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Choosing an Electricity Provider in Spring (77386) Area

2,237 Views | 14 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by cjsag94
jagvocate
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So we've been living in regulated (monopoly provider) electricity markets for the last couple of decades.

We are currently with Entergy, but relocating to Spring (77386) and need to choose a provider. Electricity is pretty much a commodity to us so not interested in anything sexy -- just dependable service and competitive pricing. We currently pay $.069/kw hour, and so far everything looks to be in the $.10 range (thanks deregulation!?)

Would really appreciate anyone's perspective on good companies / companies to avoid. Thank you in advance.

The Pilot
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Energy ogre and be done with it.
one MEEN Ag
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jagvocate said:

So we've been living in regulated (monopoly provider) electricity markets for the last couple of decades.

We are currently with Entergy, but relocating to Spring (77386) and need to choose a provider. Electricity is pretty much a commodity to us so not interested in anything sexy -- just dependable service and competitive pricing. We currently pay $.069/kw hour, and so far everything looks to be in the $.10 range (thanks deregulation!?)

Would really appreciate anyone's perspective on good companies / companies to avoid. Thank you in advance.
powertochoose.com is a terrible way of parsing through plans. All the plans are rigged to show great prices at just 500kwh, 1000 kwh and 2000 kwh. Literally, just at those three points.

Energy Orge is okay, but they like signing you up for a year long contract and then running away to collect their 10 a month.

The best I've seen is texaspowerguide.com. It used to be free, but now the results cost $10 to view it. Still the best way to select a provider and be done with it.
TXAGEE
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https://ezelectricity.com/

Aggie owned and zero hassle.
MsDoubleD81
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I've been with Champion Energy in Spring for a year at 7.9 cents and just got renewal offer for 6.6 cents/kwh. I used them for about 12 years in DFW prior to here. Outstanding customer service.
malenurse
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one MEEN Ag said:

jagvocate said:

So we've been living in regulated (monopoly provider) electricity markets for the last couple of decades.

We are currently with Entergy, but relocating to Spring (77386) and need to choose a provider. Electricity is pretty much a commodity to us so not interested in anything sexy -- just dependable service and competitive pricing. We currently pay $.069/kw hour, and so far everything looks to be in the $.10 range (thanks deregulation!?)

Would really appreciate anyone's perspective on good companies / companies to avoid. Thank you in advance.
powertochoose.com is a terrible way of parsing through plans. All the plans are rigged to show great prices at just 500kwh, 1000 kwh and 2000 kwh. Literally, just at those three points.

Energy Orge is okay, but they like signing you up for a year long contract and then running away to collect their 10 a month.

The best I've seen is texaspowerguide.com. It used to be free, but now the results cost $10 to view it. Still the best way to select a provider and be done with it.

You get low rates because you sign a one year contract with the provider. EO doesn't just look for the lowest rate. They look at your usage numbers also to find the best deal. Companies with very low rates sometimes have fees if you use less than x number of killowatts/month. EO typically contacts me when I have 2-3 months left and starts researching again.
The Pilot
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IMO sticking with 1 company costs you money. In my 10 years in dallas I probably had 6 or 7 different providers. The distribution company remains the same so if power goes out, I'm dealing with oncor anyways.
one MEEN Ag
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I've previously made my case against Energy Ogre during the great Griddy wars of summer 2019 on this board.

Energy Ogre doesn't impress me with their model. They aren't the only company out there to do a 'revolutionary approach' of putting your actual usage in. Even then energy ogre only wants one months statement and the usage/costs. Energy Ogre is for those people who don't want to mess with electricity and are content with just not getting a bad deal.

By far the best way to chose the cheapest electricity provider for yourself and manage it yourself is using texaspowerguide.com. You put in your last 12 months of usage, and it spits out all the plans according to their own rules of charging you. $10 one time, pick the best plan, rinse and repeat every year. EnergyOgre is built on the same principle but would charge you a $120 for the convenience of them renewing it. And if you ever have a billing issue or don't like what Energy Ogre just signed you up for, I'm sure you'll love their middle man approach.

Before that one poster who works for energyogre posts on here- I've put my electricity information into energy ogre various times over the past year, every time it tells me they can't save me money.
Rustys-Beef-o-Reeno
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I use realsimpleenergy.com
I honestly don't even knownwho my provider is, they take care of anything and when and if it's cheaper to switch they switch me to something else and I just pay them and they pay whoever. It's always been cheaper than doing it myself so I don't worry about it. I honestly haven't thought about an electric bill or company in a few years.
cjsag94
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I spend an unreasonable amount of time utilising power to choose, reviewing facts labels for the detailed charges, and plugging numbers against my usage into a spreadsheet to find the best option for me.

I was unaware of Texaspowerguide, looking at it it is is going to do all that work for $10! I agree with poster above, energy ogre doesn't do anything magical, but question for OP, can you get historical usage for where you are buying? That's the toughest part with moving to a new place... You need historical usage stats to figure out best option.

Whatever you do, avoid a contract that expires anytime between May and October... Don't ever want to find yourself forced to renew in peak season.
Just an Ag
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I'm like Rusty - I don't know who my provider is, but i know I am in good hands with RealSimpleEnergy.com
They handle commercial buildings as well.
drewser95
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one MEEN Ag said:

By far the best way to chose the cheapest electricity provider for yourself and manage it yourself is using texaspowerguide.com. You put in your last 12 months of usage, and it spits out all the plans according to their own rules of charging you. $10 one time, pick the best plan, rinse and repeat every year.
Another vote for this one -- just used them for the fourth year in a row when my contract with Gexa expired a few weeks ago.
Rustys-Beef-o-Reeno
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Just an Ag said:

I'm like Rusty - I don't know who my provider is, but i know I am in good hands with RealSimpleEnergy.com
They handle commercial buildings as well.


Worked with the guy who started it at JPMorgan, great person and super smart. They aren't the only player in town but just like the name implies they make it super easy to get the best contract for you and you literally forget about it.
Timber08
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one MEEN Ag said:


powertochoose.com is a terrible way of parsing through plans. All the plans are rigged to show great prices at just 500kwh, 1000 kwh and 2000 kwh. Literally, just at those three points.
This made me nervous I'm an idiot.

I pulled up a plan I just recommended to a family member after a very brief power to choose search. This was either the top or number two on the list sorted for cheapest so theoretically should be exhibiting what you are highlighting.

It consists of $3.42 base charge and 8.5948 cents/kwh. No minimum charge, no maximum usage.

I think you can probably do better if you really dial in your usage but for a "leave town for a month or run the A/C all July" but don't worry about kwh plan I don't see how its rigged? What am I missing?

It is a long term since they don't want to revisit but I saw the same structure for 24 months and 12 months(though a slightly higher rate).

https://signup.windroseenergy.com/Home/EFl?productId=112190
one MEEN Ag
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Timber08 said:

one MEEN Ag said:


powertochoose.com is a terrible way of parsing through plans. All the plans are rigged to show great prices at just 500kwh, 1000 kwh and 2000 kwh. Literally, just at those three points.
This made me nervous I'm an idiot.

I pulled up a plan I just recommended to a family member after a very brief power to choose search. This was either the top or number two on the list sorted for cheapest so theoretically should be exhibiting what you are highlighting.

It consists of $3.42 base charge and 8.5948 cents/kwh. No minimum charge, no maximum usage.

I think you can probably do better if you really dial in your usage but for a "leave town for a month or run the A/C all July" but don't worry about kwh plan I don't see how its rigged? What am I missing?

It is a long term since they don't want to revisit but I saw the same structure for 24 months and 12 months(though a slightly higher rate).

https://signup.windroseenergy.com/Home/EFl?productId=112190
That energy plan is straightforward and not a bad one at all.

Run away from plans that have credits for usage or minimum usage penalties. Plans I've seen over the years: $0.20/kwh but an 80 dollar credit if you use over 499kwh in a month. The 500 kwh number is stupid low 500*.020= 100-80 credit=$20/500kwh= $.04/kwh rate right at 500 kwh, but its $.12/kwh at 1000 kwh. There will be a delay in the ability to track your electricity and that company will do everything in their power to make sure you can't easily see your electricity usage within a usable time frame to make sure you 500+.

Other one I saw when I was in an apartment was $25 a month flat rate between 0-500 kwh, and then plus 0.25/kwh if over 500. That one I actually took them up on that offer because I was in a nice apartment that was well insulated. Never went over 500 kwh/month.

The governor issued a statement about a year ago telling retail to knock it off with the crazy plans or they'll weigh in on it. I think thats why you're seeing a reduction in that type of scammy plans.



cjsag94
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The worst I've ever seen was an extension of the last one mentioned above. It was fixed price for 0-500 kwhr..then same fixed price for 501-1000, then a third fixed fee from 1001-1500...then it was like $0.18/kwhr above 1501.

This resulted in really cheap rate at 1000....but then close to that $0.18 at 1001 kw. It gradually gets reasonable as you fully utilize the band. But man, that should be illegal.
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