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Tomorrow is officially earth day and there are a few electric providers offering a green renewable energy option to residential home owners at a discount to encourage you to buy renewable energy. This is a great opportunity to sign up on a renewable electricity plan since green electricity service is generally more expensive then a non-renewable energy choice. This particular green electric plan below comes with a $50 home depot gift card. This is a promotional discount offer that is only cheaper during earth day which is April 1st. Be sure to check it out if you will be making your decision on an electricity plan on April 1st.
Learn More About the Renewable Green Residential Electricity Plan - Click Here
If you decide to “Green Up” your home using the Bounce Energy link above then be sure to do so on April 1st when this discount green plan goes into effect. This is a 100% renewable energy plan and is available in all deregulated areas in Texas. If you are more interested in just finding the cheapest electric rate then I recommend checking out our offers on the top left of this page. We keep the cheapest available electric rates for residential homes listed on the site and updated daily.
If you need a no deposit electric rate we recommend going to our no deposit electricity page and checking out our plans there. For people who have a bad credit score but need electric service turned on quick and need to avoid a deposit this is a great way to solve the headache of getting Texas electric service turned on in your name.
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In Texas we rely on natural gas steam run power plants to produce our electricity. Much of our peak demand relies on natural gas in storage. We have limited capacity in salt domes across the state of Texas to store the natural gas and meet demand especially if demand is unexpected. That is why when we have a hotter then expected summer many times electric rates go up as supply is not able to meet the demand of all those Texas homes turning on their air conditioners full blast. There is about a 90% correlation with natural gas and Texas electricity so you can easily track why electric rates are so high right now by viewing natural gas price charts over the last year. You can keep daily track of it by viewing the symbol NG price on www.nymex.com. When NG is up Texas electric rates go up.
Bloomberg Quote on Natural Gas in Texas, June 27 2008
Moderate temperatures forecast for Texas and Florida will help curtail electricity demand. Those two states rely on gas- fired power plants to meet increased electricity requirements when hot weather increases air-conditioner use.
Hotter weather typically curbs the expansion of storage by increasing demand from gas-fired power plants for electricity to run air conditioners.
“There’s very little excessive heat” across the nation, said Jim Rouiller, senior energy meteorologist for Planalytics Inc. of Wayne, Pennsylvania.
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To read the latest news on one of the last court cases facing Tara Energy you can click below and read several documents on the Public Utility Commission of Texas website. Tara Energy settled out of court with all litigations they faced that we are aware of except this one. This appears to be going all the way to a final verdict. Update (August 12 2008) The Greater Houston Retailer Association has decided to settle out of court with Tara Energy. This represents the last known court case against Tara Energy and it looks like it will be settled out of court just like all the other cases. This is the court case between The Greater Houston Retailer Association of Texas and Tara Energy. Court Case Click login and in the “control number” field type 33967
Consumer Protection Rules, Who is Protected?
When an electric provider fails to meet customer protection rules as established by the Public Utility Commission they can be pursued in the court systems by filing a complaint with the PUCT. Filing a complaint against an electric company is not a simple undertaking for commercial energy consumers. Be prepared to have to go to court and even be drug through for several months and sometimes years. Not all Texas electric companies will admit to wrong doing immediately. If a Texas electric company admits to raising their electric rate on their commercial customers without proper notice they have then set a precedent which could allow multiple customers who have been affected in the same way to file suit and easily win. If you are a residential electric customer it can be much easier to complain and win against a provider.
Electric Company Violations Against PUCT Rules
Most people are familiar with the recent electric customer consumer violations by National Power Company and Riverway Power that were filed by numerous customers of these energy companies. These Texas energy companies raised their customers fixed energy rates without proper notice and against their terms of service in their contracts. We also saw Pre-Buy Electric and Etricity go out of business for other reasons like bad execution. The customers of these Texas power companies were forced onto the Provider of Last Resort so they would not be without service during the heat of the summer. The issue is that many of these electric customers are now paying between 20 – 30 cents a kWh for their electricity now until they go shopping again.
Rules are Different for Commercial Customers
For a residential electric customer you have many consumer protection laws in place to keep an energy company from raising your electric rate on you without your permission. If you locked into a fixed electric rate contract and your energy company raises that rate you can easily win the case that your contract was not honored. A simple complaint form filled out and filed with the PUCT is usually all that is needed. This is not the case if you are a commercial energy customer in Texas. The consumer protection laws in place to help the little guy do not apply for commercial industrial energy customers. If you are a Texas business you need to be prepared to potentially be drug through the court system for some time before some type of decision is reached. Be prepared to hire an attorney and have them fight your agrument as you will many times be counter-sued by your electric company. If your electric company raised your fixed electric rate on you they could have very likely raised it on several other customers as well. If all of their customers fought them and won they would very likely go out of business.
Tara Energy Customers Complain about Rate Hike
Tara Energy serves as a good example of an energy company that according to their commercial customers has raised their fixed electric rates on their customers during the term of their contract. The debate is still out as to whether Tara Energy broke any contract terms as all of their court cases have been settled out of court although not after months of being drug through the court systems. What exactly their customers received in the settlement is not disclosed as they are under some type of confidentiality agreement. You can use your imagination to determine what their customers might have received to stop the fight and go ahead and settle.
Updated information on ongoing court case between the Greater Houston Retailer Association and Tara Energy. This testimony is a good example of the issue between several Tara Energy customers and Tara Energy: Tara Energy Testimony
Here is another Testimony from an energy consultant on behalf of multiple Tara Energy customers. I highly recommend any past or potential future Tara Energy customer read this testimony: Testimony against Tara Energy
One of their larger court cases that was settled out of court is listed below. You can read the actual court documents and what the arguments and counter arguments amounted to. This is a great piece of Texas historical electricity litigation that might prove useful if this type of thing happens in the future. As you read it you will see that it was taken through court from November 2007 – February 2008. It was handled in just a few months but several court cases prior to this took around a year. If you don’t have a good attorney plan on hiring one if you decide to contest a broken fixed electric rate contract. I assume not all Texas electric providers would take their customers through court for months but this would be a worse case scenario if you were going to contest a hike in a fixed commercial electric rate contract. Ultimately this case was settled out of court by Tara Energy and the complaintant with no indication of what the settlement was. If Tara Energy would have lost this case it could have created a precendent which would have made it easy for other Tara Energy customers to complain on the same grounds and win. Because Tara Energy settled out of court any commercial energy customer who wanted to complain on the same grounds in the future would have to take their complaint back through the court systems through a lengthy expensive court battle. You can view the court documents by clicking on the hyperlink number below for each court document you would like to read.
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Searching for a Good Electric Company?
If you are searching for all the market participants in Texas selling retail Texas electric service we have compiled a list of them all below. This list is constantly going through changes and updates. We will attempt to keep it updated with information about each Texas electric provider and their customer reviews as we learn of it. Public Utility Commission complaints as well as customer lawsuits against disreputable electric companies will be listed to help consumers in picking a reputable quality electric service provider in Texas.
Speak to an Energy Consultant
If you would like to speak with an energy consultant for information on multiple Texas electric companies we recommend which also price competitively please feel free to give us a call.
Updated List of Texas Electric Companies
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You can compare McAllen electric rates from multiple residential electric companies in the McAllen Texas area currently offering discount electricity offers much cheaper than Reliant and TXU Energy. To compare McAllen electricity rates just choose the plan you want to compare in the “Select Plan” box and then click on “Get Rates”. Once you have found the cheapest McAllen electric rate just click on continue with the provider you want to go with.
McAllen Texas Electric Rates
If you are in McAllen Texas and have had a hard time of it when trying to find a true discount electric rate then we may be able to help. We primarily assist Texas commercial electric service customers with finding a low cost electric rate. We do this through several different strategies. One option for Texas businesses in McAllen is by allowing us to put your business in an aggregation with other similar businesses. This would mean that if your business uses 50,000 kWh a year you could be in an aggregation where the combined usage was more like 1,000,000 kWh. This allows us to negotiate a much lower electric rate for you then you could do on your own.
Feel free to call us at 1-800-971-4020
If you need something a little quicker then going through our reverse auction process or aggregation service we can send over some daily rates with current winning electric providers. Daily rates are not as competitive as letting us schedule out custom tailored pricing. The chart below gives an example of daily rates in your area. This chart is updated monthly and provides a good guage on what Commercial electric rates are doing in McAllen Texas.
Commercial Electric Rate Chart
Residential Electric Rates
If you need a competitive residential electric rate we keep discount offers available on the top sidebar of this site. Check back whenever you need a competitive discount residential electric rate in McAllen Texas as we try and keep the rates we offer as low as possible with proven reputable electric providers.
Speak to an Energy Consultant in McAllen Texas
If you would like to speak with someone first before deciding on an electric company, please feel free to call one of our energy consultants at Electricity Bid at the button below. We would be glad to go over different monthly terms, fixed rates, variable rates and why one option would be better over another. There are over 50 different electric companies in McAllen Tx but not all of these are reputable and in fact some are fly by night companies that may leave just as quickly as they came into Texas. For instance, National Power, Riverway Power, Pre-Buy Electric, Etricity, and a few other energy providers in Texas have all gone out of business after offering too good to be true electric rates. These companies left their electric customers having to go back out shopping for a competitive electric rate when energy prices are at a 3 year historical high. It is important not only to find a competitive rate but to sign up with a company that will not go out of business. Those customers of these energy providers were automatically switched to by the government to the POLR rate which was 20 – 30 cents kWh depending on your area and left many people in a financial crisis. This is just one example of why picking a reputable electric company is worth it.
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The Public Utility Commission has responded to one of our blog subscribers with some very helpful information regarding rules and law changes that will help lower MCPE rates, POLR rates and hopefully prevent more electric companies from going under. ERCOT has also changed some rules to hopefully make congestion charges less which will reduce the market clearing price rate, specifically in Houston, and hopefully make Houston’s MCPE rates similar to the rates in other location in the state. Houston has the highest MCPE prices in the state.
Background on MCPE Electric Rates
For those not familiar with MCPE, it stands for Market Clearing Price for Energy. National Power, Riverway Power and others had a failed business model that relied on buying energy from the MCPE index which is a variable price and selling it as a fixed rate to their customers. When MCPE went up higher then they anticipated they went backwards on their energy investment and had to get out of the business quick, leaving their customers on a very high POLR rate.
You can read exactly what the Public Utility Commission of Texas has said below:
Mr. Hipp Thanks for your email. I’m sorry that this has happened to
you. Prior to the last couple of weeks, only six REPs had gone out of
business since the retail electricity market was deregulated in Jan
2002. Almost all of those REPs had a flawed business plan whereby they
were buying energy short term through the ERCOT balancing energy market
and then selling it long term to their customers. It seems as if
National Power may have been pursuing the same flawed business model.
With regard to financial stability for REPs, the PUC does have rules
regarding financial resources. We have tried to balance the desire of
the legislature to have robust retail competition (and a multitude of
REPs who can enter the market) versus only having a handful of large
“household name†REPs with larger balance sheets. Having said that, the
PUC will be opening up our rule regarding REP finances to determine if
it needs to be changed.
Our rules do require the “exiting REP†to notify the customer;
unfortunately National Power did not do that and we are considering an
enforcement action against them.
POLR has always been designed as a service that continues the flow of
electricity to your home in case your REP goes out of business. Because
the POLR provider unexpectedly receives a bunch of unplanned customers
almost overnight, the plan was designed to be priced based upon the
Marginal Clearing Price of Electricity in the ERCOT balancing energy
market. That price has been unreasonably high of late. We have asked all
the POLRs to price electricity to you at levels below what our rules
allow. We will also be opening up our POLR rule to see if it needs
adjustment.
As of last Friday, ERCOT changed some of it operational procedures which
we believe will allow transmission congestion to be resolved more
inexpensively. We will be closely monitoring the balancing energy
market this week to see if there is any improvement.
As we have asked of all others in your situation, please switch to
another REP or another product from the POLR as soon as possible.
Thanks again. Barry
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Riverway Power attempted to declare bankruptcy as a way to keep their existing Texas electric service customers to reorganize and start over again. The Public Utility Commission of Texas asked them if they would be going ahead with the bankruptcy filing and the owner of Riverway Power said, “no we will not be able to declare bankruptcy.” For whatever reason, Riverway Power lawyers advised them to not go ahead with bankruptcy. Because Riverway will remain in business without filing bankruptcy they will have all of their customers transfered to the provider of last resort by the Texas state government.
If you are a Riverway Power customer you need to know a few things about this issue. If things occur as they have with National Power company who also had their customers transferred to the POLR rate you may lose your deposit with Riverway Power. Not only will you potentially lose your deposit but you will be put on the POLR rate which could be anywhere from 22 – 30 cents kWh depending on the area you live in. The POLR rate is something you want to get off ASAP as the rate is double and triple what you can get elsewhere.
Low Cost Reputable Electric Provider
If your in the Houston area Affordable Energy has the best 12 month fixed residential rate as of June 2008
If you are in the Dallas Fort Worth area and other areas you can sign up with Startex Power at one of the lowest rates out there right now.
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Fuel Costs Sure Aren’t Lowering Electric Rates
Fuel costs associated with the production of electricity have been constantly increasing causing electric rates in Plano Texas to continue to remain at 3 year historical highs. This summer of 2008 we are experiencing close to record high temperatures in the state which demands more electricity and more natural gas to produce this Texas power for all us Texans who crank up our air conditioning systems to stay cool. Natural gas was trading around $8 when Plano electric rates were around 10 cents kWh for a 12 month fixed rate plan. Now natural gas is trading at $12 mmBtu and a correlating 12 month fixed electricity rate in Plano is now 14.4 cents kWh as of June 4 2008. Texas consumers are becoming increasingly heated because of unaffordable energy costs and many want to know what the Public Utility Commission of Texas is going to do about it.
Electric Companies Going out of Business
The last two months we saw PreBuy Electric and National Power electric companies both go out of business. More electric providers are expected to leave the state not honoring some of the fixed electric rate contracts they signed their customers to. Signing a Plano Texas electric service customer to a 12 month fixed electric rate and then raising the rate or cancelling the contract on them is equivalent to a bait switch tactic that should be reported to the Federal Trade Commission. This marketing tactic was left unchecked as many energy providers in Texas had these false rates up on the governments Power to Choose website. The PUCT received enough complaints that they are being a little more careful of scrutinizing the energy companies that want to put their prices up on the Texas government site.
Residential Electric Service Options
If you are a residential electric customer in Plano Texas we recommend bookmarking this page and using it as a way to compare and find teh lowest cost Plano Tx residential electric provider. We list the best 12 month fixed rate on the top left of the page. If you are on a current energy contract be sure to check back here when your contract expires.
Commercial Electric Quotes
For commercial businesses in Plano Texas needing a competitive electric provider we recommend going through our reverse auction. We have about 20 different electric companies on our A-list that we take your electric usage out to. The auction bids down the rate to its lowest point. We put together a detailed apples to apples electric rate proposal to compare with your current provider. At this point you let us know which electric company and monthly term you want to go with and we send you over a contract with the best possible terms, conditions, and price that Plano electric provider has to offer.
We also offer MCPE Collin County Texas, and blended options with fixed electric rates to average the electric rate down further during times when the Texas power market is higher then usual.
You may begin the process of putting your Plano Texas commercial businesses electric usage by filling out this page: Get a Quote Form
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