Are You Paying Fair Electricity Rates?

Find the Truth

This summer in Texas came quickly and hard, at the same time, our energy bills are around the corner and will skyrocket. With this heat, it’s time to look for a new energy company.

How to choose the correct energy company and Fair Electricity Rates?

Many of us are with an electricity company and hooked to a contract for several months to go. We accepted that contract to keep the energy rate rising, however, how do I know if my energy company is charging me what they offered? Often, I hear the customers say; “my energy company is ripping me off”, “This electricity bill is not true” or (this is the best one) “How can I get charged this much for electricity if I’m never home”, “I’m not paying for Fair Electricity Rates”.

With all this complaining, I urge you to learn how to read your electricity bill, you don’t need to know all of it, just the totals. Total to pay, total usage and you can come up with your electricity rate. With that said, you can determine if your electricity rate is not what you sign-up for or if your energy usage is out of hand.

Calculate your real electricity rate in a flash. Know if you are paying fair electricity rates.

Many of us don’t really know how to read our energy bills, the energy bills are very confusing, you don’t really need to pay attention to all details. For fear of that, here is the simple formula to get to the reality of things.

AD / U = R

Where (AD) Amount Due is divided by (U) Usage which equals (R) Rate

With this formula, you can see almost exactly what is your electricity rate. Keep in mind that the taxes have nothing with the electricity rate. So, to be more precise, you can deduct the taxes from the total amount due.

Try this formula with your own energy bill

For this example; your electricity bill is $300, and you used 1000 kilowatts, which means that your electricity rate is 30 cents per kilowatt hour.

In the event that you see discrepancies in what you signed up for when you started your energy contract with the current electricity company, consider the chance to break your current electricity contract.

Things to consider to cancel your current electricity contract

• Current electricity rate
• Months left on the contract
• Cancelation fee
• New energy plan rate

How to find your new Fair Electricity Rates?

1. Do your homework.
2. Know your energy usage per month, peaks and valleys throughout the year, average, and (if possible) daily energy usage.
3. Know your current energy rate
4. Search for current rates
5. Most importantly, dig deeper and find the Electric Facts Label (EFL) for each plan you think is suitable for you

Electric Facts Label or EFL

Every energy company must publish each of the energy plans they are offering. The EFL will display the terms and energy rates. However, there is a trick, most electricity plans fluctuate depending on the customers’ energy usage. I bet you didn’t know this. Yes, each plan can change the rate, without notice, if the consumers’ usage changes. There will be a rate if the house consumes 500, 1000, or 2000 kilowatts in a month.

The weather in Texas is very drastic, either too hot or too cold. With this said, we have months that we can use 2000 kilowatts, and other months we can use 700 kilowatts. Look at the image below, this means that if you use 500 or 1000 kilowatts you will be paying $110. (500 x $0.22 = $110 :: 1000 x $0.11 = $110)

Are You Paying Fair Electricity Rates?

This may good for you, however, this plan is not helping you to save, and the trick is when you go over 1000 kilowatts where you will be charged 12.5 cents per kilowatt hour. If you don’t know your daily energy usage, you won’t know if you are about to pass the 1000 or 2000 kWh usage.

The next image shows a plan where the fluctuation of the rate is minimal when the house consumes different levels of energy.

These are the details you need to look closely at when shopping for a new energy plan.

To conclude

A little search won’t hurt and may save you hundreds of dollars more than a few headaches. Remember that a low energy rate will save you hundreds, however, you can save thousands knowing how to lower your energy usage. Know your daily energy usage with prepaid electricity with Payless Power.