Electric Plans

[Torinoman]

I'm sure this has been discussed before but I haven't seen a recent thread about it. My plan with reliant is up soon and need to find a new plan and looking for some insight if some one has shopped these recently. I have a small home, like 1650 sqft, and only go over 2000kwhrs in july and august. I know this is not the norm for DFW ballers with mansions and whatnot but hoping someone can can point me in the right direction.

[The King]

The best offers for your situation change all the time so look on PowerToChoose or whatever it's called now. I look for the plan with of course the lowest price per kWh that also has no customer base charge and charges the same rate across all usage tiers. Also for me it must also be for a minimum term of one year.

[Nate]

Energyogre.com

Go there sign up forget about it. I worked in the energy industry for 3 years and this by far is the easiest thing to do vs going and checking rates at power to choose all the time.

[hxbernal]

If you happen to see the door to door salespeople stop them. They usually have the best offers. Most rates are pretty close so what I do is see who has the biggest free gift card or bill credit. My last renew not so great only got a $150 credit. Prior to that I was able to snag a $400 bill credit. I was able to get away with free electricity for almost half the year because I worked so much and was never home.

Also, free weekends does not actually mean free weekends. What they do is subtract a few days off the bill. For example: If there are 4 weeks in the month they will subtract 8 days worth of usage.

[kingjason]

I went to power to choose this year but did not finish the buy. Then called Amigo and told them I was thinking of switching. They beat their lowest current rate and let me sign up for a three year contract. Way better than TXU who always wanted you to switch and then would offer you a deal to come back. I figured it was not a bad time to lock in a rate with energy prices down like they are.

[The King]

Exactly, I like to go with 2-3 year contracts whenever possible. We're still overdue I think for a major 'cane in the Gulf of Mexico which would bring on a rate spike in short order.

[bcoop]

Energyogre.com

Go there sign up forget about it. I worked in the energy industry for 3 years and this by far is the easiest thing to do vs going and checking rates at power to choose all the time.

Yep. One month of savings paid for the service for a year.

[Torinoman]

Yep. One month of savings paid for the service for a year.

How big is your house? What was your bill before? My highest bill of the year was last month at about $230.

So how does this energyorge work? I pay them 10 bucks a month and they keep me on the cheapest plan? Or they just tell me what's the cheapest plan and I sign up for it through their site?

[jakesford]

I switched to a 12mo plan with Veterans Energy, and for my usage it's a steal. Typically I use just under 1000kwh per month, maybe 1200-1300 during the summer.

This is a tiered plan, and kind of expensive over 1000kwh $.111, but under 1000kwh its $.0099 per kwh, with a $5 monthly service fee. So if I use 1000kwh, my bill is $14.90 plus the TDU charges which are the same no matter what.

Figure out what your actual usage is based on prior bills, and shop to that. Look at the energy fact label on each plan because there are some really tricky pricing structures.

[The King]

It does take some research going through the PowerToChoose site. That's why once I settle on a plan I generally get the longest contract term offered, which has to be at least a year for me. I don't recall ever staying with the same provider after the initial term, and it was definitely nice to leave TXU back when electricity service was first deregulated (2003?).

[Nate]

How big is your house? What was your bill before? My highest bill of the year was last month at about $230.

So how does this energyorge work? I pay them 10 bucks a month and they keep me on the cheapest plan? Or they just tell me what's the cheapest plan and I sign up for it through their site?

They sign you up for it. You don't have to do shit except pay a different company after they make switches for you. It's cheaper long term than you bothering with powertochoose. The contracts are shorter so and cheaper over the long run. The King can do it the hard way if he wants and spend more money.

I have a 2700 sq foot house and my bill was cheaper last month than I had when I originally worked for Stream Energy and got employee pricing on energy.

[Grimpala]

They sign you up for it. You don't have to do shit except pay a different company after they make switches for you. It's cheaper long term than you bothering with powertochoose. The contracts are shorter so and cheaper over the long run. The King can do it the hard way if he wants and spend more money.

I have a 2700 sq foot house and my bill was cheaper last month than I had when I originally worked for Stream Energy and got employee pricing on energy.

So they're constantly switching who your provider is? You pay them their fee and they swap you whenever your contract is up and it benefits to move, then you just automatically receive a bill from the new company?

[Nate]

https://www.energyogre.com/faq

http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/blog/techflash/2015/03/how-energy-ogre-uses-tech-to-slash-your-electric.html

[The King]

They sign you up for it. You don't have to do shit except pay a different company after they make switches for you. It's cheaper long term than you bothering with powertochoose. The contracts are shorter so and cheaper over the long run. The King can do it the hard way if he wants and spend more money.

I have a 2700 sq foot house and my bill was cheaper last month than I had when I originally worked for Stream Energy and got employee pricing on energy.

Whether I spend more money remains to be seen. Shorter contracts are always cheaper in the short run, but I am not moving anywhere so I'll take the best longer term contract any time. Also, PowerToChoose isn't exactly rocket science, so I don't consider it "hard" to use.

[bcoop]

How big is your house? What was your bill before? My highest bill of the year was last month at about $230.

So how does this energyorge work? I pay them 10 bucks a month and they keep me on the cheapest plan? Or they just tell me what's the cheapest plan and I sign up for it through their site?

1700 sq ft. July-September bills are typically $290-325.

In the past I've ALWAYS shopped my rate, I never renew with the same provider, etc. I get on powertochoose and shop rates knowing what my usage is, and lock in for as long as possible.

With energyogre, they use a different approach. They shop available rates based on your usage but put you on short term contracts to take advantage of the constantly fluctuating rates. They do literally everything for you except set up payment/autodraft/etc. Taking care of payment is the only thing you have to do. You don't have to keep up with when contracts expire, etc or shopping the rates. After signing up with EnergyOgre, my second bill was over $120 less for the same billing period the previous year. This covered the cost of my first year of Energy Ogre and that's just one month. Obviously, savings during winter month will be less, but it's well worth it and more than pays for itself in the summer months.