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basically shopping around for cheaper rate? how much do you pay? anybody here have ambit?

you know i trust ya'll more than my own "friends". thanks.

Given today's electric marketplace, I'd be very careful about any deal on rates. They are advertizing "free nights" here where you don't pay anything for kilowatts used after dark. What they don't tell you is that the kilowatts used during peak hours cost more than enough to make up for the "free" ones. The Smart Meters allow companies to bill and shut off service in ways that you cannot imagine.

We are serviced by co-op power and we average $.10-.11 per kilowatt. There is no real profit for the company but they are still driven by ERCOT. ERCOT is no friend to the Texas consumer.

I live in the Country. 1280sq ft. The last 30 days (hot) bill was 117.00. Thermostat set at 76 deg. This is with a new SEER 13 3T A/C system installed last Dec.

I don't pay any attention to the $ per KWH cause I am on a CO-OP and there is no choice. But I can tell you that the new SEER 13 system has cut the cost for A/C almost in half!

I suspect that comparing choices for electric (if you have choices) is futile. They all count like Obama does and have just as many tricks up their sleeves. My suggestion would be to do the best you can do as far as insulation in your home and eliminate any cracks around windows/doors. And get the best, most efficient A/C system you can afford. These new ones actually pay for themselves in a very short time.

i'm on that "flex plan" right now with reliant. and yes chasfm11, i feel like i'm getting ripped off. my last bill was also around $120. but as you said it makes up for the cold months. my ac guy told me that if i'm paying more than .13/kilowatt, i need to shop around.

aaangel wrote:i'm on that "flex plan" right now with reliant. and yes chasfm11, i feel like i'm getting ripped off. my last bill was also around $120. but as you said it makes up for the cold months. my ac guy told me that if i'm paying more than .13/kilowatt, i need to shop around.

I'm no fan of Reliant. I had the opportunity to work with them in business. But you could easily jump from the frying pan to the fire. They are not the worst option. I have no advice about what better options than Reliant might be.

Calculating costs per kilowatt is difficult. I do it at a gross level - total kilowatts used versus total bill. There are fees and taxes in that bill so the charge per kilowatt is different than my calculation. My price per kilowatt is actually a lot higher in the winter (I have gas heat) when I use about a 1/3 but that is because of those fixed fees and taxes.

In the grander scheme of things, a few cents per kilowatt is not going to change things much. As was suggested, the key is to get overall demand down. We had a house that was twice as big as our current one with much less efficient air conditioners. The house change saved us a lot.

3 BR-2 Bath house built in 1970, maybe a half inch of rock wool or cellulose attic insulation (needs more)
I keep my TV on 24/7
I keep a 175 watt computer on 24/7 (Magic Jack phone etc)
I keep the house freezing in Summer (low 70s to upper 60s) and warm in Winter (mid 80s, unless I catch a chill then 90s for a while and a hot shower)
Central Air/Heat . old inefficient unit installed in the 1980s
My Refridg is NOT Energy Star because it was bought "in a hurry" when the old one died in 2007.
Electric Water heater - cost about $480 per year on the sticker
Electric lawnmower/chainsaw etc used every couple weeks

4/15 - 5/15 = $55.04 .... usage was 430 KWh, usage last year 535 ..Cost per kilowatt in Burnet City Limits = $0.10940
5/15 - 6/16 = $63.25 ..... usage was 513 KWh, usage last year 838 ...Cost per kilowatt in Burnet City Limits = $0.10770

City makes their own electricity/owns their own breakers from water going over the dam.
Rates are higher from Pedernales Electric, just outside the city limits.

Caulked baseboards and all door & window trims (inside & outside) years ago to stop infiltration.
Silicone sealed all Light switch and outlets years ago to stop infiltration.
As I replaced ceiling fan and light fixture in each room/closet I put a decorative escutcheon and silicone sealed each, in rooms/ closets etc. to stop infiltration.

Painted house lighter color with hi gloss enamel to reflect heat and seal the cracks between siding boards for air-proofing

Bought a new 33 watt (Specs said 57 watt, but it measures 33 really after setting the picture to see it best) LED 40" TV and threw away the 40" LCD 200 watt flatscreen and 21" old regular 75 watt TV

Changed all light bulbs to 7.5 watt LED from Lowe's hardware( I tried 13 watt LED light bulbs, but they hurt my eyes, too bright) ( I will be repainting ceilings and walls lighter colors, but holding off for now)

Next year I'll get a tankless water heater, gas instead of Electric, that should save about $20.00 to 30 a month.

Adding a bit of insulation in the attic too this year I think.

No choice on electric providers here though ... it's the city.
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12 miles away my brother pays $500 a month, 3 air conditioners running, LCD TV, fireplace flu open to siphon cold air up the chimney and holes in the exterior walls so you can pet the dog outside without going outside ...and uh ... it's not a comfortable temperature ... his bill went down after he ditched the 40" 600 watt plasma and got a 200 watt LCD ( He shouldda listened and got the 33 watt LED though, but then he wouldn't need to borrow as much from me and we wouldn't get to visit as often...)

Start here, very good resource, read all the fine print, compare, etc:

http://powertochoose.org/

.09 w/Star Tex (formerly MX Energy) Last bill was $265.00, but I have a pool, a girlfriend and a big furry dog who pant when it is above 74 in the house, and a home that was built before anyone on this board was born.

AEA wrote: I suspect that comparing choices for electric (if you have choices) is futile. They all count like Obama does and have just as many tricks up their sleeves. My suggestion would be to do the best you can do as far as insulation in your home and eliminate any cracks around windows/doors. And get the best, most efficient A/C system you can afford. These new ones actually pay for themselves in a very short time.

I beg to differ! Comparing choices IS important. The amount you pay per kilowatt hour varies greatly according to company used AND the type and term of contract selected. IF you are on a "flex" or month to month plan you can easily be paying double or even triple the PKH rate offered on a 2 or 3 year fixed rate plan. The PKH fixed rate is just what it says...if you are on a 7.9 cent PKH plan that IS what you will pay for the electricity itself. All those other charges on the bill are for taxes, state mandated fees, and the "delivery" charges for providing infrastructure and meter reading services by a local provider. Those taxes and fees are the same regardless of who you purchase the electricity from. For example, my town is the division HQ for First Choice Power...and I used them for my home and business accounts for years until about 8 years ago, when they stopped offering a fixed rate plan. Over a 6 month period my monthly PKH rate climbed from .12 PKH to .22.7 ...almost double. I checked on the "power to choose" site and changed my residential electricity provider to GEXA at a 2 year fixed rate of 10.9...still with them on residential currently @ 7.9 PKH. Went with TXU on my commercial accounts because GEXA and alot of others don't offer commercial fixed rates...currently at 10.9 PKH on 2 commercial accounts. First Choice still comes by and reads meters, handles any outages or service issues....the only change is I'm not purchasing my electricity from them.

PUCKER wrote:Start here, very good resource, read all the fine print, compare, etc:

http://powertochoose.org/

after reading, looks like i'm ok with my current company. i just need to get rid of my "monthly flex plan"
i'll call them now and ask for their best rate. i hope 6 years of being a good customer has it's rewards!
thanks guys for all the responses!

Champion Energy. Just renewed another year for .081 per KWH. This will be my third year with them and couldn't be happier. Especially since I was paying .125 with TXU on their "cheapest rate for valued customers of 10 years"... blah blah blah.

http://championenergyservices.com/

Also, put in the promo code "theticket" and you get an extra discount.

Over 2,000 KwH my rate is $0.09 all inclusive. Took the latest bill total amount and divided by KwH...
I'm on a Cirro Energy 24 month deal that started about a year ago...

My neighbor swears he's recently signed a deal with TXU for $0.07 all-in...
I've asked to see his bill (I'm betting that rate is just the TXU portion, and does not include Oncor costs) but so far no details confirmed.

Bulldog1911 wrote:Champion Energy. Just renewed another year for .081 per KWH. This will be my third year with them and couldn't be happier. Especially since I was paying .125 with TXU on their "cheapest rate for valued customers of 10 years"... blah blah blah.

http://championenergyservices.com/

Also, put in the promo code "theticket" and you get an extra discount.

That looks to me like the Energy Charge and does not include transmission and delivery...

Take your latest bill... take the total amount in dollars and cents and divide that total by the KwH...
That is your all-inclusive cost...

RoyGBiv wrote:Over 2,000 KwH my rate is $0.09 all inclusive. Took the latest bill total amount and divided by KwH...
I'm on a Cirro Energy 24 month deal that started about a year ago...

My neighbor swears he's recently signed a deal with TXU for $0.07 all-in...
I've asked to see his bill (I'm betting that rate is just the TXU portion, and does not include Oncor costs) but so far no details confirmed.

I pulled up a copy of my contract dated 18-April-2011.
My rate for "Energy" is $0.0618/kWh
Taking my latest bill amount and dividing by kWh yields a fraction over $0.09/kWh all inclusive.

I'm going thr the process right now for switching providers. My contract with EPCOT is ending, but they are going thru some sort of financial crisis and I received notice they would be out of business and got an offer to switch for 8.8 cents KWH. Today they pulled the offer saying EPCOT may be resolving the problem. PUCT confirmed EPCOT may get someone to take over or some how resolve their issues and that anybody who switches now won't have to pay the early termination fee. All my calls to EPCOT get a voice mail "full" message and no email responses. In any case I am not going to use them as their minimum (CenterPoint Coverage) is 9.7. I looked on PTC and found a cheaper rate. The curious thing I noticed is how prices vary from coverage are. Oncor being the cheapest. Doesn't really make sense, but Texas is captive to PUCT and being a separate grid.