Best strategy for choosing a electric plan? (house, shop)

[Dopo]

I just did it again to help you out
Went to power to choose, downloaded the excel file
added a column with "variance" to help me find the plans with lowest variance in their price.

I don't have a way to paste it here, but here's the best plans that I found in order of "most plans with good rates and low variance":
- Discount Power
- Champion Energy
- Spark Energy
- Think Energy
- Trieagle energy

Discount Power rates for 12 months are about 9.2, 8.6, 8.3
Champion are about 9.5, 8.9, 8.6

[Surfertx]

Originally Posted by Dopo

I just did it again to help you out
Went to power to choose, downloaded the excel file
added a column with "variance" to help me find the plans with lowest variance in their price.

I don't have a way to paste it here, but here's the best plans that I found in order of "most plans with good rates and low variance":
- Discount Power
- Champion Energy
- Spark Energy
- Think Energy
- Trieagle energy

Discount Power rates for 12 months are about 9.2, 8.6, 8.3
Champion are about 9.5, 8.9, 8.6

Thank you. I was looking into the Discount Power Super Saver 12 plan.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by Surfertx

Thank you. I was looking into the Discount Power Super Saver 12 plan.

I'll go ahead and share this with everybody

That's almost exactly the same plan that I have,
except that it has gone up some.
I first got it last year in August when it was 8.2, 7.6, 7.3 (now is 9.2, 8.6, 8.3)
I loved the fact that my rate was usually 7.5c/kWh
June of this year I was going to renew and noticed that it went up a little.
So I went ahead and renewed for 3 years at this rate 8.7, 8.1, 7.8.
I'm averaging about 8.0c/kWh
My last bill was 1951kWh for $167.50 .... about 8.5c/kWh.

You can use the pdf you showed me to calculate any rate.
For that one is going to be 4.039+4.03 = 8.069c/kWh + $5.47.
1500kWh = $126.50
750kWh should be very close to 1/2 of that... about $63

I forgot to mention,
they also have a webpage where you can check your usage,
for each month it shows kWh and how much you were charged.

[Thakur23]

Originally Posted by Dopo

Tier 1 Flat Energy Charge: $39.00 (0-1,000 kWh)
Tier 2 Flat Energy Charge: $117.00 (1,001-Max kWh)
Additional Charge: 7.90¢ per each kWh (≥1,001 kWh)
I'm not sure, but it seem to me like anything below 1000kWh you pay $39
anything over you pay $39+$117 = $156
You are pretty much gambling that your rate will be 900-1000kWh or 1900-2000kWh to be able to get a good rate.
But if you use 1100kWh, it's going to be a really crappy rate.
My plan is similar to this one (Damn, went up in price)
https://signup.discountpowertx.com/P...171-769961.pdf
500kWh (9.2c), 1000kWh (8.6c), 2000kWh (8.3c)

I agree with you somewhat. It depends on the user. If you know your usage from previous year you can easily compare total yearly cost by doing some simple math. It is easy to get lost with the fixed rate plan as well as the average price index for 500, 1000, 2000 KWh usage. I have a excel file which I created for my comparison. I compare fixed plan rate and variable rate plan for each month based on the KWh usage for every month. And then I total the yearly cost. Some months may be higher in one plan but if the yearly cost is low i would pick that plan.

I can share my excel file if you want it.

[Surfertx]

Originally Posted by Thakur23

I agree with you somewhat. It depends on the user. If you know your usage from previous year you can easily compare total yearly cost by doing some simple math. It is easy to get lost with the fixed rate plan as well as the average price index for 500, 1000, 2000 KWh usage. I have a excel file which I created for my comparison. I compare fixed plan rate and variable rate plan for each month based on the KWh usage for every month. And then I total the yearly cost. Some months may be higher in one plan but if the yearly cost is low i would pick that plan.

I can share my excel file if you want it.

I didn't realize how much work is required to find a electric provider. I may try out energy ogre.com after all

[Thakur23]

Originally Posted by Surfertx

I didn't realize how much work is required to find a electric provider. I may try out energy ogre.com after all

I have tried it as well. They pick based on the numbers you provide them for one or two months. So it was helpful but I guess being an engineer I was not satisfied till I made sure the plan they recommended was best. So I did this self check file and for sure they were wrong.
Anyhow good luck. Just do your homework.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by Surfertx

I didn't realize how much work is required to find a electric provider. I may try out energy ogre.com after all

When I did it, they recommend the plan I had selected
I stay away from any tricky plan, no reason to have that BS
give me a rate per kWh and let's go with that.

[kreeyax]

I look for the plans that give a credit instead of a penalty. Found one with Discount Power that gives an $85 credit if you use over 1,000kwh, so my highest bill this summer was $151 (3400 sq. ft, two story). Locked it in for two years too. I'm only under 1,000kwh four months of the year, but even those bills aren't too bad without the credit. It feels a lot like leveled billing this way.

[Dopo]

I just hate all the games they play to trick people
it should be a flat rate and if they want to throw in discount or credit, that's fine.

But some of them have some serious BS rates purposely done to screw people over.

I refuse to support anybody without flat rate.

[hendersj31]

Yeah me too.. Rarely under 2000kwh so it makes choosing a plan pretty easy. Just find one where the price is best in that range or a credit is applied for using over 2000kwh.

Originally Posted by kreeyax

I look for the plans that give a credit instead of a penalty. Found one with Discount Power that gives an $85 credit if you use over 1,000kwh, so my highest bill this summer was $151 (3400 sq. ft, two story). Locked it in for two years too. I'm only under 1,000kwh four months of the year, but even those bills aren't too bad without the credit. It feels a lot like leveled billing this way.