Texas Electricity Provider Map
September 30, 2011
Last week’s purchase of First Choice Power by Direct Energy was yet another major acquisition of a Retail Electricity Provider by a major energy conglomerate. There’s been around a half a dozen of these deals in the past year, and in my opinion things have gotten a bit muddled and confusing. So I wanted to write a post to chart exactly who owns who in the deregulated electricity space in Texas.
Dominion Resources: Dominion Energy probably isn’t a name that is very recognized by Texas electricity customers. However, they are a huge energy company that deals in both energy generation and distribution in multiple states. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, they own the incumbent and regulated electricity providers in Virginia and North Carolina. In Texas, they own Cirro Energy, which they purchased in 2008. Earlier this year, Cirro Energy purchased Simple Power and absorbed their customers.
NRG: NRG, a new Jersey based company, is another huge energy company with massive power generation resources. On top of energy generation plants, NRG also owns Green Mountain Energy, which they purchased in 2010 for 350 million dollars. In 2009, they purchased former incumbent Texas electricity provider Reliant Energy for 287 million and change when Reliant was under heavy financial distress. This was a steal considering Reliant was the second largest REP in the state at the time and has huge brand recognition. In turn, Reliant Energy owns (and I believe operates) Pennywise Power, which is a new brand they’ve put into the deregulated Texas electricity market to try and capture different customers without effecting their core brand. So NRG owns Green Mountain and Reliant, and Reliant in turn owns Pennywise Power.
Just Energy – Just Energy is yet another big energy company, with resources all over North America. They had been a fairly smaller player in the retail electricity market in Texas until recently. Just Energy itself was mostly a niche provider, offering 5 year long term contracts to customers. However, they recently purchased the entire retail arm of Fulcrum Power. That includes Amigo Energy, Tara Energy, and Smart Prepaid. So now all of those brands are part of the Just Energy portfolio. They’ll likely keep the branding and still do business under the names Tara and Amigo, but it’s all Just Energy. Just Energy also owns another smaller REP, Commerce Energy.
Direct Energy: Direct Energy is actually a subsidiary of a British company called Centrica, but they’re known almost exclusively in North America as Direct Energy, so that’s the name we’re going with. Direct Energy is yet another huge energy generation company with huge and varied resources. In the retail electricity space they do business as Direct Energy and they are one of the biggest REP’s in Texas. They also operate in Texas as WTU Energy and CPL Energy in two respective TDSPs. In the Spring, Direct Energy also purchased Gateway Energy Resources for 90 millions dollars. Since then, Direct has removed Gateway as a brand from doing business in Texas. Just last week, Direct Energy made another huge purchase, this time of First Choice Power for 270 million dollars. Which is a huge price tag. So, as of now, every company I mentioned above is really a subsidiary of Direct Energy.
Constellation Energy: Constellation Energy is the largest energy supplier in America. Their 2007 revenues were 21 billion dollars. So yes, they’re another big energy guy. They own the regulated electricity entity Baltimore Gas and Electric. In 2 month period last spring and summer, Constellation announced purchases of both StarTex Power as well as MX Energy, two retail electricity providers that operate in the Texas deregulated markets.
Gexa Energy: NextEra Energy is the parent company of Florida Power and Light, the regulated electricity provider for much of Florida. They’re another big energy company, having generation resources in over 20 states. In 2005, Florida Power & Light purchased Gexa Energy. They still do business in Texas under the name Gexa.
Dynowatt: Dynowatt is a subsidiary of Accent Energy, which is a large company with natural gas ties in Ohio. Accent also serves deregulated New York, but they do business in Texas as Dynowatt.
TXU Energy: TXU is actually a subsidiary of Energy Future Holdings, which also owns Luminant, the power generation portion of the old TXU company that was forced to split because of deregulation laws. Now Luminant and TXU operate separately. TXU is the largest individual REP in Texas and one of the two former incumbent providers.
The following Retail Electricity Providers are stand-alone entities:
Texpo Energy: Texpo Energy is a smaller company operating in Texas. What makes them interesting is that they actually operate under 3 different brand names while all sharing the same PUC Certificate. The other two brands are Southwest Power & Light and YEP. So to sum things up, Texpo, Southwest Power & Light, and YEP are all the same company operating in Texas under different names.
Hopefully this helps to give people a clearer picture about who some of the players are in Texas electricity. It is important that people know exactly who the company is that is supplying their electricity. For example, if someone had a bad experience with one company, they might not want to get service from another one of their subsidiaries. And since there’s been so many purchases and mergings of REP’s in the last 6 months, I thought it might be a good idea to chronicle which companies have ended where after the dust has settled. I’ll try to update this page moving forward as well. I doubt we’ve seen the last of big REP acquisitions, so this family tree might change.
I’ve included a crude flowchart below. Yes, I do realize it looks like it was put together by a 3rd grader.
Texas Electricity: Minimum Usage Charges
August 2, 2011
Earlier this week, I got an email from a Texas Electricity Ratings reader, suggesting I write an article about Minimum Usage charges. We’ve discussed Minimum Usage charges in the past here, but to clear things up, in short, they’re additional charges that are tacked onto a person’s bill if they use less than a certain amount of electricity per month.
The tricky part is that the charges and the thresholds for the charges are different for every REP (Retail Electricity Provider). Which is what the reader asked me about. I thought it was a great idea, and I should have thought of it myself a long time ago. So I ran through most of the major providers operating in Texas and researched to put together a list of the minimal usage charges for each provider, as best as I could find. So below is a guide to the minimal usage charges for Texas electricity.
Ambit Energy: $9.99 for less than 1000 kWh per month
Amigo Energy: Depending on the plan it is $9.95 of $6.95 for less than 1000 kWh per month
Bounce Energy: $4.95 for less than 1000 kWh per month for almost all of their plans, except intro plans are $6.96 per month for less than 1000 kWh.
Champion Energy: $4.95 for less than 500 kWh per month
Cirro Energy: $5.25 for less than 1000 kWh per month
Direct Energy: I couldn’t find a Monthly Fee in their Terms of Service or EFLs
Dynowatt: $6.95 for less than 1000 kWh per month
First Choice Power: $5 for less than 650 kWh per month, plus a $4.95 base charge
GEXA Energy: Seems to simply use a sliding rate per plan for different usage w/o a minimum charge
Green Mountain Energy: Didn’t seem to see any minimum usage charge in the EFL or Terms of Service
Mega Energy: $12.96 for less than 1000 kWh per month
MX Energy: Seems to simply use a sliding rate per plan for different usage w/o minimum charge
Reliant Energy: $9.95 for less than 800 kWh per month
Southwest Power & Light: I didn’t see minimum usage but they had a $7.95 monthly meter fee.
Spark Energy: $8.99 for less than 1000 kWh per month
StarTex Power: $4.99 for less than 500 kWh per month
Tara Energy: $6.95 for less than 500 kWh per month
Texas Power: $10.00 for less than 1000 kWh per month
TXU Energy: TXU uses a base $4.95 charge and sliding rates for less or greater than 1000 kWh, per plan.
Also, I’d like to point out a few other things about the list above. First off, just because I didn’t find a charge doesn’t mean there isn’t one…I just could have missed it looking through the documents. Additionally, all the EFLs I looked at were from plans in the Centerpoint service area. I looked at at least 2-3 plans for each provider to get an idea of consistent charges listed…I did NOT pour through every EFL from every single provider. This is simply to give people and idea of what to expect, and hopefully be helpful. Also, it’s important to note that for the guys that don’t have any minimal usage charge, chances are high they simply tacked it onto their sliding rate scale. But if you find a great price on a guy with no listed charges, then absolutely go for it.
One last note, Stream Energy’s EFL was…weird. Despite advertising their tiered pricing for rates on a 500, 1000, and 2000 kWh scale like everyone else in the market, the fine print of the EFL says their actual tiers are:
The Price is a tiered
pricing structure, based on the following tiers: i) up to 699 kWh depicted in the EFL as Average Monthly Usage of 500 kWh, ii) 700 to 1,499 kWh depicted in the EFL as Average Monthly Usage of 1,000 kWh, and iii) 1,500 to 2,499 kWh depicted in the EFL as Average Monthly Usage of 2,000 kW
So just keep in mind that you have to use a bit more electricity to get to their cheaper electricity rates.
Any questions?
Market Rates: West Texas Electricity 5/13
May 13, 2011
Good morning, Texans. Today is the last Texas electricity shopping guide entry of the week. It examines the electric rates for Texas-New Mexico Power (TNMP), which is a huge pocket of service in West Texas and smaller pockets all over the state. It provides service for: Fort Stockton electricity, League City Electricity, Lewisville electricity, Friendswood electricity, and more. The electricity prices are about on par with Abilene and San Angelo (AEP North), so they’re about a cent and a half-more than than Oncor’s region. Below are the cheapest electricity plans listed out by their service periods and green energy content.
Month to Month Electricity Plans:
Month to Month Green Electricity Plans:
Long Term Fixed Rate Electricity Plans:
Long Term Fixed Rate Green Electricity Plans:
Market Rates: North Texas Electricity 5/12
May 12, 2011
Good morning, everyone. Here’s this week’s Texas electricity shopping guide entry for North Texas (AEP North), which includes the prices for electricity in Abilene and electricity in San Angelo. The electricity rates in this area are almost as expensive as South Texas, so shopping for value to help save money is pretty important unless you have money to burn. Below is a list of the most commonly ordered electricity plans with the cheapest prices in this region, so it’s a good place to start the shopping process if you live in the AEP North service area.
Month to Month Electricity Plans:
Month to Month Green Electricity Plans:
Long Term Fixed Rate Electricity Plans:
Long Term Fixed Rate Green Electricity Plans:
Market Rates: West Texas Electricity 5/6
May 6, 2011
Good morning, everyone. It’s Friday, which means while most people are celebrating an end to their work week, here at Texas Electricity Ratings that means that we’re posting our last shopping guide entry for the week, West Texas (Texas-New Mexico Power). This service area provides electricity service for small pockets all over the state of Texas, including one huge pocket in West Texas. The electricity rates in this area are lower than the North and South Texas areas, but still substantially more expensive than the Houston and Dallas regions. In short, like any other principle of shopping, customers should research the market and find the best available deals on electricity rates. That’s hopefully where this guide will come in handy for any folks shopping to change their electricity providers.
Month to Month Electricity Plans:
Month to Month Green Electricity Plans:
Long Term Fixed Rate Electricity Plans:
Long Term Fixed Rate Green Electricity Plans:
Market Rates: North Texas Electricity 5/5
May 5, 2011
Good morning, everyone. Today’s entry into the Texas electricity shopping guide takes a look at North Texas electricity (AEP North). This covers electricity in Abilene and electricity in San Angelo. The electricity rates in this region is almost as expensive as South Texas, so being a discerning shopper and understanding the market is essential to try and save money on your Texas electricity bills. Below are the most commonly ordered types of electricity plans with the lowest rates. Hopefully it will help some people looking to shop for new electricity providers and plans.
Month to Month Electricity Plans:
Month to Month Green Electricity Plans:
Long Term Fixed Rate Electricity Plans:
Long Term Fixed Rate Green Electricity Plans:
Market Rates: South Texas Electricity 4/4
May 4, 2011
Good morning, folks. We’ll jump right into today’s Texas electricity shopping guide entry, which for today is the South Texas area (AEP Central). This includes Corpus Christi electricity and Brownsville electricity. The electricity rates in this region are always the highest in Texas, with their electricity prices starting at almost 2 cents per kWh higher than Dallas. It’s imperative that people understand the markets for electricity rates in this area before they go shopping for new electricity providers and electricity plans. The plans below are a sampling of the most common terms of electricity plans ordered by customers in Texas, sorted by the cheapest prices. It’s a great place to save money and start the shopping process.
Month to Month Electricity Plans:
Month to Month Green Electricity Plans:
Long Term Fixed Rate Electricity Plans:
Long Term Fixed Rate Green Electricity Plans:
Market Rates: North Texas Electricity 4/28
April 28, 2011
Good afternoon, everyone. Today’s Texas electricity shopping guide entry shines a light on the electric rates for North Texas (AEP North). This area of Texas cover the rates for electricity in Abilene and electricity in San Angelo. The electric rates in this region are expensive, so it’s important to understand the price basement before you go shopping for a new electricity provider. Below are the electric rates for the most commonly ordered plans in the state of Texas. It should help Texans save money on electricity when shopping.
Month to Month Electricity Plans:
Month to Month Green Electricity Plans:
Long Term Fixed Rate Electricity Plans:
Long Term Fixed Rate Green Electricity Plans:
Market Rates: West Texas & TNMP 4/15
April 15, 2011
I hope everyone is enjoying their Friday. Fridays for TER means we take a look a the rates for Texas electricity in the Texas-New Mexico Power footprint(TNMP). This electricity transmission provider services a large pocket of customers in West Texas, as small as many smaller pockets of service all over the state. The electricity rates in TNMP are pretty high, so customers should shop around for the best electricity provider if they want to be able to save money on their electricity service. The plans below are the cheapest options offered by some of the most known and established electricity providers on the market today. It should serve as a great place to start shopping for electricity.
Month to Month Electricity Plans:
Month to Month Green Electricity Plans:
Long Term Fixed Rate Electricity Plans:
Long Term Fixed Rate Green Electricity Plans:
Market Rates: South Texas Electricity 4/13
April 13, 2011
Good morning, everyone. Here is today’s continuation of our daily Texas electricity shopping guide, which takes a look at the electricity rates for a specific region of Texas each day. Today’s entry is for South Texas (AEP Central), which covers the rates for electricity in Corpus Christi and electricity in Brownsville. The rates in this region start a full cent and a half per kWh more expensive than Dallas and Houston, so it’s important to understand where the electricity prices start when you’re shopping for new electricity providers and plans. Below is a list of the most common types of plans ordered by Texas electricity shoppers with the lowest electricity prices in the region. Hopefully it will help customers save money as we move into the summer.
Month to Month Electricity Rates:
Month to Month Green Electricity Plans:
Long Term Fixed Rate Electricity Plans:
Long Term Fixed Rate Green Electricity Plans:
Texas Electricity Ratings: The Blog 