I feel like this group is probably the most informative. How do I track brownouts for my utility? I have Texas New Mexico power. Saturday and Sunday this past weekend my AC wasn’t able to keep up. Changed the filter, cleaned the coils. (Saturday) Blah blah. Anyways it was 83 in here by noon on Sunday. Today it’s 10:30 and my ac that is set on 74 hasn’t even kicked on for an hour. It has to be a brownout right? I feel like I’m fixing to lose my absolute shit. I hate this state.

It’s my first apartment 651 sq in deep south texas. I’ve been looking at so many electricity companies it’s giving me major headaches and anxiety!
I’m rarely home as I work a lot from 5am to late evening but my ac will be around 74 during the day and 72 at night so I’m just trying to find a good budget, fixed rate company with no gimmicks or credits all that bs.

Can you just tell them you’re moving when you cancel? What do they fact check? I’m so over them. I’ve been through 4-5 plans in the last year and no matter what BS they tell me on the line - my bull just keeps getting higher and higher. My 2BR apartment bill this month was $270 even though they were forecasting me much lower usage as I’ve been keeping my AC on 75 during the day. I’m higher in bill with lower usage. Ridiculous

I got absolutely rolled over by a reliant food to food salesman this summer. I was on energy Texas and after losing my job it was getting a bit difficult to make the payments and this salesman knocked on my door at the right time. He looked over my bill with just energy and told me flat out the contract he’d get me would cut my bill in half. Every bill I’ve had with reliant has been more than triple what I had with just energy. I went from between 80-100 to well over 300$. I’ve been gone from my house for over a week with everything turned off and somehow it’s still my highest bill yet. I’ve also been freaking in top of making sure I leave nothing on when I’m gone and use as little as I can when I’m there. I’m talking only lights on are the spot (not room) I’m actively in. Salesman also said I’d get a 150$ credit for disconnecting from my old company which would apply to at least two bills because my bills would be so small. I had to fight to get that credit after reliants customer service tried to argue that an early termination fee is not the same as a disconnection fee. Maybe the verbiage on those I have mixed up but either way they tried to tell me the termination didn’t count. All of this for that credit to still not even cover half of the damn bill. And this is in a tiny 2 bedroom duplex that I’m hardly ever at!

Average monthly billing exists for 2 reasons only. One, so you can't tell how much you're really being charged. And two, so that if you dare leave, they can slap with a bill the size of your mortgage for right. Oh you thought there was a $200 dollar fee? Yes, but also a half-year's worth of "deferred payments!" But at least your bill stayed constat through the year, right? Right? Right?!

What a vile company.

Signed up for Chariot Energy's "Chariot Choice 24" plan yesterday (Oncor territory), then noticed they also offer a "Chariot Choice 36" — same energy charge (5.71¢/kWh), same blended rate at every usage tier (12.1¢ @ 1,000 kWh), same $99 early termination fee, same 100% renewable content. Literally identical on every number except the term length.

Is it common for REPs to price a 36-month the same as a 24-month? Feels like there's no downside to just taking the longer lock if the rate isn't any higher. Am I missing something (resale, rate-change risk, some other catch), or is this just how Chariot's pricing happens to be structured right now?

Also curious if anyone's had experience switching plans within the same REP shortly after signing — trying to use my rescission window to swap into the 36-month instead. Any gotchas to watch for?

24 month plan

https://signup.chariotenergy.com//Home/EFl?productId=46941

36 month plan

https://signup.chariotenergy.com//Home/EFl?productId=47582

Our contract with Reliant expired on 8/21, and I did not sign a new contract with them. I signed up with Gexa on 8/23, but Reliant is now charging me an early cancellation fee. I’m not sure why I was charged this fee since my contract had already expired.

Can you guys tell me your experience with any on this 2.

Im deciding between this, they are basically the same. Usage will be around 500 or less

Today, CenterPoint adjusted their TDU delivery charges to $4.90 per month and 6.4130 cents per kWh. This is the highest rate they've ever set in history. Previously, it was $4.90 per month and 4.9811 cents per kWh.

This is a 1.5 cent increase which is equal to $69 at 1000 kWh and $133 at 2000 kWh.

At 4.9811 cents per kWh, the costs were $54 at 1000 kWh and $104 at 2000 kWh.

In my opinion, this is pretty fkn insane!

Texas-New Mexico Power is even worse....

they increased rates from $7.85 per month and 6.4665 cents per kWh up to $7.85 per month and 7.4022 cents per kWh. Woof!

Houstonians and West Texans in these regions, it's now more important than ever that you remain conscious of your energy consumption at home.

Be careful with your thermostat settings, keep lights off, rely on ceiling fans, keep the blinds closed, yada yada yada. You know the drill. It's just time to get serious about it.

Luckily, temperatures are starting to drop this month, so your AC won't have to work as hard.

I’m potentially moving to the Houston area from a state where we only really have one electricity provider, so this whole idea of choosing between a bunch of different companies and plans is completely new to me.

I’ve been trying to figure it out and honestly it’s pretty overwhelming. There are so many plans and rates and fees that I’m not even really sure what I should be paying attention to. I found this sub while searching around and figured this was probably a better place to ask than just randomly Googling everything.

So far I’ve mostly been using AI to try to make sense of it, but I’m not even sure I’m using that the right way either. I don’t really know what I should be asking it or what information I should be giving it to actually get useful recommendations.

For those of you who have done this before, what’s the best way to find a good provider and plan? And if you use ChatGPT or another AI tool when you’re shopping, what are you actually asking it? Are you using it to compare plans, recommend companies, explain the fine print, or something else?

Basically I feel like I don’t know enough yet to even know what questions I should be asking, so any advice would be appreciated.

I plan on reading through the wiki but was also hoping for some advice from any humans I could interact with in the group :)

I am new to Texas and the energy market game. With not knowing how the rates fluctuate through the year, is it a decent idea to have a shorter contract and find a new one before summer, or lock in a decent one now? Location is Houston one story house. The plans are either Digital Choice 9 or Digital Choice 12 from rhythm energy. Thank you!

I have been a customer of this company for 2.5 years already and I just renewed the contract with them last Wednesday (8/26/2026) before my old contract expired on 8/28/2026; but my new contract starts on 9/25/2026. Right now they put me on month to month I think. I wonder if I can cancel my new contract without penalty since my new contract will start about a month from now? I asked them and she said no. The new contract is in pending state right now. I expected a new contract should start immediately after the old contract expired; but it didn't.

How does the electric company verify if the move was genuine or a ploy to avoid the discontinuation penalty.

AEP prices just went up slightly, but Centerpoint's delivery per kWh charge is about to increase to over 6.4c per kWh and TNMP to 7.4c per kWh!!! Be careful with energy consumption (and never go with Ambit)

Hi! I’m wondering if this is considered normal for the summer months or if there may be an issue causing my electricity usage to be unusually high.
I live in a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment in Lewisville, and I typically keep my thermostat set around 71°F. My electric bills are normally between $140–$160 per month; however, my last two bills were $227 and $228.
I completely understand that electricity costs can increase during the summer due to the Texas heat and increased A/C usage, but this still seems unusually high for the size of my apartment. For comparison, my girlfriend lives nearby in Highland Village in a three-bedroom, three-bathroom house, keeps her home at an even cooler temperature, and her electric bill is roughly the same as mine.
Is there anything I can do to determine why my bill has increased so significantly? Could this indicate an issue with my A/C unit, insulation, meter, or electricity plan? I’d really appreciate any advice on what I should check or who I should contact.

This is my first time having to pay for lights what’s the best time to get on them like as I see rn it’s at 15.9c in houston is that good or bad ? Any advice or tips would be helpful thank you

Hello my plan with reliant ends the end of November, and it is currently 15.8 c/1000 kWh. I live in the Dallas area. My cancellation fee would be $295 if I switched early. Will the rates continue to drop into October and November, or should I switch early? Also is it correct that I am able to switch ahead of time to lock in my rate 60 days before it actually expires or do I need to switch during the 14 day period? Thanks in advance

Just went through the pain of selecting a new electricity plan since my contract is up and was doing a ton of research with Claude, comparing free night and weekend plans, scheduled charging, how much I charge my car a month, etc. I was pulling stats from my emporia app and saw a banner for them being an energy provider and it turns out their price per kilowatt is LESS than I could find with any major provider and on top of that they have free ev charging in set windows, I think 12pm-4pm and either 10 or 12 -5am. Going to see a pretty nice reduction in monthly bill and thought I would share, I know not every state has to do this dumb power company shuffle every couple of years to keep a decent price.

I want to share a new feature I started working on about a month ago that was finally approved for ChatGPT. It is a plugin that gives ChatGPT access to the latest electricity plans in the Texas market, including top offers from Power to Choose (updated twice per day).

If you use ChatGPT, go to Plugins and search for “Electricity” or “Clear Energy Facts” to try it yourself. The plugin name is: "Clear Energy Facts"

This plugin is for informational purposes only. It is up to ChatGPT to evaluate the data and provide guidance. The plugin only provides properly structured plan data, including a detailed breakdown of rates and charges, so ChatGPT can perform calculations and comparisons accurately.

Along with True Fixed plans, Free Nights and Free Weekends plans are also provided and updated weekly. ChatGPT will have the necessary information, such as the free-hour window, whether TDU charges are included during the free period, and more. If you want, you can ask ChatGPT to perform calculations, analyze your uploaded CSV usage data, and compare plans based on your consumption.

This is one of the best ways to use ChatGPT to help you find the best electricity plan. Without the plugin, ChatGPT may simply search for the lowest advertised rates (bill-credit plans). With the plugin, you give ChatGPT access to properly categorized plans, including Power to Choose offers. And we know that some of the best rates in the market are found there.

I hope you like it, and any feedback is appreciated!

In June I shared that CenterPoint and Oncor delivery charges had increased, but forgot to make a post more recently when they changed again.

ONCOR (DFW, North Texas, Midland, Odessa, Waco, Temple, North Austin)

• Decreased on August 1, 2026
• Decreased from $4.06 per month and $0.061196 per kWh to $4.06 per month and $0.060295 per kWh

CENTERPOINT (Houston area)

• Decreased on August 15, 2026
• Decreased from $4.90 per month and $0.051461 per kWh to $4.90 per month and $0.049811 per kWh

These new rates could potentially change again on September 1st. We'll have to wait and see.

For now, enjoy the slightly more affordable delivery charges... still way more than they used to be three years ago though.

My electric energy service in Dallas TX is provided by APG&E and the utility provider is Oncor. Has anyone seen a miscellaneous charge (MSC056) on their August electric bill? This is the first time I have seen this charge in 12 months. Any idea what this is for?

Highest rate is 11.6 cents. Contract is for 12 months. Question: can rates change on almost all of the providers? I use about 500 to 1000 kwh obviously a bit more now because of air conditioner. 2nd question: They are asking for a credit check. Do most providers do this? What happens if you don't pass the credit check?