May 2008 Houston Residential Electric Rate Comparison
ByWhat is Electricity Doing Right Now?
As of May 2008 Electric rates are currently close to a 3 year high and because of this Texas residential electric rates do not look so good right now. Many people would like to wait and renew when rates drop down but there is just no way to know when this will happen. Electric rates could hover at historical highs for several months before they drop back down to prices many people are comfortable paying.
Who We Recommend
We recommend signing a 12 month energy agreement and then trying again next year. Notice: Riverway Power recently cancelled their residential electric customers agreements in mid April according to several people who called in and left comments regarding them so we do not recommend using them as their fixed electric rate is subject to change. Our preferred electric providers at this time are Affordable Energy, Startex Energy and Bounce Energy Guaranteed No Deposit. All of these Texas electric companies have accurate billing, good customer service and low rates.
We are now approaching the end of the month of June and since writing this article rates have continued up along with a barrel of oil and natural gas. Oil and natural gas are trading at all time historical highs and the analysis shows that traders are hedging against a falling dollar by buying energy. The rise in prices can best be attributed to investors and traders trading up the price. This price spike will most likely be a bubble we will see fall but we have no idea when that will be. If you are buying Houston electricity you are exeriencing the worst of it. Houston electric rates are higher then they have ever been right now and higher then the rest of the state.
4 Comments
July 24th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
I have First Choice as provider of my residential power and I resent having to pay $0.20 kWh for my June billing, but I am outraged by the fact that in addition to that I was billed an exorbitant $280.37 for the month which was listed as “residential service”. For the month of May I was billed at the rate of $0.181/kWh plus a residential service charge of $233.30. These charges are beyond price gouging.
August 3rd, 2008 at 9:09 am
I do not understand what the First Choice “residential service charge” is based on. Our usage from June to July climbed only minimally. Our residential service charge went up from $199.64 to $322.90! I tried to call customer service, but it was clear they couldn’t tell me, either. That charge is more than DOUBLE my charges per kWh this month! Does anyone know how this charge is calculated or how I can check to make sure it is correct? Do all companies include this kind of charge?
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:41 am
I about died when I got my May and June First Choice Power Bill–For May I was charged .199 per kwh and for June I was charged .23..I have a business and my bill is usually $800 tops a month and was $1100.00.. I called to get in a contract and they offered me .22. I switched to reliant at 14.9 and saved over 300 a month
what a rip off –I agree this is beyond price gouging –what can be done?
March 12th, 2010 at 12:08 pm
[...] If anyone was around in Texas last year during this time you probably remember having to pay one of the highest electricity bills you have ever had to pay in history. If you were already locked into a rate with a provider you were one of the smart ones who were protected during this volatile time. I saw a First Choice Power bill over 30 cents per kWh. I saw a few other Texas electric provider bills in the 24 cent per kWh range. Most Texas electricity companies were advertising fixed rates in the 16 cents per kWh range as can be seen in this historical chart: http://www.electricitybid.com/electricity/index.php/2008/05/05/may-2008-houston-residential-electric... [...]