New to Dallas - Which energy company to choose?? (Henderson: apartment, how much)

[ann_runner]

Hi...I am moving from Chicago to Dallas in a few weeks and need to secure an energy provider. I looked on the power to choose website and there are so many options! In Chicago, we do not have the ability to choose, so this is a bit overwhelming for me. Is it better to do the fixed or variable plans? How much is the average cost??

I will be living near Uptown and Knox/Henderson in a one bedroom apartment with washer/dryer and A/C. Any recommendations??

[jcaughron]

easy... the cheapest! Don't get stuck paying 0.17c/kwh like I was this past summer!

[DFWgal]

how do you know which one is the cheapest? is there a website or something?

when we moved here the lady told us the majority of people used certain company and at the end that was the one we chose, but I don't remember finding a lot of info.

[awecelot]

Power to Choose

[kacvb1974]

Ann-runner, the cheapest rate is of course ideal, but just read the fine print so you're not in for any surprises. I prefer going with a fixed rate so I don't have to keep track of what month I'm paying what rate. Sometimes there's a fantastic initial rate but if it jumps up towards the end of your contract it ultimately may not be worth the savings. I also don't follow the prices of natural gas and electricity to know if I'll benefit by going variable, I just know if they do spike I'd prefer to be locked in.

Since deregulation, some of the fly by night companies have gone belly up so doing a little research is a good idea. Cheapest is not automatically best. Last year my mom picked such a company that offered an amazingly low rate but they promptly went out of business. She was stuck with POLR (Provider of Last Resort) and ended up paying the sky high 'market rate' for electricity. Total mess. Check out the Scorecard and the Complaint Summaries links from the Power To Choose site.

I think the average rate these days is about $0.14 kWh. Dallas elec bills during the summer can be outrageous. But for a one bedroom, even in a warmer upstairs apt, I doubt the cost will be unmanageable. Of course I don't know what you're used to paying in Chicago or what temp you keep your thermostat. If you use, for example, 1000 kilowatt hours you'd just multiply that by 14 to get a $140 bill, sans any service fees or tax. It's been awhile since I lived in a one bedroom, but on average my bills were under $150, even in summer.

We're with Reliant and locked into a fixed 2 year rate. Have yet to renew with them and doubt they'll honor my current rate when the 2 years expires, but customer service service isn't too bad and their rates are pretty competitive. In general our experience has been positive. My parents new provider is Spark and they've been pleased thus far.

[rdfw]

Use Green Mountain for all-wind power (at a higher cost, of course). At least here you kind of get to shop around. Different providers offer different promotions.