[Electricity] CenterPoint TrueCost

They did a little story on KUHF about this web tool CenterPoint made. And, since I'm in the electricity business, I checked it out and it's kinda cool, though it's a bit of a pain to get specific data, and they don't have everybody.

The idea is that powertochoose.org is a pretty good website for comparing prices, but they don't do a good job of telling you what mix of per-kwh charge, per-customer charge, and penalty charge (like a minimum usage charge) is the best for your specific situation. So, CenterPoint's website can mine the usage history of your meter (or similar meters, if you don't have history) and estimate the bottom line cost per month for the retailers who participate. They also have some sliders so you can say how important price is versus green energy versus customer service versus company reliability, which I didn't have much use for.

The downside, I thought, was that (1) you have to make a login (and with a strong password even though they aren't holding anything sensitive) and (2) you have to find your meter number (which is on your bill) to get your specific data. That's kinda tedious. And, (3) they don't have everybody like powertochoose does. But then, they probably mostly have the companies that know they fare well in a brass-tacks price comparison.

https://centerpointenergy.secure.force.com/homepage

Disclaimer: I don't work for CenterPoint nor own any stock. My own employer doesn't participate in the tool. I only make the thread because I think the tool is cool and in no way do I benefit from it.

 

If you're in an apartment, be careful of minimum usage fees. They'll charge you $5 or $10 extra in a month you don't use a certain amount of electricity. My house insulation is so bad I never have to worry about it. But, for someone who has a small footprint, like single people in apartments, your effective rate will jump a penny or so.