texas

Choice of Power Companies Confusing For Some Texans

There’s so much that makes Texas special. We know energy and brag about our low cost of power but is it as good as we think?

Scott Hundley buys power for a living for major corporations and he says figuring it out at home is even more complicated.

“We would find ourselves spending an hour trying to figure this out and we know how to do it,” said Hundley.

The free market of power on the state’s 'Power to Choose' list, has dozens of plans rates and options.

“So many people get frustrated, throw up their arms and stay with the provider they have now or just pick one and make a bad choice,” said Hundley.

Surveys show 85 percent of us never change our plan and that means we could be paying 30 percent more than those who bother to crunch the numbers.

“It’s a horrible system and it doesn’t seem like anyone in the state is trying to fix it,” said Dallas Morning News Columnist Dave Lieber.

NBC 5 Responds

Responding to your consumer needs and connecting you to your money.

How to find free income tax prep help

How to find Rangers home opener tickets

He says the Power to Choose website is confusing and the only ones who win are the power companies or those who can do complex mathematical equations.

There are even full industries out there where people will charge you to crunch the numbers and help you find a plan.

There’s also Greg Craig, CEO of Griddy. It’s a new power company that says pay them $9 a month and they’ll sell you the power at exactly what it costs them.

They say fixed pricing is overrated.

“You do avoid the peak, that’s true, but you’re missing out on the 36 times the price is shoved down toward a penny,” said Craig.

Griddy has its own charts and graphs to back up their claim that fixed pricing ultimately costs you more.

The Public Utility Commission tells us they’ve made changes to help give consumers an easier way to choose. They recently limited the number of plans a company can provide to just five in a attempt to make things simpler.

Contact Us