Griddy Customer's (Houston, Dallas, Center: how much, to buy, calculation)

[hendersj31]

Yeah, this works for me too. I certainly would prefer not do this or energy ogre or anything. But the reality today is that it is necessary if you want to avoid the higher renewal prices.

AM I missing something? This does not really take me that much time. For us it is simple, in the Summer we are over 2000kWh and in the winter we are below. I have come to a point in my life where I am am not concerned with fractions of a penny, but 4-5 cents, of course.

Originally Posted by Dopo

On the spreadsheet I use, using the information downloaded from Power to Choose
I basically eliminate all plans that I think are playing games
(1) I eliminate all plans that have "high variance", meaning that for 500kW they charge 5c/kWh, but for 1000kW they charge 20c/kWh.
(2) I eliminate plans where any of their rates is 0c/kWh or close to 0
(3) and I eliminate any plan that an of their rates is very high, 15c/kWh or higher.

Doing that, I end up with a list of plans that .... I think are not playing games.
Most of them would be something like this
10.3c/kWh (500kWh), 10.5c/kWh (1000kWh), 10.7c/kWh (2000kWh)

In that way I know they are not playing games with the plan and my rate will be, in that case, 10.5c/kWh.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by hendersj31

AM I missing something? This does not really take me that much time. For us it is simple, in the Summer we are over 2000kWh and in the winter we are below. I have come to a point in my life where I am am not concerned with fractions of a penny, but 4-5 cents, of course.

It's not that simple,
This companies found ways to screw people over by using non-linear price rates

That's why I use the trick I use, to make sure that my price rate is linear.
Other companies have rates that are low at 500kwh, 1000kwh and 2000kwh
but the moment you move away from those values, your rate increases (non-linear rate)

By doing that, the show their 500,1000,2000kwh rates as being very low
but if you consume 1500kwh, you end up paying a lot.

[JL]

Originally Posted by WRM20

Griddy made their money on the $10 per month "membership" charge. The electricity was priced at exactly what Griddy paid for it. They weren't making out like the bandits you think they were. The people making the big bucks are the power generators who really made out like bandits., along with whoever they bribed at the PUC to make the price stay abnormally high.

Originally Posted by sonic0boom

As WRM stated, Griddy wasn't the "greedy" party here. In fact, they were emailing and calling their customers (i was one of them) to help people switch to other plans. The problem i faced was that on that Monday/Tuesday, all other providers were not accepting service transfers until Friday/Saturday. I "lucked" out in that i didn't have power for about half that time, otherwise i would have had a much higher bill. Griddy was transparent with their services, but what are you going to do when the energy producers are allowed to charge $8 per k/hr? As to stiffing Griddy, they work on auto-draft. So in my case, it was $200 at a time. There's no monthly bill. So in the winter, I would only have to charge up my account every 2-3 months.

As has been said here, i think the crime is that a company like Griddy needed to exist in the first place. If we have X number of energy producers and Centerpoint is the company getting us that power, why do we have dozens of "choices"? But what do i know?

My point is to have the system change completely. By not paying Giddy is the first step in this process i believe. If it means going back to regulation like pre-2002, then let's give it a shot and go from there. We just can't keep things the same way. I keep hearing this is a 100 yr freeze from people, but it can happen again next winter. People were saying the same thing about tropical storm Allison saying don't worry.

[astrohip]

Originally Posted by JL

My point is to have the system change completely. By not paying Giddy is the first step in this process i believe. If it means going back to regulation like pre-2002, then let's give it a shot and go from there. We just can't keep things the same way. I keep hearing this is a 100 yr freeze from people, but it can happen again next winter. People were saying the same thing about tropical storm Allison saying don't worry.

I agree with everything you said except the bolded part. Paying or not paying Griddy will have -zero- effect on "the system". They're just one company that has already been shut down by ERCOT.

All you are doing is advocating stealing (non-payment for service).

[Failed Engineer]

I was with Griddy until they lost access to the Texas market, and I went all the way to the other end of the pendulum. Signed up for lowest three year plan with no tiered pricing. $0.05 p kWh fixed + the fixed delivery charges and fees. I reviewed my last 24 months usage and saw that I'm typically under 1000 or above 2000 kWh so the tiered pricing was stupid and mostly a game that benefits the providers offering those plans. I will pay more than I did with Griddy before the storm but it's fine. I went 3 years because I'm sure rates will be affected as a result of this storm and any winterizing capital costs that will be incurred and passed on to consumers. We aren't in our forever home otherwise I'd probably be looking at solar + batteries, even though battery technology is fast changing and not a great time to be buying into.

[Dopo]

Griddy is just another one of those "great free market solutions" from conservatives.
Remember when everybody was bragging about how little they were paying with griddy?

Yeah, it's wonderful free market with variable price rate
until it swings the other way and everybody goes insane.

Now people like me, who NEVER sign up for any kind of variable price rate are enjoy how much we are saving
because this months electrical bill for me was $76.

[Oskar_Z28]

Originally Posted by Dopo

Griddy is just another one of those "great free market solutions" from conservatives.
Remember when everybody was bragging about how little they were paying with griddy?

Yeah, it's wonderful free market with variable price rate
until it swings the other way and everybody goes insane.

Now people like me, who NEVER sign up for any kind of variable price rate are enjoy how much we are saving
because this months electrical bill for me was $76.

Bingo. Free market can swing both ways. Now everyone is complaining when the idea flips on them. They need to take all the savings they had over previous cycles and pay up for the market swing, or sign up for fixed rate (they have the choice).

Same people that only carry liability on their vehicles and then complain when they total their vehicle; no flood insurance even though they live in Houston which is notorious for flooding.

[kreeyax]

Originally Posted by Dopo

Griddy is just another one of those "great free market solutions" from conservatives.
Remember when everybody was bragging about how little they were paying with griddy?

Yeah, it's wonderful free market with variable price rate
until it swings the other way and everybody goes insane.

Now people like me, who NEVER sign up for any kind of variable price rate are enjoy how much we are saving
because this months electrical bill for me was $76.

I mean, I guess the alternative is no choice and high prices? Imagine if Centerpoint was the only choice how much we'd all be paying. When I lived near Dallas in a co-op area there was no choice and energy was expensive, like 12 or 13 cents per kWh and this was 11 years ago.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by kreeyax

I mean, I guess the alternative is no choice and high prices? Imagine if Centerpoint was the only choice how much we'd all be paying. When I lived near Dallas in a co-op area there was no choice and energy was expensive, like 12 or 13 cents per kWh and this was 11 years ago.

All electricity in Houston comes from Centerpoint,
the choices they give us are "billing companies"

[kreeyax]

Originally Posted by Dopo

All electricity in Houston comes from Centerpoint,
the choices they give us are "billing companies"

I'm aware. If Centerpoint were the only biller, would we be paying more? Or less? You mentioned "great free market solutions" from conservatives, so what's the alternative?