Waco - Cost of Electricity (buy, live, zip code)

[Lisa O.]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

It is programmable, but nothing too fancy. I *think* it is 80 during the day (when we are at work) and 72 at night? I can't recall off the top of my head. Maybe 73 at night/when we are home? Obviously cooler than 80 during the day on the weekend .

Cool, thanks for getting back to me!

[JH6]

Electricity depends on usage.

I live in a 1100 sq foot 10 year old house about an hour north of Waco.

We run the AC most of the year, but the house is somewhat efficient (and small).

My electric bill is never over $100.

We keep the thermostat at 76 when we are not home and 72 when we are home.

Look at the power to choose website, I just signed up with a company for 5.5 cents per kwh on a 9 month term. My last company was 11 cents.

Electric is getting cheaper down here.

Get a newer house, and get a smaller house and you will have lower bills. If you want a victorian style 3000 sq foot house, then I hope you have a fat bank account.

[Lisa O.]

Originally Posted by JH6

Electricity depends on usage.

I live in a 1100 sq foot 10 year old house about an hour north of Waco.

We run the AC most of the year, but the house is somewhat efficient (and small).

My electric bill is never over $100.

We keep the thermostat at 76 when we are not home and 72 when we are home.

Look at the power to choose website, I just signed up with a company for 5.5 cents per kwh on a 9 month term. My last company was 11 cents.

Electric is getting cheaper down here.

Get a newer house, and get a smaller house and you will have lower bills. If you want a victorian style 3000 sq foot house, then I hope you have a fat bank account.

Thanks so much! This is just the kind of information I'm looking to compare. So far I'm not seeing any costs that I would consider unreasonable given the circumstances.

[Trainwreck20]

The 'power to choose' web site does not cover the 'delivery' charge via the grid. That charge can be significant. Generally, it looks like 3-4 cents per 1000 kWh, which is in ADDITION to the x.x cents you are quoted from your chosen utility. And example from TXU:

https://www.txu.com/residential/cust...y-charges.aspx

There are a ton of other potential fees. This article is three years old, but still accurate, I believe.

The Watchdog: Texas electricity companies profit from fees that some call

The one that can really chap your hide? There may be a fee for using too little electricity.....

[Lisa O.]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

The 'power to choose' web site does not cover the 'delivery' charge via the grid. That charge can be significant. Generally, it looks like 3-4 cents per 1000 kWh, which is in ADDITION to the x.x cents you are quoted from your chosen utility. And example from TXU:

https://www.txu.com/residential/cust...y-charges.aspx

There are a ton of other potential fees. This article is three years old, but still accurate, I believe.

The Watchdog: Texas electricity companies profit from fees that some call

The one that can really chap your hide? There may be a fee for using too little electricity.....

Thank you, yes, I noticed that it's more expensive to use less electricity! And some companies are even giving rebates if you have the highest tier of usage. I guess that's a silver lining during the months when I end up running the a/c more.

[oldoak2000]

make sure home is in a deregulated area, then:
shop electricity like you buy gas at the pump, and you can pay 5c kwh year round!
only takes 15 min to switch billing co offering a 3, 6, or 9 mo plan at 5c kwh.
switch billing co when that deal is up; hundreds of providers competing.

ALL the electricity is provided by the same transmission co & generators (for a given home), so reliability is the same.

even luckier is home is all-electric and deregulated ( nat. gas. is not deregulated, and you get stuck at their rate).

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by oldoak2000

make sure home is in a deregulated area, then:
shop electricity like you buy gas at the pump, and you can pay 5c kwh year round!
only takes 15 min to switch billing co offering a 3, 6, or 9 mo plan at 5c kwh.
switch billing co when that deal is up; hundreds of providers competing.

ALL the electricity is provided by the same transmission co & generators (for a given home), so reliability is the same.

even luckier is home is all-electric and deregulated ( nat. gas. is not deregulated, and you get stuck at their rate).

I disagree - almost all 'regulated' utilities end up billing you less than the 'deregulated' ones. Cooperatives are probably the cheapest around, and muni's are somewhere between.

[oldoak2000]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

I disagree - almost all 'regulated' utilities end up billing you less than the 'deregulated' ones. Cooperatives are probably the cheapest around, and muni's are somewhere between.

IF you NEVER change your 'provider', you would be correct- BUT that is not what I am suggesting!!

Change it every time your 'bargain' contract is up; only take 10-15 min:::
I've been paying 5c a kwh for that last 1.5 years - what coop can beat 5c a kwh ??? SHOW ME! I bet you $1000 you cant!

The de-regulated providers count on the FACT that MOST people are LAZY, and won't bother SWITCHING their provider once the SPECIAL PRICING expires. 15 min is all it takes. Be lazy, and they bump you back up to 11c or 13c . . .

[Trainwreck20]

I picked a random zip code around Waco (76707) and checked for energy plans.

The cheapest was 'Cirro Energy' for 5.8 cents/kWhr (based on 2,000 kWhr), but the details show that there is an average 'pass through' cost of 3.16 cents per kWh. So actual cost appears to be around 9 cents per kWh. If you use less than 1,000 kWh, the actual rate will be higher. At our house, we had seven months of the year under 1,000 kWh.

The next cheapest was '4Change Energy' at 5.9 cents, which has some weird flat rate per 'tier' structure. If you only use 500 kWh, you actually pay 11.8 cents. You pay 5.9 cents only if you are exactly 1000 or 2000 kWh and higher amounts for any other usage (more or less). On the plus side, there is no pass-through cost.

You can keep searching, but in general, the cost per kWh goes up significantly from the quoted rate if you are <2,000 kWh.

[Trainwreck20]

Austin energy is only 4.93 cents per kWh (up to 500 kWh) during the winter, and about 8.7 for the next 500 - and ALWAYS a lower 'rate' for using less power.