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Spark Electric Rates

Comparing Rates to Find the Cheapest Energy Price

If you are needing to compare Houston electricity rates with multiple electric providers in order to find the cheapest available offer than please feel free to click on our comparison link to compare multiple reputable electricity companies with Spark electric rates. Finding the cheapest available electricity price is what many Houston residential energy consumers are attempting to do but what we help with is to also avoid potential hidden fees, charges, and fuel surcharges that not all electricity companies make you aware of in their electricity prices they advertise.

Comparison Chart Shows Apples to Apples Disclosure of All Fees and Charges

The electricity providers we have in our comparison chart are reputable energy companies and all fees and charges are disclosed. Once you have narrowed down if you want to get on a 1 year, 2 year, or 3 year fixed rate than just click on the “Sign up link”. From here you will be asked to type in your zip code and service address for your home in order to confirm your electricity rate. Spark Energy is currently pursuing natural gas sales in the North East so we do not have them on our comparison chart. Not to worry as there are several electric providers in the Houston electricity comparison chart with cheaper electric rates than what Spark Energy is currently offering. When Spark Energy begins to pursue electricity sales in Texas again we look forward to being able to offer them next to the other electric companies in our comparison chart.

Fuel Surcharges and Other Things to Be Aware Of

One thing we strive to do in our comparison of multiple residential Houston electricity companies is to make sure all fees and charges are disclosed. There are energy providers out there that will hide fees and charges in their terms of service of their contract. If you look at the terms of service in a residential electricity contract it is still almost impossible to understand if those hidden fees are included in the rate or will be added later. Fortunately we have gone through all of the residential energy service contracts we have on our site and confirmed that what you see is what you get. You may click on the link below to learn more about what the cheapest Houston electric rates look like next to each other in our detailed electric service comparison chart. All fees and charges are disclosed in the chart and there is nothing goofy going on in these providers “terms of service” in the finer details of the energy contract.

Check and Compare Houston Residential Electric Rates

Katy Electricity Prices Compared with Reliant Energy

When shopping for electricity prices in Katy Texas especially when moving into a new apartment complex you are almost always asked to call Reliant Energy to establish electric service in your name. Even though there are 50 different electricity companies in Katy Texas to choose from the apartment manager will ask you to call Reliant Energy and even give you their phone number. The problem is that Reliant Energy has much higher prices then the discount residential electricity companies selling residential energy in Katy. Because there are quite a few other choices for picking a Katy Texas electric company we would like to suggest you go shopping and pick the cheapest reputable electric provider in Katy instead of going just on name brand. Reliant Energy was bought by NRG Energy this year (2009) and is no longer a Texas based company. Reliant is now a New Jersey based electricity provider. Why not help out the Texas economy and pick a local Texas energy provider. You can compare electricity prices below from several Katy Texas electricity companies.

These Katy Texas electricity prices were updated as of May 4 2009. Electricity rates can change weekly so keep in mind that this is a blog article and if you are reading this several months later this chart will only serve as a historical measure of what Katy electric companies were charging during May of 2009. To get updated electricity prices you will need to click on “Compare“.

If you have been considering switching to one of the expensive Reliant Electricity Prices we would like to ask you to consider a much cheap option by comparing the discount electric providers on this site. All fees and charges are displayed in our electricity comparison chart and there are no fuel surcharges.

Nueces Electric Cooperative – Annual Rebates as a Partial Owner

Being a Partial Owner in an Electric Coop

Many people find the idea of being a partial owner of an electric company quite appealing. The annual rebate you get from Nueces Electric Coop will substantially lower your residential electric rate as of Sept 2009. Nueces has an electric rate at 12.7 cents per kWh for residential customers and you receive a rebate back. A visitor to our website called us several months back complaining the Nueces was charging them 34.5 cents kWh and so we asked them to send in their bill so we could do a bill audit. We received the electric bill from one of Nueces Electric Coops customers that showed they paid 34.5 cents a kWh. We were mistaken but for some reason believed that the Nueces electric bill we were given by this customer was a residential electricity bill. Based on a recent comment from someone on Sept 22 2009 it appears the bill we were given was a commercial electric rate. The customer may have been in a home but for what ever reason they wanted on a commercial rate. The customer is always best staying on a residential rate if their meter is classified residential even if they own a business but many customers do not know this.

A customer comment below and listed here gives a clearer example of why this customer was confused:

”

By M Gerick on September 22nd, 2009 at 10:30 am e

First of all your Not mentioning this is a Commercial Account makes one believe it compares to the residential rates. Not so!
There are other circumstances that does affect the bill — like the 11 Kilowatts of demand for just 451 kwh of usage. The load factor is 5.5% or considered a very bad investment for a utility when a 55% load factor is 10 times more profitable! This is a business that uses high demand (KW) that’s the generation part yet use it for a short period of time. If ll kw was used 50% of the time at ll kw it would only have been used for 80 hours during this month…this is not the type of customer your company would prefer either. What rate did you offer them?

I feel it is unfair for you to “cherry pick” a customer which benefits your advertising….which I consider poor advertising on your part. I am sure we could find one of your customers with the same conditions!

Nueces Electric current RESIDENTIAL rate is 12.7 cents/kwh.“

This customer some how ended up on a commercial rate and thought they would start paying less. Many customers come to this conclusion because the commercial rates quoted on the internet and phone (regardless of the provider) usually do not have the TDSP charges bundled into the rate like a residential electricity price does. A residential rate can be bundled because it can be fixed by the provider and averaged on every customers bill at the same fixed price. Commercial businesses vary dramatically in size and so the TDSP charges are variable charges based on kWh usage and load factor. A very small business like the customer who sent in this bill was hit with some very large TDSP charges simply because his demand made up most of his electric bill. His price would have been alright had he been using more electricity usage.

We were not aware at the time that he was complaining about a commercial rate and because of this we have corrected this article to show that this Nueces customer was actually confused and thought he was being taken when in reality he should have chosen a rate product that fixes the TDSP charges into the rate or kept his meter classified as residential if he had that meter classification changed to begin with. If you are a small business working from a home NEVER have your meter reclassified as commercial. You will pay a very high electric rate with most of the charges coming from the TDSP company that passes through those charges with your electric provider. Nueces was not overcharging this customer, instead what was happening was that they were on a commercial rate that had the TDSP charges past through at actual cost. If he had of been on a fixed residential product his rate would have looked normal like any residential customers. He was simply put on a pricing plan that did not make sense for his situation. TXU has a pricing plan for small business like this that will fix the TDSP charges into the commercial rate and give the customer price assurance that the rate will not change. I am not sure if Nueces has a commercial product for small customers that fixes the TDSP charges but that is what a small business like this really needs to be on so the TDSP charges do not make up most of the charges on the bill.

Back in April 2009 we wrote the following believing this guy was a residential customer. Our recommendation has changed now that we understand this was a commercial electric bill. This customer was charged correctly by Nueces and simply had his TDSP charges passed through because he was classified as a commercial account as all Texas electricity providers do. He was penalized not by Nueces but by the TDSP company based on high demand and low usage. Nueces is not responsible for this penalty but simply passes this charges on the bill as they receive it from the pole and wires company.

April 2009, “They did not have a past due amount and after reviewing the electricity bill it is obvious this is the actual electric rate he is being charged. This is the highest electric rate I have ever seen on a Texas electric bill. Correction: ‘It was only high because the customer was classified as commercial when he thought he was residential. Had he known he was a commercial account he may not have been as quick to rush to judegment” I have removed the customers name, account number and service address to keep their information private but everything else regarding the electricity bill is there for you to see. Our recommendation is to use Nueces Electric Coop as they are a good electric company and offer a way to become a partial owner in an electric company. To avoid having confusion over your electric bill if you are a small business working from your home we recommend remaining classified as a residential account and not to change your classification to “commercial” regardless of the electric company you choose. The customer was being charged 17 cents per kWh at one time with Nueces prior to coming off contract and had that raised to 34.5 cents but according to a consumer or customer comment and article review below it was because this customer was a commercial customer and not residential. Because he was a very small commercial customer, demand charges made up the highest percentage of his bill. This can be easily fixed with some electricity providers by being matched up with a commercial contract that fixes the TDSP portion of the the bill. Most electric companies do not offer a fixed TDSP charge for commercial businesses however TXU Energy offers a rate plan that will fix in TDSP charges into the overall fixed rate if you are under a certain amount of usage. It is important to ask for something like this or even TXU could put you on a variable TDSP demand rate that could go much higher then you would anticipate.

The Annual Dividend

Based on a customer correction about the premise of the original article about A Nueces electric bill we stand corrected. The customer was a commercial customer and not a residential customer. Had he been on a Nueces residential electric rate and taken advantage of the annual dividend he would have made out pretty well on a Nueces Electric Co-op rate. We think you will like that annual check each year by being a partial owner.

Other Companies Offering Rebates on Your Electric Bill

Nueces Electric offers a great way to save money on your electricity bill through annual rebates by becoming an owner in their electric Co-op. The amount you will get back in rebate depends on company profits from what I understand so the exact amount is not available or I would put it on this site.

Another company offering rebates off the originally advertised electric rate is Affordable Energy.  Affordable in Houston gives you $3 back for every 1,000 kWh used. All you have to do is sign up as a customer representative on their website: Click Here > Join Our Team > Join Now. Choose “Customer Service Representative”.  Affordable will give you a website link you can use to then sign up for electric service to allow you to receive credit back for the electricity you use. Affordable Energy is currently charging 11.7 – 13 cents a kWh (depending on your area as of Sept 22 2009) while Nueces is advertising a rate of 12.7 cents per kWh in the Houston area. Both Nueces and Affordable are great companies from what we know of them. We apologize for the confusion in regards to this article. The Nueces customer that sent us their electric bill was confused and made us to believe they were a residential electric service customer.

Houston TXU Energy

Comparing TXU Energy with the Cheapest Electric Company

We went out and compared TXU Energy’s latest residential electric rate in the Houston area with a few other competitive electric companies. What we found is that TXU Energy is still advertising an uncompetitive electric rate when comparing it with a few other reputable electric providers in Houston. Some Houston electric companies hide fees and additional charges in their electric rate contract but after reviewing TXU Energy’s contract terms and service we see that they are correctly advertising their electric rates in Houston and do not appear to be attempting to mislead new customers into a too good to be true electric rate. The problem instead is that they are offering an electric rate several cents higher then many other electric providers in Houston. Right now they only show a 2 year fixed electric rate available for 14.9 cents a kWh.

How Does TXU Energy Compare?

In comparison to TXU Houston you can lock in on a 1 year fixed rate with Startex Power as of April 2009 at 11.3 cents a kWh. Learn more about Startex Power

Just How Much Cheaper are Other Providers?

This Startex Energy rate is 3.6 cents kWh cheaper then TXU Energy. To be fair we should compare the Startex Power 24 month fixed rate with TXU Energy’s 24 month fixed electric rate. Right now Startex is offering a 12.4 cent per kWh rate for 24 months fixed (learn more). This is a 2.5 cents a kWh difference in price over TXU Energy’s 24 month fixed electric rate in Houston. We recommend Startex Power as a reputable electric company in Houston that can be trusted. They do not have a history of tricking their customers into an electric contract that is not as advertised in their Houston electricity facts label. They have a long history of operating in Texas since almost the beginning of deregulation in Texas.

An Old Established Brand Name, TXU

TXU Energy is an old established brand in Texas although they were recently bought out by two large private equity groups and no longer have the same ownership. Startex Power is a trust worthy brand in Texas and if you are a Houston energy consumer trying to make up your mind about whether to sign up with TXU Energy or Startex Power we want to encourage you to go with Startex with confidence. Their Houston electric rates are cheap, they do not trick their customers, and they offer fixed electric rates. You will not find any hidden tricks and gimmicks in the fine details of Startex’s Texas utility energy contract.

Learn more about Startex Power

Houston Direct Energy

We checked out on the state website to see what some of the larger Houston electric companies are offering Houston residential energy consumers in regards to a fixed electric rate plan. Most people right now are choosing to sign up on a 12 month fixed electric rate. The 12 month fixed electricity price remains the cheapest available electric rate plan in the Houston area. Direct Energy is offering a 12 month electric rate at 12.6 cents kWh. When comparing Direct Energy to TXU Energy we see that TXU is offering a 24 month fixed electric rate at 14.9 cents a kWh but they do not have a 12 month fixed rate available on the state website. Reliant Energy is the last large electric provider to compare in the Houston area and they are offering a fixed electric rate for 12 month fixed at 15.6 cents a KWh. The cheapest electricity rate among the big 3 energy companies in Houston is with Direct Energy.

We have an issue with Direct Energy’s 12.6 cent electric rate for residential energy consumers in Houston because it still remains to be quite high when comparing Direct’s Electric rate with several other electric providers in Houston. Right now when comparing a few reputable electric companies to Direct Energy we see a few better deals by a penny or more. The companies in the Houston electricity rate comparison do not have a history of misleading their customers through legal jargon and gimmicks in their energy contract.

You can compare the cheapest Houston electric companies in comparison to TXU Energy, Reliant Energy and Direct Energy by clicking here.

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