Horrible Electricity Rates in Texas - Deregulation raised prices? (San Antonio: foreclose, power lines)

[y200]

Deregulation has left Texas customers exposed to natural gas wholesale prices. There are not the cushion of controlled rates to soften/delay the blow- costs are passed straight on to you.

And yes natural gas prices have tanked recently, with some producers capping wells a couple of years because the cost went too low.

Natural gas should not follow crude oil as closely as it does - but for some reason - it tracks it.

Energy costs are going up and Texas electricity users are almost as exposed to global markets as New Englanders heating their homes with oil.

[KantLockeMeIn]

Originally Posted by y200

Deregulation has left Texas customers exposed to natural gas wholesale prices. There are not the cushion of controlled rates to soften/delay the blow- costs are passed straight on to you.

Exactly. If we ignored the environmentalists 20 years ago, and listened to them now (now that most have changed their tune, funny as it is) and built nuclear plants en masse, we would have a more diversity in generation.

Wind is nice when the efficiency improves and placed in the right environment. Solar is a nice supplement, especially when we're talking about using direct radiation to melt salt to power steam turbines. But nucelar is the real technology that we need to embrace to get us through the next 30 years.

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by y200

Deregulation has left Texas customers exposed to natural gas wholesale prices. There are not the cushion of controlled rates to soften/delay the blow- costs are passed straight on to you.

And yes natural gas prices have tanked recently, with some producers capping wells a couple of years because the cost went too low.

Natural gas should not follow crude oil as closely as it does - but for some reason - it tracks it.

Energy costs are going up and Texas electricity users are almost as exposed to global markets as New Englanders heating their homes with oil.

I'm not sure this is 100% accurate. Generally speaking, E&P's calculate their well economics based on $5.00 gas regardless of the current trading value. Unless prices get considerably below that no one is going to risk shutting the wells in. That's generally a bad idea for a whole host of reasons. What you may be describing is the abandonment of marginally commercial zones in wells in a poor economic atmosphere for natural gas or restricition of producing wells by the gas purchaser.

When you say "recently" how recently are we talking? The lowest gas price since 2005 has been about $5.25.

I totally agree about the price of oil vs. natural gas. That has never made any sense to me. Aside from being produced from the same hole in the ground, the two commodities have nothing to do with eachother. To me, and perhaps a professional financier may be able to offer up a logical explanation, this is indicative of how ignorant the trading world is and how large a part emotion and association play in that game.

[NOTAM]

what's really wierd, yet another person at work mentioned "wow, what's up with the electric bill? this month, mine was almost double!" (and i have heard t his from quite a number of coworkers, and we all have different electric companies...............i know it's hot, but it was hot last month too.
i sure hope this is not a sign of things to come.

[unseengundam]

This month I paid 24.19 CENTS per KHW for my Electricity bill! My 6 month term was up with them and they immediately 2.5x their rate on me from the fixed one! This is crazy. Luckily, I actually had quickly switched to another provider for next month. Looks, I need to keep on switching every month to get the best rate.

Also, about Missouri they do have all kinds of Power Plant. We had coal power plant in our city. The county besides up has Nuclear power plant. There is dam, which I think provides electric power, about 40-50 miles away from where I live. I actually don't think we have natural gas power plant back in MO. I am bit surprised to know that Natural Gas is big power supply down here in Texas.

Another interesting one, I am noticing that once Expensive "Green" electric provider cost are now almost same as normal one. Guess price for normal electricity has skiped so much it has actually caught up with Green power ...

[orbius]

Originally Posted by twojciac

Exactly. If we ignored the environmentalists 20 years ago, and listened to them now (now that most have changed their tune, funny as it is) and built nuclear plants en masse, we would have a more diversity in generation.

Wind is nice when the efficiency improves and placed in the right environment. Solar is a nice supplement, especially when we're talking about using direct radiation to melt salt to power steam turbines. But nucelar is the real technology that we need to embrace to get us through the next 30 years.

It wasnt the environmentalists who blocked nuclear power, it was the entire country.
Remember that little thing called Three Mile Island? It was 30 minutes from a total core meltdown.
Not surprisingly anyone with a brain didnt want a nuclear plant within a 300 mile radius of their home after seeing that debacle.
The nuclear power industry has no one to blame but themselves for the lack of acceptance of nuclear power.

[Kootr]

Here ya go:

Moderator cut: Just the link please
Link: Deregulation Jolts Texas Electric Bills

[orbius]

Still, there is little momentum for big changes. Many Texas officials believe that their system -- lots of elbow room and few binding rules -- will work out best for consumers in the long run. "The system is working the way it is supposed to work," says state Rep. Phil King, the Republican from Weatherford who is chairman of the House Regulated Industries Committee.

If the system is supposed to make people pay 50% higher utility bills than the rest of the country its a ****ed up system. Does this guy think people are idiots, that they should be thankful its an 'unregulated'(totally manipulated) system and ignore the fact they're paying 50%-100% more than most people in the country?

Texas will be a Democratic state in 5 years if these Republican crooks keep it up. Cant say I will be upset about that.

[NOTAM]

i think that if electric bills are going to be as high as this month's bill was, Texans are going to be FED UP, and demand a change.
let me ask, on powertochoose....dont ya think that overall, most companies end up being the same, regardless of what rates they show? i mean, if some were much cheaper than others, dont ya think all of us Texans would be with those companies?
i just switched from FirstChoicePower to Reliant Energy....month to month, cuz i am moving out more rural in two months, so no sense in getting a contract.......will be interesting to see if there is a change

[tstone]

Originally Posted by bellestaroftexas

let me ask, on powertochoose....dont ya think that overall, most companies end up being the same, regardless of what rates they show? i mean, if some were much cheaper than others, dont ya think all of us Texans would be with those companies?

No. People aren't as savvy as you may think. After deregulation, thousands of people have stayed with ''what works'' and never shopped around. (they stuck with Reliant a.k.a HL&P down here)

Nowadays it probably doesn't matter as much, but shopping around really seemed to help over the past few years. I got my bills down pretty well by signing a 1 year contract at the right time. Then my provider went under as did many, and prices went way up.

But I believe this is a summer spike. I'm waiting for things to come back down before going with another contract. Ironically you're going to find a lot of 'fed up' Texans complaining about being broke from their electric bills while driving a Ford F-250 to the mall for shopping sprees.