Houston Energy Prices Are Down Today But What About Last Summer?
For those who do not remember last year during the summer a barrel of oil approached $140 dollars a barrel which was an all time record. Natural gas approached some record level prices as well which caused Houston electricity prices to range in price from 17 – 31 cents per kWh depending on the electric company you went with if you were renewing your electric contract at this time. US Energy Savings Corp also known as Just Energy were convincing people to sign up on a 5 year fixed rate during this time at around 15 – 16 cents per kWh. For those people who locked in at this price they would be kicking themselves during this summer of 2009, only 1 year later. Prices right now are in the 10 – 11 cents per kWh range for a 1 year fixed electric rate.
If you want to sign up on a longer term rate the price is about 10% higher. Today is Monday June 8th 2009 and prices have come down today but this may not last for long. Houston electric rates have been toying with coming back up the last few weeks with several up days. A barrel of oil has come up from a low of $35 a barrel to around $70 a barrel as of today. Last year natural gas and electricity prices followed oil prices up. If this trend continues especially heading into the summer it would make sense to go ahead and lock into a Houston electric rate before it gets any hotter.
Learn more about today’s Houston electricity prices – click here
Looking Back at Last Summers Electric Rates
Last year during the summer of 2008 the highest electric rate I had seen on anyone’s electric bill was for 31 cents per kWh. I actually saw this rate listed on a First Choice Energy bill and it seemed unreasonably high. Around this time there were rumors that First Choice Power was looking to sell their Texas retail electric provider business or simply move out of this market completely. As of 2009 First Choice Power is still selling electric service in Texas although their electric rates have come down from what appeared to be their all time high at 31 cents a kWh. It could have been that First Choice Electric Company simply did not hedge at a low time in the energy market and when energy prices spiked they had to sell at these high prices as they had bought too much energy at the wrong time in the market.
Highest Priced Residential Houston Electric Companies
Today there are still a few Houston electric companies that have extrodinarily high electric rates in comparison to everyone else and we would like to point these higher prices out to help consumers to stay away from price gouging. The electric rates in the chart below include all fees and charges but their prices are several cents higher than several discount electricity companies. Instead of being gouged by a higher Houston electric rate you should lock into a discount rate that has all fees and charges disclosed. By locking into a rate that discloses all charges as well as being cheap you can be confident about going into the Houston energy contract knowing there will be no surprises. Below you will find some of the highest prices for residential electricity in Houston. We recommend you avoid signing up with these residential energy companies at this time as you will be paying some of the highest prices in the Texas energy market.
