“How to Choose a Texas Electric Provider the Wrong Way”

Recently, my friend Dan Wallach wrote a guest post here about how to find the best deal on electricity in Texas. Robert Nagle, another friend of mine, took issue with some of the things Dan wrote and penned a response on his blog, called How to Choose a Texas Electric Provider the Wrong Way. A brief excerpt:

I am amazed at how easy it is to make a bad decision about electric providers.  A college friend with a PhD in Economics chose an expensive coal-laden TXU plan because he had just moved back to Texas and wasn’t aware that you had the ability to choose your provider – he just went with whatever someone told him about. (In two minutes, I was able to find him a plan which was 10% cheaper and 100% green).  Various acquaintances have chosen plans for the most illogical of reasons. One chose “Reliant” because it sounded “reliable” (Reliant-reliable – get it? I guess getting your name on the downtown stadium was good for something).  Another signed up for the coal-dirty Reliant because it had balanced-billing – never mind that it was significantly more expensive than the other plans. A friend chose a plan simply because a friend of hers had recommended it – that was also more expensive. Another friend opted not to choose the “renewable” plan because she didn’t want to have to renew it each time the fixed rate expired.  There are other not-so-obvious problems. When I had Dynawatt (a company I don’t recommend) I could not make head or tail of the bill (no matter how long I studied it). Everything on the printed bill contradicted what the terms of my contract were, and when I called telephone support several times, each agent quoted me a different rate on my current plan – something which didn’t exactly inspire confidence.

4 Things You Need to Know about Choosing an Electric Provider in Texas

This blogpost is going to ramble a bit, so I’ll summarize for people who are in a hurry and need some fast tips.

  1. Texas consumes more fossil fuels than any other state in the US. If Texas were a nation, it would be the 7th largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Electric plants in Texas (population 25 million) emit as much CO2 as electric plants in the COMBINED states of New York, California, Florida, Massachusetts and Oregon (population: 86 million)
  2. 1 year Fixed-rate plans for 100% green (renewable) energy plans are on average 5-10% higher than comparable coal/natural gas plans.
  3. Don’t choose an electric provider which has received too many complaints. (Check thecomplaint scorecards on the PUC site and also Yelp if you want).

You’ll need to click over and read the whole thing for the fourth point. My thanks to Robert for sharing his expertise.

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One Response to “How to Choose a Texas Electric Provider the Wrong Way”

  1. Robert Nagle says:

    A small correction. My paragraph said: “Electric plants in Texas (population 25 million) emit as much CO2 as electric plants in the COMBINED states of New York, California, Florida, Massachusetts and Oregon (population: 86 million) “. (Maybe you were looking at a version before I doublechecked everything).

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