The Federal Government is bailing out Texas, again, this time to help connect Texas to the Southeast grids. So much for “Texas Strong” but in the end we will get a more fortified grid when we need it. According to Electrek:
The US Department of Energy (DOE) announces $1.5B for four transmission projects – including connecting the Texas grid to the Southeast grids for the first time ever.
The projects, spanning multiple states, will add nearly 1,000 miles of new transmission lines and increase grid capacity by 7,100 megawatts (MW). They’ll boost grid reliability, lower energy costs, and support the clean energy transition.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott was seen at the border with his hand out begging for help. Of this $1.5 B about $350 Million will be allocated to Texas. Texas grid was wrecked back in 2021 leaving millions without power during a heavy freeze for 4 days. Hundreds died. Insurance claims for ruptured pipes and damage to the homes skyrocketed. Yet Abbott did nothing. He passed the cost of these repairs to the grid on to the consumers.
With a $350 M donation to Texas will fund the Southern Spirit:
Southern Spirit (Texas to Mississippi): This is a REALLY. BIG. DEAL. Spanning 320 miles, this HVDC line will link Texas’ isolated ERCOT grid with the Southeast grids for the first time, adding 3,000 MW of bidirectional capacity across Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. It’s designed to prevent outages like the ones during Winter Storm Uri that hit Texas hard in 2021. It’s expected to create 850 construction jobs and 305 permanent jobs.
You would think that Texans would have figured this out by now.
In 2021 Texans endured days without power, living in freezing temperatures after the failure of the electricity grid. In 2024 Harris County residents endured days without power, sweating through their sheets after a failed response to Hurricane Beryl. Now the republican leaders, the very individuals who were partially responsible for the failures, are riding in shooting their mouths off, talking tough, and promising to solve the problem they created.
According to the Houston Chronicle State Senator Paul Bettencourt came to the Committee on his white wing horse spewing fire about a problem he created:
State Sen. Paul Bettencourt raised the specterof fraud in CenterPoint’s selection of a small, little known company to provide the generators rather than a well-established company with a much cheaper bid. Bettencourt, R-Houston, condemned what he portrayed as the overcharging of ratepayers in fiery comments Monday morning in the first meeting of the Texas Senate’s Special Committee on Hurricane and Tropical Storm Preparedness, Recovery and Electricity.
This isn’t new for Republicans in Texas. In 2003 they deregulated electricity resulting in a fragile grid, higher rates, and a need for $12,000 generators. They reformed insurance resulting in a crisis of rising rates and premiums. Both of these issues are now being investigated by the House and Senate with Republicans leading the way as if they had nothing to do with the very problems they created.
Lucky for republicans Texans are pretty stupid voters. Instead of demanding a fix to the electric grid they cash in their retirement and buy a $12,000 generator. Instead of demanding insurance companies pay claims and reduce premiums they are satisfied with less coverage in exchange for lower premiums.
We’ve seen this before. In 2023 they passed bills that passed on the cost to fortify the Texas grid to the consumer. Expect them to do this again in 2025. Why? Because we will let them.
Here is a tidbit about electricity deregulation you might like while you are sweating at home, in the heat, without power or AC.
As part of electricity deregulation in 2003 the Public Utility Commission created the PowerToChoose.com website designed to help consumers compare electricity prices. At first it was easy to find a good rate by simply selecting one of the providers with a constant rate. I wrote about this back in 2016. At that time Discount power was offering a 24 month contract at 7.7 cents. No extra fees. No limits on use. Just 7.7 cents/kWh.
Shortly afterward the providers began with their gimmicks, fees, and “tricky little things”. From the Texas Tribune “Donna Nelson, chairman of the Public Utility Commission, said Thursday at a public meeting. “They’ve [electricity resellers] got all these tricky little things in their prices, and whatever the fact sheets are called – the nutrition label – that makes it really difficult for customers.”
In response to this Nelson started Project 45730 and asked for public comments on how to improve the website. The PUC collected over 200 comments then did nothing. They have also removed Project 45730 from their website as well as all the comments.
Many consumers made the same suggestion as I did. The electricity providers have access to your usage in 15 minute increments. Each provider could use this information and calculate what their plan would cost you each month. Then consumers could actually intelligently compare and choose. That is power.
Instead they did nothing. Why? Because there are companies that will use this information to compare rates and charge you a fee to provide this information to you. And that is why they did nothing. They supported businesses as the expense of consumers.
You might have noticed your electricity bill was about 20% higher. I didn’t until the Houston Chronicle posted an article about it. Turns out my bill was higher than I expected. I expected about $120 for the month of Aug. (I have solar panels) Instead it was about $148. What happened?
I actually used about the same kWh than the previous month but this bill had a TDU Surcharge of $21.74. According to the Chronicle:
This charge, also known as the transmission and distribution utility or TDU charge, is paid to companies like CenterPoint that manage the power lines, poles and meters that deliver electricity from generators to homes and businesses.
If you want to try to understand why you are getting screwed go read the article. For those of you who weren’t around in the late 1990’s here is a recap of how we got here. Prior to 2003 Houston Light and Power provided our electricity. It was a regulated market. We paid just under 8 cents/kWh and had long term contracts which started the day you signed the contract and ended the day you cancelled. It was easy, cheap, and reliable.
Then Ken Lay and Enron lobbied the State for deregulation with promises of lower rates, consumer choice, reliable, free market electricity. LOL. (Key Lay died as did Enron) The rest is history. Now contracts are short term. Contracts are so complicated even the Public Utilities Commissioner agreed. Contracts are expensive! Deregulation failed so miserably the east Texas Senator filed a bill to stop deregulation in his area due to the failed promises. That bill passed.
So there you have it. You are getting screwed. Enjoy.
Seriously. It’s a question that needs to be asked and there is no easy way to ask it. What the flying fuck is wrong with you?
Nineteen children, ages 9-11, were slaughtered, some with their heads blown off, by an 18 year old who had easy access to military style assault weapons provided by Greg Abbott and yet you are STILL going to vote for him? What. The. Fuck? Before that shooting 10 kids lost their lives in another school in Sante Fe, and 25 in an El Paso Walmart, and 27 in a Sutherland Springs church, and 8 in the streets of Odessa. All lost their lives because Texas has the most lax laws in the country when it comes to guns and yet you have no fucking empathy for those affected, like the parents, those who will bear the mental scars forever, or those with lifelong physical injuries. No, you have to vote for Greg Abbott because you lack basic common sense, decency, and moral values. Don’t go to church to wash your fucking hands with holy water. Go to your fucked up church to ask your priest forgiveness so you won’t risk going to fucking hell.
In 2021 you suffered through a freeze that took hundreds of lives, cost billions in water damage, and left you huddled under a stack of fucking blankets and yet you are STILL going to vote for Greg Abbott and those who did that to you? How fucking hard is it to keep the goddamn lights and heat on in the “Energy Capitol of the World” and how fucking hard is it for you to just vote his crippled ass out of office and put people in who will actually fix the goddamn grid? What are you? Stupid?
But there is more. No one wants an abortion. No one is advocating for abortion, but in Texas it doesn’t matter anymore. It doesn’t matter if the fetus you are carrying, or your wife is carrying is viable, you have no choice but to carry it to term. It doesn’t matter if your 12 year old is pregnant from rape or incest. That child will be forced to have that child and all you have to do is ignore it and vote for the very person who will do this to you and your family. Besides the emotional stress of the entire situation there could be a huge financial impact that the family must endure but you don’t really care because, well it didn’t happen to you, so fuck em. Yeah. Well fuck you too.
And for you teachers and parents of school kids. How much is enough for you to finally take some kind of action? How much shit will you teachers take from the Karens at the school board claiming you are “indoctrinating” kids and who are trying to micromanage how you teach, what you wear, what you say? How much are you going to complain about cuts to education, your shitty retirement, your shitty benefits, your expensive healthcare, and your low class salary before you will get off your fat ass and vote the idiots out who have done this to you over the last 20 fucking years? (Yes Texas has been a republican state for 20 fuckin years)
And lets not leave out Latinos. What the fuck do you think the MAGAts think about you? The first thing they think is “Are you illegal? Do you speak English like you should? Are you sucking on the tit of Social Security?” You think you have a seat at the dinner table but they invited you because you ARE dinner. Have some goddamn dignity and cojones and vote these rotten racists bastards out of office. Show them that they cannot demonize people because of your color or your language or your heritage. For flying fucks sake do something beside rolling over. Act like a Latino.
And if you are gay or have a gay member of your family or have gay friends and you are STILL going to vote for the homophobe Abbott, well then just fuck you. Many times over. One of these days Abbott will target you and will will be begging like a little bitch for help from the very people you turned your back on.
I’d so tired of law enforcement whining about crime while they vote for the very people who have flooded our streets with guns pointed at police! You idiots. What the fuck is wrong with you? The guns are pointed at you! What is it going to take for you to realize guns are more important to the very people you vote for than law enforcement? These are the very people who bashed police in the head with flags on Jan 6. What the flying fuck is wrong with you?
Personally I am tired of fighting to make things better for teachers, the gay community, Latinos, women, police, and everyone in this state. If you can’t do one simple fucking thing to help your goddamn self and your fucked up family, then fuck you. You are on your own.
Last night’s debate was a perfect example of why Greg Abbott does not want to debate again. He got a Texas sized can of whoop ass handed to him.
He just got his ass kicked trying to run on his lies and getting called out on them. It was a pathetic showing for someone who has been on the tit of the government his entire adult life, including 8 years as the Governor of Texas. He looked shaken. He looked unprepared. He looked like he was trying, and failing, to sugar coat his lists of failures on immigration, abortion, electricity grid, and every issue that was discuss.
Beto reminded the televised audience (there was no live audience as per Abbott’s demands) that Abbott has been in office for 8 years and yet has nothing but a list of failures, lies, stunts, and conspiracy theories to show for it. Here is just a few points about Greg Abbott’s Texas:
The full list can be found at Texas by the numbers. It ain’t pretty. There were too many points of misinformation and lies by Abbott to list. I highly recommend watching the rerun of the debate to see just how pathetic the governor looked. If this was a little league game it would have been called after 30 minutes. Greg Abbott truly looked crippled. Mentally crippled.
The next opportunity to see Abbott get his ass kicked is in November. That one is on us.
The time for screwing around is over. Beto needs to hammer Abbott, challenge his lies, and remind voters of his record.
In tonight‘s debate Beto should start every sentence with the following “you’ve been in office for eight years and yet you still haven’t accomplished anything on [the issue being discussed]”.
Beginning a sentence with this phrase can remind voters that after eight years Abbott is still complaining about immigration. You would think after 20 years of republican rule in the state he would’ve found a solution especially since they had a republican president and congress.
The cost of college education has skyrocketed. The cost of a home insurance and health insurance is also through the roof. After eight years of Abbott being governor our state brings up the bottom on education, teacher retirement, teacher healthcare, and quality of life. Texas is ranked number one for mass shootings. We are ranked number one in the number of rapes in the state. We are number one in the number of uninsured citizens.
Abbott has a record of incompetence and failure. Beto needs to say it. Over and over.
Greg Abbott has begun his campaign attacking Beto O’Rourke. It’s all he has. Abbott can’t run on his record but Beto can and probably will. After 20 years of republican rule in Texas with 8 years as Governor, here is Abbott’s record:
It’s hard to disagree when Texas leads the nation in mass shootings (8), is the easiest state to get a gun, a state where anyone can walk around in public with a loaded AR15, a 100 round barrel clip, a silencer, and wearing body armor. A state with out of control property taxes, electricity rates, college tuition rates, home prices, and home insurance premiums. Texas ranks 49th in benefits for teachers in the nation, 45th in education. Texas teachers are underpaid, under appreciated, and under attack. Texas doesn’t take too kindly to gays, muslims, Mexicans, or anyone who even looks illegal. Texas has flooded the streets with unlimited guns putting our law enforcement under constant stress to keep us safe. And Texas is ranked 48th in quality of living
In short, Texas sucks. Do yourself a favor, Don’t Mess Move With To Texas.
Electricity prices, property taxes, housing costs, college tuition, and home insurance are out the roof in Texas. Gun violence is out of control. Texas ranks 45th in education. Women’s rights have been slashed and you are telling yourself “I need to do something!“. Well you have about 2 months to do something to correct the direction of our State. It’s up to you to get involved. This is how.
Volunteer with a campaign. Find a campaign to work on. Sign up. Volunteer.
Volunteer with our clubs. The Bay Area Democratic Movement, Bay Area New Democrats, and the Bay Area Association of Democratic Women has opened a joint headquarters and will be campaigning for all of our Democrats across the Bay Area including Beto, Lina Hidalgo, and Adrian Garcia. We are located on the corner of Diana and Bay Area Blvd. 1215 Bay Area Blvd. We are open 11-6 Monday – Saturday. Closed Sunday. (Times will change as we get closer to the election.) We will be a one stop shop for signs, phone banking, block walking, rallies, and more. Sign up here to get periodic news on our HQ. Our phone number is 346-384-0387.
Phonebank. Phonebanking will be conducted throughout the day and evening. We will be calling voters in our own neighborhood. Our phonebook system is easy to use and does not require your personal cell phone! We will provide training. Again, join our newsletter to keep informed of when we will have training.
Block Walk/Literature drop. We will have our own door hanger available to leave at a door advocating for all of our candidates. Volunteer to work your own neighborhood. We will train you. It’s easy and great exercise.
Put a sign in your yard. Come by the HQ and get a sign for your candidate. (Donations greatly appreciated!) Show your support and enthusiasm for changing our State. Signs will be available soon. We will also be putting out signs in the district. If you have a business or property we can get a large sign for you. Once again, sign up here to learn when we get Beto signs!
Donate money. If you can’t talk, or walk, then donate! Our headquarters would greatly appreciate a donation to our HQ! The money will be used for rent, utilities, phonebanking, and literature. Donate to the HQ here.
Get involved! After 30 years of republican rule we have an excellent chance of a lifetime to finally put our state on the right track. DO SOMETHING! NOW!
Many years ago we were in line to get a hot dog at a summer event when someone told a dad that his son had forgotten to get the hot dog to go with his bun. The dad looked at his son and said “What are you? Stupid?”. It was a pretty shitty thing to say to your own son or to anyone for that matter but it is a question I have since asked many times. Today might be an appropriate time.
Back in 1996 California was the first state to deregulate their electricity grid supported by the lobbying efforts of Ken Lay and Enron. A few years later under the republican controlled Legislature with the same guidance from Kenny, Texas followed California’s stupidity and deregulated most of Texas. East Texas stopped deregulation in their area after years of promises of deregulation to lower rates. East Texas did not lose power in the Feb 2021 freeze but everyone else did.
Besides letting the free market create complicated plans that resulted in costing more money instead of less, the Legislature has now allowed companies to tax us in order to pay for the electricity grid upgrades that should have been paid for as part of deregulation. Looking at the PowerToChoose website the results of deregulation and republican rule is pretty clear. The lowest price is 14.5 cents/kWh. Prior to deregulation Houstonians were paying just under 8 cents. They had long term contracts. They had the option to average billing, paying one price every month. They had reliable energy. Texas was #4 in electricity deregulation. We are now #32.
So look at us now. Rates now range from 14.5 cents to 26.4 cents/kWh. Couple that with exploding home prices, home insurance out the roof, and higher property taxes, and Greg Abbott has accomplished the Californication of Texas. So I need to ask the question:
You’re freezing your butt off. You’re paying a tax for the electrical grid upgrade that was supposed to have happened in 2003. You’re paying high electricity prices due to deregulation in 2003. You’re paying outrageous home insurance prices due to the failure of insurance deregulation in 2003. You’re paying some of the highest property taxes in the country. You’re paying high college and trade school prices ever since Abbot and company deregulated college tuition in 2003.
And over 75,000 of friends, family, and fellow Texans have died from COVID partially due to Abbott’s politicizing of COVID.
Yet you’re still voting for him? WTH is wrong with you?
Lawmakers are close to passing bills that would allow companies to seek billions of dollars in state-approved bonds backed by charges on customers’ bills to stabilize the state’s distressed energy market.
So, let’s recap. In 1999 Texas deregulated our electricity market with the promise of lower rates for consumers. 20 years later Texans froze for 3 days without electricity and water. Over 200 Texans died because the free market wanted to save money and refused to pay to upgrade and protect the grid and production.
And now the Texas legislature is about to pass a bill that would require this free market to fix their mistake and….wait for it….the very same Texans who lost loved ones in the freeze and those who had no drinking water or electricity for days are going to pay for it. Yep. We are paying for it!
I’m not sure who are the bigger idiots. Is it the elected officials who passed this bill, or is it the Texans who froze for three days and will continue to vote for these elected officials who passed the buck?
Well, Texas is right about one thing. We do things bigger in Texas. Bigger mosquitos. Bigger guns. And bigger idiots.
Texas has a history of cute sayings such as “Come and Take it”, “We do things bigger in Texas”, “Don’t Mess with Texas”, “Thank god for Mississippi”, and my favorite “No Place But Texas”.
No Place but Texas was once a slogan celebrating the unique qualities of living in Texas, although I question if we are really unique. Much like every other state in the country we band together to help each other during times of need. We help neighbors rebuild fences after a hurricane. We provide supplies to those in need. We donate money. None of that is unique to Texas.
Now No Place but Texas is nothing but a joke. Looney Louie Gohmert, #CancunCruz, Trump Wannabe Greg Abbott, indicted Attorney General Ken Paxton, leadership failures, science deniers, guns on demand, no place but Texas. Literally.
Recently the “Energy Capitol of the World” was plunged into darkness during the winter storm of 2021. While the rest of the country was hunkered down enjoying their power and water, most of Texans were freezing their asses off unable to flush the toilet. Over 50 died. Republican elected officials were silent before and after the freeze leaving the Democrats to help those in need while #CancunCruz fled the state to weather the storm in Mexico with his hot wife and loving 10 year old whining brats. Yep. No Place But Texas.
In 2003 besides deregulation electricity, which brought the freeze higher electricity rates for consumers, Texas deregulated college tuition and home insurance. Like electricity rates the cost of college skyrocketed and home insurance is out the roof. No Place But Texas.
Recently Greg Abbott has ended the mask mandate and will fully open the State 2 months too son, just like he did last summer which resulted in over 45,000 Texans losing their lives. His failures reminds me of another saying “All hat and no cattle”.
Luckily for the Republican Party, who ushered in this Texas sized stupidity, “We do things bigger in Texas”. We have the biggest idiots in the country who will forget about how they froze their nuts off or how much they are paying for electricity or tuition or home insurance. They will forget about the 45,000 who died of COVID or the 50 who froze to death. In 2022 they will again vote for the very people who did this to them. Again, No Place But Texas.
Well as the saying goes in Mississippi, “Thank god for Texas”.
Ken Lay’s great electricity deregulation in Texas has been a total flop. Before screwing his employees and stock holders Lay laid it to the consumers in Texas by lobbying for deregulation. It worked but the promises of lower rates or even stable rates was nothing but that. Promises.
In order to “help” the consumer the Public Utility Commission has created the Power to Choose website, also known as the Power to Lose. The site is complicated, deceiving, full of misleading information and extremely hard to understand. Don’t believe me? Try it yourself. PowerToChoose.org. Try to find an affordable fixed rate plan for 12-60 months. Good luck. You will need it. Just for grins, I performed the search and looked for the highest priced plan available. Spark Energy was listed at 10-20-40 cents per kWh. You can try to figure out this rate by downloading the Electricity Facts Label.
Consumers are not a picky bunch. They want to know how much will they pay and how many features will be available. Before regulation consumers knew exactly how much they would pay. Here in Houston under Houston Light & Power (HL&P) it was just under 8 cents a kWh. You received a paper bill each month. You mailed a check or paid at the grocery store. No one seemed to care about monitoring their electricity use, or waiting for the weekend to turn on their AC unit to reap the benefits of their free weekends gimmick.
Texans are a gullible bunch of people. They actually think they are getting a good deal paying 12 cents/kWh.
My suggestion is to find a new electricity reseller immediately. From KPRC:
HOUSTON – After nearly 20 years in business in the state of Texas, it’s lights out for Breeze Energy.The Electric Reliability Council of Texas pulled the plug on the power provider Wednesday after it learned the company was not meeting mandated financial requirements to remain feasible.But that also meant the process to immediately shift nearly 10,000 customers to other providers was initiated without the rates those customers had negotiated with Breeze. Those new providers are referred to as “providers of last resort” or “POLR.”
For those Currently with Breeze you will be transferred to a POLR which according to Electric Choice is Reliant Energy. Their rates are anywhere from 14 cents to 23 cents/kWh depending just how you look at their Electricity Facts Sheet.
According to the PUC:
The Commission has designated Providers of Last Resort (POLR) as a back-up electric service provider in each area of Texas open to competition. POLR service is relatively high-priced, due to the costs associated with planning and the risk of serving an uncertain number of customers with uncertain electricity loads. POLR service is a safety net for customers whose chosen REP is unable to continue service. This service is intended to be temporary and used only under rare circumstances when a REP is unable to provide service, or when a customer requests POLR service.
So switch now and avoid the high priced POLD or else you will be SOL.
The Houston Chronicle summed up the Public Utility Commission’s PowerToChoose website perfectly:
Darla Jackson of Coppell, north of Dallas, wanted to change to her retail electricity company, but couldn’t face the prospect of using the state’s comparison shopping site, Powertochoose.org. Like many Texans, she felt overwhelmed by the number of companies, variety of plans and mind-numbing terms and conditions which, even after hours of study, left her confused, overwhelmed and uncertain of the best deal.
Last year the Commissioner, Donna Nelson, realized how incredibly deceptive their website can be and took action to update and improve it so consumers could actually compare prices when selecting an electricity billing company. According to the Texas Tribune:
Donna Nelson, chairman of the Public Utility Commission, said Thursday at a public meeting. “They’ve got all these tricky little things in their prices, and whatever the fact sheets are called – the nutrition label – that makes it really difficult for customers.”
Nelson started Project 45730 to receive comments from interested individuals on how to improve the website. After months of collecting information from 193 parties, the PUC responded with absolutely no changes to the website. In fact the gimmicks have become worse. It is nearly impossible to make an informed decision based upon the information provided by the PowerToChoose.org. There are just too many gimmicks, fine print, and “gotchas” for the average consumer to wade through. The PUC knows this and yet have taken no action besides calling for suggestions and input from the community and then ignoring them. It was clearly a complete waste of time and resources. Especially mine. When it is time to select a new billing company, just remember who lobbied for deregulation on your behalf, Key Lay and Enron. Enjoy.
A few months ago the Public Utility Commission (PUC) requested comments from consumers on how to improve their website the PowerToChoose.com. The Chairman of the PUC stated in the Texas Tribune article:
Donna Nelson, chairman of the Public Utility Commission, said Thursday at a public meeting. “They’ve [electricity resellers] got all these tricky little things in their prices, and whatever the fact sheets are called – the nutrition label – that makes it really difficult for customers.”
Today the tricky little things continue. For example, look at the rate for Volt Electricity Provider (Volt EP)
Volt EP advertises a plan that charges a fixed rate of 7.7 cents per kWh across the board but the details of the plan is something different. According to the Fact Sheet the rate is a type of “average” I have never seen before. For instance if a homeowner uses 500 kWh the bill is $38.50 (7.7 cents per kWh). But if that same homeowner uses only 250 kWh the bill is the same $38.50. (15.4 cents per kWh) Here is a pic from their fact sheet:
So the true cost of Volt EP really isn’t as easy as kWh X 7.7 cents because it depends upon your real usage for the month. Based upon my usage over the last year my real average would be 9.9 cents per kWh about 30% higher than what is advertised.
Thanks to Dave Fehling of Houston Public Media for this story on the Texas Public Utility Commission Power to Choose website. After 13 years the promise of lower electricity rates due to deregulation has never materialized for Texas consumers. The Power to Choose website was designed to allow consumers the ability to “Shop, Compare, and Choose” but has failed to do so.
The PUC has been collecting comments on how to improve their deceptive Power to Choose website. As many of the 100 comments have stated, the website does not truly compare the hundreds of plans available that are complicated with fees, gimmicks, rebates, and hidden charges. Even the Chairman of the PUC stated in the Texas Tribune article:
Donna Nelson, chairman of the Public Utility Commission, said Thursday at a public meeting. “They’ve [electricity resellers] got all these tricky little things in their prices, and whatever the fact sheets are called – the nutrition label – that makes it really difficult for customers.”
I was pleased to see that other individuals and organizations, including AARP Texas, has joined me in recommending true comparison of the plans available taking into consideration their historic kWh usage of their home coupled with the various plans, fees, and gimmicks. The PUC has access to consumer’s historical usage. They can easily take this information and perform the calculations for every plan and show how much each plan would truly cost. This would be a true and fairly accurate comparison based upon your specific usage. Currently the website does nothing more than displays the cost per kWh and some of the gimmicks for each company. This is not comparing.
“Give real comparisons of how much you will be paying each company,” said Cobarruvius. A PUC spokesperson told us that the commission is continuing to take consumer comments and will consider changes by sometime late this summer.
With historic lows in natural gas and the magic of deregulation championed by Ken Lay and Enron, it is about time the Public Utility Commission make good on their promises of lower electricity rates for consumers.
If you are interested, comments can be viewed and submitted here.
Before electricity deregulation consumers in the old HL&P area were paying just under 8 cents a kWh in a long term, no maintenance, contract. Now after 13 years of deregulation consumers have the ability to “Shop, Compare, Choose” according to the Public Utility Commission’s website, the PowerToChoose.org. Unfortunately choosing using the tools provided by the PUC is complicated and deceiving. Don’t take my word for it, even the Commissioner agrees. From Jim Malewitz of the Texas Tribune:
Donna Nelson, chairman of the Public Utility Commission, said Thursday at a public meeting. “They’ve [electricity resellers] got all these tricky little things in their prices, and whatever the fact sheets are called – the nutrition label – that makes it really difficult for customers.”
I’m putting the final touches to a presentation titled “How to Select a Cost Effective Electricity Reseller” and in doing so stumbled upon a plan that is about as close to what we had pre-deregulation. Is it the cheapest? Maybe not for your specific usage and your home but if you are looking for a no gimmick, no extra fees, no hidden costs, with a relatively low rate, this is the one for you.
Recommendation: Discount Power has a 12 or 24 month plan at 7,.7 cents per kWh no matter how much electricity you use during the month. Many plans have variable rates, discounts and extra fees depending upon your usage during a specific month. It can be very complicated to compute a real rate and sometimes it isn’t as low as it seems, but knock yourself out if you want to try.
With this plan you have a long, no maintenance contract, at 7.7 plus tax. If you appreciate a relatively low rate, a longer contract, and no gimmicks, this is the one for you. Discount Power Saver No Gimmicks 24 signup can be found here. The electricity fact sheet is here.
BTW I do not receive any referral fees from Discount Power and I have signed up myself.
Posted by johncoby 
Bay Area Houston 