I'm with Think and it's going up from 8.5 cents to 10.3.

I just checked Power to Choose and I see a bunch of companies I've never heard of - Octopus Energy, Ranchero Power, Discount Power, V247, Veteran Energy, etc. Lowest price for a 12 month contract is 9.4 with Frontier Utilities (another name I don't recognize).

I can get Gexa or Cirro for 9.6, and both are names I recognize. I just hate playing this game.

Did anyone have issues with their "provider" after the freeze? I just think it's odd that there are so many new ones that I don't recognize.

Why do you care about the name of the utility provider?

Residential electric is a small margin business. There will be many new entries, many that are acquired, and several that fold. As a customer it doesn't matter. Your contract will be honored by the no name provider, or if they go under your contract will still be honored by the new provider that takes over their book.

I've never once picked a name I recognized. Never had a problem.
If you recognize the name, that means you're paying extra for their marketing. Not a whole lot of other ways someone in that business has "name recognition".

I switch every year using TexasPowerGuide to the cheapest provider on the list, it's always a new company I've never done business with (and have rarely ever heard of) and it's never been an issue.

Switching today, actually, from Constellation to Frontier

Bad time of year to have to switch, but I'm in the same boat. Ended up switching to 'Amigo' and staying under 9.2 cents.
Never heard of them or countless others that I've used, but as somebody said above it doesn't matter.

Read the EFLs. Gather your kilowatt averages. Look at the ratings. If you stick with someone that advertises and you know the name, you will be taken to the cleaners.

Just Energy has some reasonable rates for 3 and 4 month contracts right now, especially considering it is peak summer. I'd consider one of those (ideally the 4 month) so your renewals will start taking place outside of summer months when residential rates are typically higher.

Half of the no-name companies are owned by larger companies you may or may not have heard of anyway, it is a big shell game.

neAGle96 said:

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Why do you care about the name of the utility provider?

Residential electric is a small margin business. There will be many new entries, many that are acquired, and several that fold. As a customer it doesn't matter. Your contract will be honored by the no name provider, or if they go under your contract will still be honored by the new provider that takes over their book.

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If your provider goes under, you get sent to the provider of last resort and pay a market based rate instead of a fixed rate.

Ask me how I know.

lb3 said:

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neAGle96 said:

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Why do you care about the name of the utility provider?

Residential electric is a small margin business. There will be many new entries, many that are acquired, and several that fold. As a customer it doesn't matter. Your contract will be honored by the no name provider, or if they go under your contract will still be honored by the new provider that takes over their book.

---

If your provider goes under, you get sent to the provider of last resort and pay a market based rate instead of a fixed rate.

Ask me how I know.

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My provider went under a few months ago. They moved me to a new provider and they honored my contract rate. I have energy ogre, and other then them keeping me updated throughout the process, I don't think that had anything to do with my rate not changing.

can you share your exact plant from the EFL. going through this with Amigo now. thanks!

Just switched on Tuesday from Constellation to PowerNext. $.09 all in on a 2 year contract. I figure prices aren't going to get any cheaper in the foreseeable future.

Can't believe I'm the first person to say Energy Ogre and this thread has been up for 8hrs

Dr. Horrible said:

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I've never once picked a name I recognized. Never had a problem.
If you recognize the name, that means you're paying extra for their marketing. Not a whole lot of other ways someone in that business has "name recognition".

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It's not a matter of advertising. I've lived here for 11 years and literally most of the names on PTC right now I've never seen as options on PTC before. That just makes me a little cautious.

The company I use now doesn't advertise, but they've been around a while.

But it's good to know that doesn't really matter.

Irish 2.0 said:

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Can't believe I'm the first person to say Energy Ogre and this thread has been up for 8hrs

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Familiar with that as well, but I don't want to play that game, either. I'm fine with getting a contract, and if it's a decent rate, I don't even mind locking in for 12-24 months.

tx.ag11 said:

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Just Energy has some reasonable rates for 3 and 4 month contracts right now, especially considering it is peak summer. I'd consider one of those (ideally the 4 month) so your renewals will start taking place outside of summer months when residential rates are typically higher.

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This is actually a good idea that I hadn't thought of. The cheapest plans right now are actually 3-4 month contracts.

aggiemike02 said:

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can you share your exact plant from the EFL. going through this with Amigo now. thanks!

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My plan is the 'Basics PTC' fixed rate for 3 months. Just looked and I did better than I thought. I got 8.7 cents (for 3k) which is what we'll hit during the summer.

lb3 said:

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neAGle96 said:

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Why do you care about the name of the utility provider?

Residential electric is a small margin business. There will be many new entries, many that are acquired, and several that fold. As a customer it doesn't matter. Your contract will be honored by the no name provider, or if they go under your contract will still be honored by the new provider that takes over their book.

---

If your provider goes under, you get sent to the provider of last resort and pay a market based rate instead of a fixed rate.

Ask me how I know.

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Was your contract expired? When your contract expires, almost all providers will put you on a LMP contract (index rate) from fixed because they only hedge your historical usage for the term of your contract

If the new provider acquires the book/ business, they MUST honor the contracts! My last two providers went under before my contract was up and the new provider that acquired the book honored my contract.

I cant think of a scenario where some a provider would go under and the contract would fall by the wayside. The contracts/ book have value to them and are wanted by other retail utility providers

I had Frontier back in 2016-2017. They were fine.

As others have mentioned, unless they go under, it doesn't really matter. It's like loan servicing.

Diggity said:

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I had Frontier back in 2016-2017. They were fine.

As others have mentioned, unless they go under, it doesn't really matter. It's like loan servicing.

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Good to know. I'll probably just go with them since they are the cheapest. I just don't remember seeing so many new "provider" names in years past. The only ones I recognized as options from my previous renewals were Cirro, Gexa, and Amigo.

When I saw Octopus and Ranchero, I was thinking WTF!

My constellation was at 6.x from the feb griddy switch.. called them last night and signed up for a year for 8.2c. It was cheaper than anything on power to choose, so I jumped at it

Just switched to Frontier a couple of weeks ago. I switch ever year but decided to go with two years because the rate was the same

I have used Energy Ogre for years. No fuss, no work. Always a low priced plan and I don't do much more than pay my 10 buck a month for it.

If you would like to try it and get a discount you can use my code.

www.energyogre.com/r/absolute

Looks like a 3-4 month plan is the winner. My current plan expires in August. I'll use 1000+ kWh in Sept and maybe Oct, but then I'll drop down to <1000 kWh. There are no long-term plans that are great for my situation right now.

I went with Heritage Power a few months back and have not had any issues. They were cheapest at the time according to PTC.

neAGle96 said:

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lb3 said:

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neAGle96 said:

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Why do you care about the name of the utility provider?

Residential electric is a small margin business. There will be many new entries, many that are acquired, and several that fold. As a customer it doesn't matter. Your contract will be honored by the no name provider, or if they go under your contract will still be honored by the new provider that takes over their book.

---

If your provider goes under, you get sent to the provider of last resort and pay a market based rate instead of a fixed rate.

Ask me how I know.

---

Was your contract expired? When your contract expires, almost all providers will put you on a LMP contract (index rate) from fixed because they only hedge your historical usage for the term of your contract

If the new provider acquires the book/ business, they MUST honor the contracts! My last two providers went under before my contract was up and the new provider that acquired the book honored my contract.

I cant think of a scenario where some a provider would go under and the contract would fall by the wayside. The contracts/ book have value to them and are wanted by other retail utility providers

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I few years back I was with a company that went under (rates were super cheap so not a shock they didn't make it) and no one bought up their assets or contracts so i got stuck with a provider of last resort for a few weeks.

Just called to renew with Discount Power as they were offering me a pretty good plan - just slightly above what I was paying. I chose to chat with someone to ensure the plan would only go into effect after my current plan was finished. To my surprise, they offered me an even better plan than they had emailed me about. Have not had any problems with them at all and we have been with them for a little over a year now.

Do prices vary by zip code? Because I can't find anything in the 8 cent range. Best I can do is about 9.8 for 500 kWh and 9.4 for 1000. And that's only good for 3 months.

Energy Ogre has been great the last few months.

After the winter storm my provider has changed like 5 times with companies getting bought out. One of them was literally my provider for like 48 hours.

I have not had to set up a single new payment or pay a bill direct, they keep cutting the checks.

TXTransplant said:

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Do prices vary by zip code? Because I can't find anything in the 8 cent range. Best I can do is about 9.8 for 500 kWh and 9.4 for 1000. And that's only good for 3 months.

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Are you in the centerpoint service area or does another company own the lines to your home. That can cause the rate's to be different as the company that actually owns the lines has their mandatory rate as part of the rate cost.

I've got Centerpoint.

I just checked Energy Ogre, but because I'm still on a very good plan with Think and EO asks for your last month's bill and usage, their "results" say they can't save me any money. But my rate will go up to over 10 cents per kWh if I renew with them.

I'm currently paying about 8.8 cents all-in (including delivery charges) for about 700 kWh.

The base rate is 4.9 cents without the extra charges.

neAGle96 said:

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Why do you care about the name of the utility provider?

Residential electric is a small margin business. There will be many new entries, many that are acquired, and several that fold. As a customer it doesn't matter. Your contract will be honored by the no name provider, or if they go under your contract will still be honored by the new provider that takes over their book.

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yeah no thats no true when get dropped POLAR your old contract does not have to be honored..They will give you a chance to switch away to another company no ECF

Sorry just now seeing this. I was chatting with them and they offered me this. My initial renewal offer was slightly higher than what I had this past year. With energy rates on the rise I felt like I should go ahead and lock something in. I recommend that you chat with them online or give them a call. It seems this is no where on their website at all.

When it comes time to renew. I always go here

http://www.xlhelp.com/Excel/Electric.htm

down the file, then it downloads all the best plans for powertochoose.org
and makes comparing easier.
I hate having to switch, but it saves money.

Hope this helps!

1 post since 2014!!!