and distribution remain regulated -- for example, here in Houston, you don't see anyone "competing" with Centerpoint to read meters or provide maintenance. Centerpoint remains over that part of the electric delivery service. The deregulated part is the sourcing of power itself, the billing, and customer service. Deregulated companies -- like Reliant, Direct Energy, Gexa, and a whole host of others -- buy power from generators and sell to consumers. They compete with each other by offering different pricing and billing options, products (fixed-price vs. index-based price... variable term vs. long-term, renewable energy, etc.), and a variety of other services to distinguish themselves.

Other people may elect longer-term fixed price products, whereas people who think that the price of power may be coming down might choose an index (when the price comes down to a level they're comfortable with... they lock in longer term). Being more exposed to market prices has both its advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, you're forced to educate yourself about your energy usage habits, and conserve during peak usage times... on the other hand, you're more exposed during those high price periods. Personally, I'm on a 12-month renewable energy source fixed-price product where I'm paying a slightly higher premium that helps pay for additional wind power to be generated and dumped into the grid.