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Electricity Provider? Reliant?

2,596 Views | 33 Replies | Last: 6 yr ago by YouBet
Texas Ag Mom
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My contract w/Gexa is up for renewal. Reliant is offering lower rates. Any problems w/Reliant?
The Pilot
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AG
Sign up for Energy Ogre. They'll evaluate your usage and place you into the cheapest option.
Texas Ag Mom
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I thought about that but I am capable of comparing plans every 12 months. I think EO charges $10 a month so I don't know if it would really be a savings for me.
The Pilot
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AG
Everyone always thinks they can do better without energy ogre, I was hesitant initially too. But even with the $10 add on, I've saved money.
aglaohfour
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AG
My bills before energy ogre were $250-$600. I haven't had a bill over $70 since I signed up earlier this year. They've changed my provider/plan every 3 months, which is something I would never do on my own. It may not be for everyone, but in less than 6 months it's already way more than paid for itself for the year, so I'm a fan.
zidnaut
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Reliant is no better or worse than other retailers --- they all play the same rate games. Some of Reliant's plans are very inexpensive to attract new customers, and others not so much.

If you know your electricity usage by month (from your past bills), plug those numbers into the RateGrinder tool at www.TexasPowerGuide.com; it will instantly do the math to identify your best option, then monitor and notify you of your pending expiration or better deals. If it doesn't match or beat Energy Ogre's results, let me know. A few other shopping sites (see TPG's 'Links' page) also deliver the same plan results with varying degrees of input/output detail and follow-up.
redass1876
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AG
Southwest Power and Light has been my best. I haven't seen them on any of the search sites
Coppell97
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AG
Powertochoose.org and pick best plan. It helps to know your monthly output for each month/time of year. Make sure you sort by that and look at the plans. I've used companies such as Amigo, Reliant, StarTex, Discount Power, Pennywise, Gexa, and it has all seemed the same -- energy doesn't change, just lock in the cheapest prices. And make your switch next time within 14 days of your contract expiring and repeat.
Coppell97
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AG
And to answer the original question -- I've had no problems with Reliant. Their initial deals are usually good to attract new customers. Like all of the companies, you will just probably need to be prepared to switch out once this contract is close to expiration.
PrincessButtercup
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AG
I swear by energy ogre. Looooooove it.
mhayden
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Take 20 minutes every 6-12 months on PowerToChoose and you'll save significantly more than EnergyOgre will save you. They do a very basic database scan and leave out a lot of the discount/rebate energy providers where the biggest savings can be found.
HouseDivided06
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AG
I'm on TexasPowerGuide from the link above and it shows me as Discount Power as my best option. So no issues with them when you used them?
Coppell97
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AG
It has been a few years since I used them, but I didn't have any problems with them.
zidnaut
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I've used Discount Power for my own home for the past 2 annual cycles, and SWP&L before that. No issues with either of them. Currently on a 3-month plan with Pennywise (aka NRG/Reliant/Cirro/Green Mountain), also with no issues to date. The retailers are just financial middlemen that set prices and do billing, so I've always just gone with the cheapest option at the time.
Coppell97
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AG
^ what this guy said
HouseDivided06
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AG
Thanks. I just signed up with Discount Power after being with StarTex Power for about 7 years. Was going to use Energy Ogre but had all my monthly usage and plugged it in. Pretty straightforward. Now stupid question because I haven't switched in so long: I called StarTex and let them know I was switching, and he said I didn't need to call and stop service or disconnect or anything. Once the new retailer does all the paperwork it just automatically switches. Is this correct?
The Pilot
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AG
Yep, everything switches once you sign up with your new company. In this business loyalty only gets you higher monthly payments. That's the greatness of Energy Orge, they'll typically not put you into contracts longer than a few months.
Coppell97
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AG
HouseDivided06 said:

Thanks. I just signed up with Discount Power after being with StarTex Power for about 7 years. Was going to use Energy Ogre but had all my monthly usage and plugged it in. Pretty straightforward. Now stupid question because I haven't switched in so long: I called StarTex and let them know I was switching, and he said I didn't need to call and stop service or disconnect or anything. Once the new retailer does all the paperwork it just automatically switches. Is this correct?
Yes, just sign up for the new company within the 14 day window of your contract expiring and everything will happen automatically. Also, you can usually start shopping your new deal sometimes 30 - 45 days out (or at a minimum a couple weeks). With several of the companies you can schedule the date your new contract will start in advance. So, if you see a great deal, jump on it, and schedule the transfer of service to occur within the 14 day window of your then-current contract is expiring. ** having the service transfer date landing within the 14 day expiration period is the key to avoid any cancellation charges.

In other words, you can pick your new deal well outside of the 14 day window if the new service provider allows that; just make sure the service transfer date you select (when your new contract starts) lands in the 14 day cancellation window. If you are too far out and cannot schedule it within the 14 day window, you will need to not sign up yet for the new deal, and wait until you can schedule it within the window.

There's no need to make any phone calls. All of this is done online. Once you are signed up for the new company, and receive your welcome, contract, or email alert, or you can sign into your account online (will all occur after the official service transfer happens), go ahead and calendar the contract expiration date and the two-week (14 day) window before it. This will remind you to make the switch again for another new deal when this one will be ready to expire. I usually start trying to look for new deals about 30 - 45 days before my current deal expires. And if I don't like the deals at that time, I will wait a few weeks and see if better ones start appearing. But you will eventually need to make a switch prior to the contract end date (not doing so is accepting the rate hike on month-to-month, which will be steep).
HouseDivided06
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AG
Thanks. I actually missed my expiration about a month ago and got a bill that was much higher because they automatically moved me to a variable month to month, which is why I started looking. So I should be good with no cancellation and just scheduled the switch date.
Coppell97
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AG
The 3-month to 6-month type deals usually have the best rates. But, plan length doesn't really matter to me so much. I am solely looking for the best deal based upon my known, typical energy usage in the upcoming months. I've used 12-month plans before if the deal was great -- a while back, I got a crazy one where usage under 1500 kwh / mo. was set at 1.9 cents, so jumped on that one and rode it for the full year.
Texas Ag Mom
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Thanks for all the info. I actually had already been on power to choose before I made my post. I have been w/Gexa a few years & just wanted to be sure I wasn't overlooking something by going w/Reliant. It is crazy that they offer better deals to new customers rather than keep the existing customers! Also I was only looking at 5 star companies because even tho they are only doing your billing they can make your life a living hell!
Coppell97
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AG
In my experience, rating has never been an issue for me. When I started, I wondered about that -- but always took the leap of faith with the cheapest companies. Never had a billing problem and haven't had to deal with customer service on any of these companies. Never had a reason to ever call the companies either. Always been electronic sign up and electronic switch. I set up my billing electronically and from that perspective the companies all seem the same to me, as the energy keeps coming. I've been doing this for many years now.
Texas Ag Mom
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Thanks for all the info. I guess I will take another look & only compare price & see how it goes. We are in Coppell also!

One more question: In this example I will use Gexas & Reliant. The energy charge that is set by Gexa is fixed & never changes during your contract. Same goes for Reliant. They both also add a flat rate fee of $5.25 plus a rate per kWh charged by Oncor. This rate does fluctuate depending on how many kWh you consume.

Does Gexa & Reliant negotiate different rates w/Oncor? It seems like some rates go down as you move up the 2000-3000 kWh range & other providers the rate goes up? There does seem to be consistency in the 1000 range (higher & an added flat fee)& I get that they are just trying to guarantee a certain amount of profit from each customer.
AW 1880
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AG
The charge from Oncor is the same regardless of which plan you choose. That said, some bundle the charge into the overall cost.

Some plans have different energy (not transmission) charges depending on usage. Other plans have usage credits depending on usage thresholds. The plans are confusing on purpose.
Texas Ag Mom
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Yes I know they try to confuse us so we won't shop around. I was told by Gexa & SW Power that THIER rate per kWh (the energy charge) doesn't fluctuate. They both said that the charges from Oncor fluctuate.
zidnaut
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Oncor currently charges all retailers $5.25/month plus 3.286 c/kWh. These 'TDU" charges do change a handful of times a year per Oncor negotiations with the PUC. Because of the fluctuation, most retailers just pass the TDU charges straight through to you, the customer, without markup, on top of the retailer's "Base" and/or "Energy" charges. Some retailers lump them all together into one number (for simplicity?) with the expectation they'll earn or eat the difference if the TDU charges unexpectedly go down or up during your contract. When they don't spell out their assumption of the current TDU charges, it's more tedious to figure out what they're actually charging for the electricity itself. More details here: http://www.texaspowerguide.com/charges/
Ags06Win
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AG
The Power to Choose...

Signed up with GEXA 150 Plan this week...

$60 bill credit anytime over 1000kW.... 3,000 square foot home goes over every month! Bill should be less than $100.00 a month.


May try Ogre the next time around though!
zidnaut
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Are you saying you found a "Gexa 150" plan on PowerToChoose.org? I'm curious, but not seeing it there
Ags06Win
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AG
I was on PowertoChoose, and then it took me to another site.
flown-the-coop
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AG
Electricity "provider" is really a misnomer that should be changed. The REP you choose has responsibility for buying power on the open market then billing you on your usage based on information provid d by the TDSP.

The TDSP (transmission distribution service provider) are the guys that own the wires from the plant to your home. This never changes and continues to be regulated as a public utility. In Dallas this is mainly Oncor. In Houston, it's mainly the legacy HL&P aka Reliant.

The REPs (retail electric provider) buy juice in the open market from the generating companies. They buy this with forward contracts, spot purchases, hedges, etc in a game to guess the usage ahead of time so the difference between what they buy and what they sell to you maximized. They try and put you into a contract as this helps manage the hedging they do.

For those of us living in a co-op served area (Coserv for me), the above does not apply. For others, I would venture that Energy Ogre would be optimal as it is basically playing the opposite game of the REPs on your behalf. Figuring out who has bought juice best on the market and then passing those cost advantages on to you.
Texker
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AG
Just received my first bill with StarTex. $61.94 for mid-June to mid-July. Nice!
YouBet
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AG
Agoodlittleag04 said:

My bills before energy ogre were $250-$600. I haven't had a bill over $70 since I signed up earlier this year. They've changed my provider/plan every 3 months, which is something I would never do on my own. It may not be for everyone, but in less than 6 months it's already way more than paid for itself for the year, so I'm a fan.
I find this hard to believe unless you were completely negligent in choosing your previous plan. Energy has been cheap for many years now and there is no way the difference would be that much unless you were hoodwinked on your prior plan.

For everyone else, this is a completely commoditized industry at this point. Price point is the only deciding factor and all of these companies are interchangeable.
752bro4
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AG
Where are you getting your energy? It's a simple question. Where are you getting your energy in this world?
Energy is becoming more and more and more of a factor in in everybody's world, everybody's world. I'd like to direct you to choose energy. Choose Energy is an absolutely fantastic way of getting your energy in this world.

Choose Energy allows you to choose the company you want. choose the company you want to deliver your energy. Choose Energy gives you fantastic choices in the energy area.
aglaohfour
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AG
Lol. Will I guess you can believe it now, because I freely admit that I was completely negligent. Because I own my own business that has exploded over the last couple of years. And I have three kids. And a husband who travels nearly 90% of the time. And a sick FIL who lives two blocks away.

What I don't have is time to worry about my electricity. Fortunately EO has taken care of that for me.
YouBet
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AG
Yeah, guess I was a dick there.
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