powertochoose.org

sweet, i need to ditch unreliant

 

Reliant is required by law to be the most expensive in the Houston area.

All your power comes through Centerpoint lines anyways. You just buy it from different folks.

 

just remember who owns the copper and that hurricane season is here. When power gets knocked out, whose customers will be first in line to get theirs back up? First, they'll grab the low hanging fruit and fix the issues that affect the largest number of customers.......everyone's customers, then they'll fix the issues that affect smaller numbers of customers......their own customers. The last issues they'll fix are the smaller issues affecting non-reliant customers. You can't predict what kind of issues will affect you, but you can make sure you aren't in that last group. Two of my very best friends work at Reliant, and I can attest that they are a really crappy company, but I'll pay a slight premium to have that extra piece of mind.

 

I wish I could choose...

 

Reliant does tend to be expensive, but their strong relationship with Centerpoint is worth the extra money when the power goes out.

When my company was moving, the previous tenant cancelled the power in our new building 1 month too soon (and neglected to tell us). Normally, once an order is in, it usually takes 4-5 days to reverse it. The previous tenant's power retailer couldn't do crap about it, but Reliant was able to help prevent the power from being turned off (that and me convincing the Centerpoint tech to "forget" to turn the power off).

 

Your peace of mind is unfounded. Centerpoint owns the wires and poles, not Reliant. They are two separate companies now since they were required to split during deregulation.

 

i switched to TXU a year ago. just went to balanced billing this month.

 

Heard too many horror stories about other providers taking forever to get their customers back up, and although the two companies might be two separate legal entities, they are definitely still in bed together.

 

I've been struggling with this decision lately. What I don't understand is how they all use a single number to compare prices, but when I look at my bill, there are like 3 different price breaks.

So, if they're creating an average, won't that average depend on how much power you use? Am I missing something?

I'm inclined to blow off the price comparison and just switch to Green Mountain to use only renewable energy sources. It may not be cheaper, but at least it'll be better for the environment. Anybody have experience with them?

 

I have to do this up in dallas...Up here, TXU is the price to beat...

Keep in mind the following:

1) Am I going to have to sign a contract? If so, the discount better be worth it. 6 mos. from now, the rates could go down and you're stuck like Chuck or vica versa, and you're golden...

2) How much the montly base charge is and is there a deposit required...

3) Look at the c/kwh. The rates they quote you is all in, including the base charge, so look at rates for 500 - 1500 kwh. Look at your bill for an idea on how much you use...

I started with TXU, went to Reliant and am about to change...If I understand it right, if the power goes out, its not by customer, but by grid...Meaning if your block is out, they can't just flip the switch on for just Reliant customers, its all or none...

 

Power is done by grid, not by house. They can't turn on some people with one provider and other people without.

Centerpoint doesn't care which provider you use, they get paid by every company using their lines.

I switched to TXU in Houston. No contract, guaranteed to beat Reliant by at least 6% per month.

Wasn't the cheapest, but its cheaper and still a good company.

A friend of the family actually works for a company whose only job is to switch electricity providers for huge companies that use a lot of power. They research rates and change almost weekly. Saves big bucks for huge companies that use a lot of power.

 

Does this "grid" exist in fantasy land, or is it tangible......you know......with things like transformers and poles and lines.......all of which can be damaged or destroyed in a storm.....affecting anywhere from one household to many?

 

I currenty have First Choice Power. Im very happy with them.

Before that, we had Entergy. Was happy with them till they wanted a $250 deposit for the house that I built. F that

 

The "grid" are all the transmission and distribution networks, which includes wires, poles, substations, transformers...basically everything that leaves the power plant up to your socket in the wall.

When Centerpoint goes to repair the transmission and distribution system after a storm, they have no freaking idea who customers are using for their generation (the part that was deregulated in TX).

You should switch and save money.

 

bigtexx is 100% correct on this

 

I understand about the grid.....you basically just reiterated what I was saying above (unless you thought that I thought it exists in fantasyland). You also said that Centerpoint has no idea who bills at a given household. Who reads the meters? Centerpoint. How do the REPs and Reliant know what to bill then? Centerpoint tells them, so they know exactly who bills to each house. Who installed the CEO and most of the board over at Centerpoint? Reliant.

I know that most of the rest of what you've said is technically correct. All I'm saying is that there still remains a culture at Centerpoint that favors Reliant. Most of their employees called themselves Reliant employees just a few years ago. I've heard too many horror stories from differing sources that back up this claim--that and the fact that I have a few friends at Reliant who claim the same. They sure as hell wouldn't make this up because they really don't care for Reliant. Will this culture be bred out of Centerpoint? I'm sure. Will I someday pay more than just a slight premium for sticking with Reliant by having my power shut off for more than a reasonable amount of time after a storm? Probably so........but until then, the switch just isn't worth it to me.

 

Gexa Hands down is the best Provider...

Not because of just the price but because every dollar you spend on your electricity bill they Give you 1 continental air pass mile..

 

Be careful with Gexa. They have had some problems in the past with their billing department and some business practices that have been a little shady.

Check out their BBB listing.

 

Just so you know.....I spoke to a few other friends/aquaintances at Reliant regarding this situation. One of them basically said that there was really no love lost between Centerpoint people and Reliant people and that there was never a culture of preference towards Reliant. Others--who had originally told me otherwise--said that any culture of preference to Reliant was short lived. They all agreed they had heard the same stories of other provider's customers waiting longer to get their service turned back on (we had discussed this before, and some of these customers run with us in the same circles), but they all pretty much agreed it had to be coincidence.

Anyway.........what I'm trying to say is: I was wrong.....you guys were right.

Unfortunately Supermac34........my wife is the OnePass miles queen.....she just HAS to go with Gexa