Brak Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 So my contract with Reliant expires this month....anyone else dealing with this?I almost feel like I am buying a house again trying to read thru all the options.Not sure if I should ride out a few months on a Flex Plan hoping natural gas prices go down or lock into a 24 month contract.....any thoughts? I have just a few more days to decide.........Anyone had any luck negotiating with Reliant based on what other companies offer?I have read all the small print, espcially on offers better then Reliant........did see some had kind of hidden fees (TDSP costs) that would raise the actual cost..............I told my wife whe should do the research and pick one so I could blame her............LOL............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
20thStDad Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 I can't figure out why, but my contract with Reliant ran out in February and my rates have stayed the same. I'm still averaging in the $0.14/kw-h range depending on usage. I don't want to mess anything up by doing anything. The new plans offered are at 17 cents or higher, which makes no sense when the bill keeps coming in at 14. Here are the rates I get, not on a contract:1st 500 kw-h: 0.135979500-999 kw-h: 0.160183above 1000: 0.141838It has been the exact same since last year. I can't figure it out, and I don't want to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westguy76 Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 I had a 12 monthe contract end with First Choice power about 2 months ago. I didn't think about it, but they moved me to their month to month plan. first month on that KW usage rate went to .19 took 6 weeks to get off of their plan. then it went to .22. We have had bills of $330 and now $470 in the meantime. We have now moved to month to month with Reliant at .15 right now. What little I know about it I would not sign up for a contract right now while the rates are the highest (peak summer) And I would watch for when the contract expires and see what your options are when that happens. This sort of thing has happened to 3 people I work with also. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Name Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 I signed up for a 2 year contract last July. I would recommend going to Powertochoose.com. This website gives you offers from many power providers. It looks like the rate runs anywhere between $0.16 aand $0.22 per kwh. I have had good service from Spark Energy for the last year. I have no fees added to my rate and pay only the rate that they quoted me plus tax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texastanya Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 We have Gexa with no contract and pay 0.17 per kwh. We have had them for a few years and had no problems. They also pay Continental onepass miles for each dollar on your bill. That really adds up in the summer!I will have to check out powertochoose, but probably won't switch just for convenience.So my contract with Reliant expires this month....anyone else dealing with this?I almost feel like I am buying a house again trying to read thru all the options.Not sure if I should ride out a few months on a Flex Plan hoping natural gas prices go down or lock into a 24 month contract.....any thoughts? I have just a few more days to decide.........Anyone had any luck negotiating with Reliant based on what other companies offer?I have read all the small print, espcially on offers better then Reliant........did see some had kind of hidden fees (TDSP costs) that would raise the actual cost..............I told my wife whe should do the research and pick one so I could blame her............LOL............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 I just looked at Power to Choose and was surprised at the rates...the lowest was 15.9 on a three year plan.I'm with Green Mountain (no contract) and have been paying about 13.5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcnet Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 I locked at 11.1 last year with Spark so I'm good through October of this year. Kicking myself for not locking longer as I think I could have done 2 years for around .12 or .13!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Name Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 I locked at 11.1 last year with Spark so I'm good through October of this year. Kicking myself for not locking longer as I think I could have done 2 years for around .12 or .13!!I am with Spark locked in at 12.7 through next July. Could have gotten 11.9 for 1 year, but luckily opted for the 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bman Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 I am with Spark locked in at 12.7 through next July. Could have gotten 11.9 for 1 year, but luckily opted for the 2I would suggest all of you lock your rates. We fell out of our plan and were switched to a month to month plan automatically. Now, either they didn't tell us, or we missed the notification - but last month my electric bills jumped to $600 (.22c per), this month came in at $1000 (.29c per)... this is the pain that month to month will get you. We immediately called TXU and locked in for five years at .16 per. Anyone who thinks energy bills are going down is fooling themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GettaClue Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 We had Spark for a year at 10.7 and no problems whatsoever. By the time it expired, rates had shot up, so we changed to Riverway at 10.9 for a year. Big, big mistake. Huge! They took 2 months to get us going under them, during which time we had to continue to pay 16.2 to Spark on a month to month deal. Once Riverway finally got us started, we had them for 2 months before they went bankrupt. They still have our $200 deposit (the only damned company that has ever asked us for a deposit in the first place, of course) and I'm not holding my breath on ever getting it back. We saved about $80 with them in the 2 months we had them,. so we're "only" out about $120, I guess. Thanks PUC and ERCOT! You require these companies to pay consumers interest on these deposits, but you don't demand that they protect our deposits by escrowing them. Asshats.Anyway, from there, Green Mountain bailed us out with a 3 month wind-generated power plan at 14.9. It was by far the lowest rate at the time, but even they have jacked up their prices since then (I don't know why...wind can't have gone up in price, unlike natural gas and coal, but oh well).Now that 3 mo. contract is about up, I just learned on Thursday that natural gas (which is the source of most electrical power in this part of the world) is going up by 40% this fall and winter. So I immediately locked in with Spark at 14.2 for 12 months, beginning Sept. 1. It's a good thing iI did, because that rate has jumped up to 14.9 as of today! (Most others are up at 16+ right now for a 12 month fixed rate.)After the Riverway debacle, ERCOT's PowertoChoose.com site now has links to each company's filings, showing their funding and principal players. They also have a page whcih shows consumer complaint scores for each company. That was what led me straight back to Spark....it's well-funded, has players with good reputations and the company has a very low level of consumer complaints. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm1fd Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 Now that 3 mo. contract is about up, I just learned on Thursday that natural gas (which is the source of most electrical power in this part of the world) is going up by 40% this fall and winter.It is? Really? Could you gaze into your crystal ball and tell me what AMR will be trading at on 11/14/2008? I can't decide to sell now and lock in my profits or hang on a bit longer... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin2002 Posted August 3, 2008 Share Posted August 3, 2008 Maybe you folks should move into smaller more efficient houses and stop bitching about your electric bills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstonmacbro Posted August 3, 2008 Share Posted August 3, 2008 Maybe you folks should move into smaller more efficient houses and stop bitching about your electric bills.Maybe they already are in smaller and more efficient. I am with Ambit at .109/kwhr but I think my contract (1 year) expires sometime in November. I should have locked in for a longer period 'cause everything else is out of this world and now they do not offer contracts, just month-to-month.Damn this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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