Energy Companies (month-to-month, promotional, live in)

[nctotx]

Hello all!

I am surprised (pleasantly?!?) that you can choose your energy provider. I was reading a few threads about energy bills and how to choose the lowest kilowatt per hour. I also went on the site power to choose and looked at different plans. Now it would make sense to me to choose a fixed rate at the lowest cost per kilowatt hour. True? or too good to be true?

Also if you can suggest some tips about choosing the companies? Anything else I need to watch out for?

Thanks all!

[nsumner]

I would say make sure that the rate quoted is not just a promotional one for the first few months only then it jumps after they locked you into a contract.

Also, check the contract lenght and see if it fits the time that you are going to be in that location. What happens if you move during the contract period?

Lastly, see if the deposit is 100% refundable or not and do the math accordingly.

Naima

[Debsi]

I read the fine print on Cirro before I signed up.

If you don't hit a certain amount of killowatt hours per month, there is a service charge added to your bill.. I think it's $5.50.

I will be paying the $5.50 several months a year, but will easily meet the higher KwH it takes to remove it during the long hot summer.

My bill for my first month was still way lower than what I had with TXU, even with the $5.50 added. Read the terms no matter who you choose and make sure there are not huge hidden fees.

A contract early termination fee of $100-$200 seems pretty standard on these fixed rate deals.

[bookworm2768]

In my opinion many of them are out to scam you. When you sign up with them or look at the rates on power to choose there are a few documents you should read carefully. I got burned with YEP because they mention in one of these documents that they charge nearly a $40 delivery fee per month!!! They refused to let me cancel my year long contract since it was my mistake not to read the small print!!
I finally cancelled last month, paid the $100 cancellation fee and to he** with it.
Another thing is that the rate they show is usually for if you use at least 1000kwh. Over the winter when we used barely 600/month our rate was different.
When I shopped around the second time I made sure to speak to a person, write down their name and ask very specifically if there were any fees above and beyond the basic kw/h rate. And if there were I wanted an exact dollar figure for each one of them.

[txgolfer130]

I went w/ Bounce energy, and a month-to-month variable 100% renewable energy choice. The charge/kw is great, but does have a minimum usage clause (1000kw I believe) which is no problem for me.

The Customer Service is horrible (wait times, and talking w/ a real person during normal hours), but so far I love it. We'll see how it is come winter.

[sftransplant]

I second Bounce energy, no issues so far. Just saw the TED video of Al Gore talking about climate change and I'm glad I'm on the 100% renewable energy plan (Blue Sky).

Cost is 0.115 per KWH for this month but its a variable plan (2 months back it was 0.133, last month it was 0.108). I don't have the 1000KW restriction.

Also, I didn't experience any customer service issues or delays when I called. Maybe I got lucky.

[Tta]

Originally Posted by bookworm2768

I got burned with YEP because they mention in one of these documents that they charge nearly a $40 delivery fee per month!!! They refused to let me cancel my year long contract since it was my mistake not to read the small print!!

wow, thats scary. i just signed up with them, so i went to look at the TOS. i didn't find anything about a $40 delivery fee, so maybe they took that out after complaints...
the only $40 fee is if your check bounces or other insufficient funds issue.
they have a $7.95 meter fee if you consume less than 1000 kWhs, and that is the only fee i see as recurring monthly.

its always good to read the fine print, bc bookworm is definitely right, they will try to squeeze every penny out of you unless you know and understand the terms you are getting yourself into. this whole choose your own energy provider thing doesn't make sense to me though because the power is still provided and delivered by Oncor (or whoever's area you live in). it just seems like we have an extra middleman we are paying that doesn't really do anything. so how do all these different REP's selling the same energy justify charging different amounts?

apples to apples comparison, because green energy costs more (or close).
the cheapest 1 yr fixed rate 2% renewable energy right now is offered by Champion at 9.9 c/kwh. then there is First Choice Power that charges 13.5 c/kwh for 1 yr fixed 0% renewable. boggles my mind.

alright, that is the end of my lunatic rant. maybe someone can help me understand.