Which electric provider

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by cdelena

I know a lot of people that have signed up with Green Mountain Energy because of the clean and green promise, but it does not make any sense.

There is only enough wind/solar/hydro energy in Texas to provide less than 2% of the needs in the state… and it is not from consistent sources (there are plenty of hot dark nights with no wind blowing). The Texas grid is pretty much isolated so there is no feed of consequence from other states.

SO HOW CAN THEY SELL YOU CLEAN ENERGY? I can only conclude that their terms of service document is a fabrication. There are web sites that call them all kind of names.

Does anyone have the real facts?

It isn't a scam. Here is a link to the explanation
Green Mountain Energy Company: Texas — How It Works

There are only one set of power lines, but many sources of green energy. There is a public energy market where energy is traded. So Green mountain buys green energy from other places and then sells that energy to you. By paying the providers of the energy Green mountain ensures that they are able to keep providing energy into the grid. The actual electrons you get might be from anywhere.

[cdelena]

Originally Posted by Austin97

It isn't a scam. Here is a link to the explanation
Green Mountain Energy Company: Texas — How It Works

There are only one set of power lines, but many sources of green energy. There is a public energy market where energy is traded. So Green mountain buys green energy from other places and then sells that energy to you. By paying the providers of the energy Green mountain ensures that they are able to keep providing energy into the grid. The actual electrons you get might be from anywhere.

Yes, I understand the PR. The point is that there is not enough green energy available on the grid to satisfy a fraction of their customers. As good as the theory might be the fact is that only a small fraction can be from green resources and that fact is not disclosed..

A number of us have tried to get them to disclose the capacity of the green facilities or providers they buy from. They are not up front with disclosure.

Let’s find some facts other than the company propaganda

[GANKS]

I am trying to figure out which provider is best, there are a lot of options which makes me feel like there are lots of ways a consumer can get screwed over by locking into the wrong term.

I called TXU and thought it was odd victims of domestic abuse get a discount (not that it's a bad thing but thought it was odd it was called out).

TXU has a great estimator you can use to profile your home and appliances, here is the link http://www.energyguide.com/ha

[RobinRR]

Several years ago a Green Mountain Energy rep called me and convinced me to switch from the energy company I had been using for 20 years and never had a problem with over to them because of the green benefits at a lower rate. They said they had taken my total usage for the past 12 months from the other company and averaged it out equally so I would have the same payment each month. Sounded great so I switched and all was fine for a couple years. After getting frustrated with my bill arriving at inconsistent times each month, I switched to one with a lower rate. Then Green Mt sent me a goodbye bill for over $3,000!!! Saying I used more than my allotment.
After going round and round over several months (horrible customer service!!), a rep finally admitted the reason it happened was because Green Mt never came out to read my meter until after I switched, and apologized that it was negligence on their part because they were a new company and hadn't worked the kinks out. I thought that was the end of it until several years later I received a call from a collection agency.
Sugar Land, Texas

[Rose Red]

Originally Posted by RobinRR

Several years ago a Green Mountain Energy rep called me and convinced me to switch from the energy company I had been using for 20 years and never had a problem with over to them because of the green benefits at a lower rate. They said they had taken my total usage for the past 12 months from the other company and averaged it out equally so I would have the same payment each month. Sounded great so I switched and all was fine for a couple years. After getting frustrated with my bill arriving at inconsistent times each month, I switched to one with a lower rate. Then Green Mt sent me a goodbye bill for over $3,000!!! Saying I used more than my allotment.
After going round and round over several months (horrible customer service!!), a rep finally admitted the reason it happened was because Green Mt never came out to read my meter until after I switched, and apologized that it was negligence on their part because they were a new company and hadn't worked the kinks out. I thought that was the end of it until several years later I received a call from a collection agency.
Sugar Land, Texas

I am sorry that happened to you. That is insane, stressful and frustraing... I just couldn't imagine...

I use TXU and currently haven't had any problems. They come out every month to read our meter and we have been with them over year.

[xsloane]

We ended up choosing the Market Edge by TXU and so far (since July) we have paid an average of 10-11 cents per kw/h each month. So far so good. I haven't found any better rates around, neither fixed or variable.

[Newbus77]

It is a good idea to go with a company that has been certified by a third party organization, like Green-e, when you choose an energy company based on " green energy ". They do audits on companies they certify to make sure that you are recieving the type of service you are paying for. Some of these third party organizatons even list the companies that fail the audits on their web sites. Just a suggestion