Shopping for electricity can be a confusing and time-consuming process. The deregulated market here in Texas is awesome in that you can choose the retail electricity provider that meets your needs. But it also means that you are responsible for making that choice, and there are many plans and providers to choose from. It can be challenging to make sense of all the options. Undoubtedly, some people just want to throw their hands up in frustration and hope that a miracle comes along to make it all go away.
Or at least that’s probably what energy subscription services want you to think of the process.
If you’ve signed up for monthly electricity service in a deregulated area of Texas, you might have come across one of these services. There are a few out there; Energy Ogre and Power Wizard are two examples. Essentially, they are companies selling a monthly service that claims to help consumers cut through tricky advertising to get a great deal on electricity. They have software that does all the shopping automatically and gives you a recommendation. But do you need them to get a great deal on your electricity service? With Energy Texas’ new Freedom Flex, you can take matters in your own hands. So let’s see if an energy subscription service is worth the investment.
What Do Energy Subscription Services Do?
Energy subscription services say that they’re able to simplify the electricity-buying experience and act as an agent of sorts to manage various aspects of your electricity service in general. Let’s look at what they provide in exchange for a monthly membership fee.
Recommend Electricity Service Plans
These companies are designed to simply collect data about electricity plans – typically from freely available resources like the Power to Choose website. With this data, they find and recommend a plan that matches your household needs. Their system algorithms will take your electricity usage information, do the math, and offer suggestions.
Watch for Better Pricing
Another aspect of their service is marketing monitoring. This is where their monthly aspect comes into play. These energy subscription services watch the retail electricity market and keep an eye on plans and pricing. If a cheaper rate than what you’re paying comes along, they’ll let you know if you want to switch. Early termination fees may apply.
In some cases, you can also give the services the power to change your electricity service on your behalf. Depending on your comfort level, you may or may not want an energy subscription service automatically enrolling you in energy plans, especially when finding a good plan and provider on your own is not difficult.
With Freedom Flex, the power is in your hands. You can change your plan to another plan of your own choosing as often as once every 30 days with NO termination fees.
Manage Your Electricity Service Needs
In addition to pricing information and plan recommendations, monthly energy subscription services will also deal with your retail electricity provider on your behalf. They’ll schedule and communicate with the provider during installation. If you have any customer service issues, you tell the service, and the service will deal with the electric provider.
As part of managing your service, they also keep track of when your service contract expires so you don’t experience a lapse in contacted service and pay a more expensive month-to-month rate. You can do this yourself with a simple calendar reminder, but some people want it done automatically. We’re not here to judge!
How Much Do These Services Cost?
Energy subscription services are typically structured as annual memberships. Energy Ogre charges $120 per year. The fee can be paid at once or monthly payments of $10. Power Wizard has a partial membership option for $14.95/mo or full membership for $89 for one year. Energy Texas’ Freedom Flex is $4.95/mo in addition to your ET plan rate.
Are They Unbiased?
Both Energy Ogre and Power Wizard claim to provide unbiased recommendations, and maybe they do. However, Power Wizard is owned by a company called NextEra energy, and NextEra owns Gexa — a retail electric provider in Texas. They say it doesn’t influence which plans they recommend, and we’re not saying otherwise. But, some people might fundamentally describe that as a conflict of interest.
You Don’t Need a Subscription Service When You Have Energy Texas
It’s true that not every retail electricity provider has a five-star rating. But the good news is that Energy Texas does. You’re here now, look no further for Texas’ best electricity rates on 100% clean, green electricity from the company known for putting customers first.
We want to give you as much information as possible about our plans so that you can make the best decision. We get it, it’s hard to find the right plan. That’s why we introduced our own subscription plan, Freedom Flex, so you can manage your plan without the need of any outside resources. Cheaper than a subscription service ($4.95 a month), Freedom Flex lets you be in charge of your electric plan with no long term commitment or ETF. Every 30 days, you can change your plan without any termination fees.
Take your freedom to control your plan even further with our Giddy-Up Guarantee. When you sign up for any Energy Texas plan, we’ll monitor your usage for the first 72 hours. If a better plan would result in a lower price, we’ll let you know so you can switch.
That’s our commitment to helping you exercise your power to choose so that you make the right choice and get the best rate possible.
At Energy Texas, our goal is to help people have the best financial outcome when it comes to their electricity needs. Our plans are fair, straightforward, and gimmick-free. You don’t have time for the games, and we don’t want that reputation. Enter your zip code below and check out the plans we have available in your area. We’ll do the work to get you a great rate, and you can keep the membership dues.