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Cirro Energy VS Reliant

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Are you tired of looking up electric companies? Exhausted from researching Cirro Energy vs. Reliant Energy? Do you need a break?

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You want the best electric plan to meet your needs. No hidden fees. Clear-cut terms. Affordable prices.

Can Cirro Energy or Reliant Energy give you what you want?

Power Wizard will find out!

Make an informed decision to save even more money. To learn more about both electric companies, read on:

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About Cirro Energy

The deregulation of energy in Texas means that you, the consumer, have the opportunity to choose the energy provider that meets your needs.

Cirro Energy is one of the over 160 REPs competing for your business.

What is Cirro Energy?

Cirro Energy is based in Plano, Texas, and offers service to both residential and business customers across the state.

Their goal is to make “receiving electricity affordable and hassle-free.”

Cirro Energy offers various plans and rates to help consumers find the plan that is right for them.

They offer many options including:

  • Money-saving plans
  • Short-term options
  • Long-term options
  • Low, fixed rates

Who Owns Cirro Energy?

In April 2014, Cirro Energy was acquired by NRG Energy, which has headquarters both in Houston and New Jersey.

In addition to Cirro Energy, NRG Energy also owns other providers like Reliant, Green Mountain Energy Company, and Energy Plus.

NRG Energy also owns several power generators.

Where Does Cirro Energy Operate?

Cirro Energy services cities all across Texas, including:

  • Dallas
  • Fort Worth
  • Houston
  • Corpus Christi
  • San Angelo
  • And many others

Even if Cirro Energy is available in your zip code, can you be sure that they are giving you the best possible rate?

Power Wizard’s Shopping Tool compares rates and plans available in your area and uses this unbiased information to find the best one for you.

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What Makes Cirro Energy Different?

Knowing Cirro Energy’s differentiating factors can help when comparing Cirro Energy vs Reliant.

So, what makes Cirro Energy different from the others?

  1. Simplicity – Easy, hassle-free service is part of Cirro Energy’s pledge to simplicity along with their offer of online management and easy payment options.
  2. Variety – Cirro Energy offers a variety of fixed-rate and variable-rate plans.
  3. Philanthropy – Cirro Energy supports many worthy causes like the Ronald McDonald House of Dallas and KERA, which provides Public Media educational programming for North Texas.
  4. Community Service – Plano Sports Authority Centers are sponsored by Cirro Energy. Their sponsorship allows over 60,000 kids to receive training in various sports and competitions.
Cirro Energy VS Reliant Energy for families

About Reliant Energy

Reliant Energy is another one of the many REPs available in Texas.

Having options is a great benefit to the consumer, but having so many options can also make choosing an electricity provider a difficult task.

Even after comparing various companies like Reliant Energy and Cirro Energy, you may still feel like you don’t have all the information you need.

Let Power Wizard give you assurance and peace of mind.

In just five minutes, after entering your zip code and a few details about your home or business, Power Wizard’s Shopping Tool will do all the work for you.

It couldn’t get any easier.

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What is Reliant Energy?

Reliant Energy provides energy to millions of customers and has a history with deep roots across Texas.

While relying on its historical energy service in Texas, Reliant Energy’s goal is the happiness of its customers.

Reliant Energy’s corporate offices are located in Houston, Texas, and they offer electricity service to other cities across the state.

Who Owns Reliant Energy?

Interestingly, Cirro Energy and Reliant Energy have the same parent company, NRG, Energy, Inc.

NRG, Energy, Inc. is a [Fortune 500](https://fortune.com/fortune500/2019/search/?name=NRG energy) company that has grown from a company that generates power to one that also provides energy to homes and businesses across the country.

Where Does Reliant Energy Operate?

Reliant Energy provides electricity service to 53 cities in Texas from Wichita Falls in the north to Brownsville in the south and many other cities in between like:

  • Odessa
  • Plano
  • Waco
  • Houston
  • Corpus Christi

What Makes Reliant Energy Different?

Electric companies are similar in many ways, but it’s the differences that make individual companies stand out.

Factors that make Reliant stand out from others include:

  • Expansive service – Reliant Energy provides service to over one million homes and businesses in Texas, making it one of the largest retail electric providers in the state.
  • Charitable Giving – Reliant supports various charities and annually funds scholarships.
  • Additional Services – Reliant Energy provides additional services including protection plans, home security services, and home maintenance and repair services.
  • Competitive Pricing – Reliant offers various plans and rates in addition to time-saving tools like automatic payments and digital summary usage updates.
  • COVID 19 Relief– Reliant has given hundreds of thousands of dollars towards relief efforts in Houston.
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Cirro Energy Vs. Reliant: Rates

Now that we’ve taken a look at both companies and their differentiating factors, the next thing to consider is the rates they offer.

After all, the cost of service can be one of the most important factors in choosing your electricity provider.

As mentioned before, both Cirro Energy and Reliant Energy are owned by the same parent company, NRG Energy, Inc., so you would probably expect rates to be similar.

In this case, you would be correct. Their rates are very similar.

But how can you have confidence that you are choosing the best plan when everything on the surface looks the same?

There are many factors under the surface that you may not see, like differences in plan types, varieties of term lengths, and cancellation fees.

Let Power Wizard delve deeper for you.

Power Wizard uses an unbiased algorithm designed to compare all of those factors that may be hidden from plain sight. Using the Shopping Tool, we will look at plans available in your area and help you choose the most economical plan for you.

Rates In The ONCOR Service Area

Oncor Electric Delivery Company is one of the largest transmission and distribution utilities in the state of Texas.

They service cities including:

  • Dallas
  • Fort Worth
  • Waco

Cirro Energy

Cirro Energy offers various plans for residents of Dallas, Texas.

Their rates range from 9.9¢ to 16.6¢ per kWh. These rates vary depending on whether the plan has a fixed or variable rate.

Reliant Energy

Reliant Energy offers various fixed and variable rate plans in Dallas, Texas.

Their rates range from 9.9¢ to 13.5¢ per kWh.

Let us find you the best plan in seconds and start saving.


Rates In The CenterPoint Service Area

CenterPoint Energy is a company that focuses on the following:

  • Electric transmission and distribution
  • Natural gas distribution
  • Natural gas sales and services

Though CenterPoint services many cities across the country, they primarily service the Houston area in Texas.

Cirro Energy

Cirro Energy offers various plans for residents of Houston, Texas.

Houston rates range from 9.9¢ to 16.8¢ per kWh.

Reliant Energy

Reliant Energy also offers various fixed and variable rate plans in Houston, Texas.

Their rates range from 10.5¢ to 14.9¢ per kWh.

Cirro Energy VS Reliant Energy

Rates In The AEP – Texas North Service Area

AEP Texas is a unit of American Electric Power. They have two service division areas, the North Service Area and the Central Service Area.

AEP is headquartered in Corpus Christi, and AEP North serves other Texas cities including:

  • Abilene
  • San Angelo
  • Alpine
  • Vernon
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Cirro Energy

Cirro Energy offers various plans for residents of San Angelo, Texas.

Their rates range from 11.9¢ to 17.3¢ per kWh.

Reliant Energy

Reliant Energy offers various fixed and variable rate plans in San Angelo, Texas.

Their rates range from 10.9¢ to 15.5¢ per kWh.

Rates In The AEP – Texas Central Service Area

The other division of AEP Texas is its Central Service Division.

In this area, they provide electricity to many cities including:

  • Corpus Christi
  • Brownsville
  • McAllen
  • Bayview

Cirro Energy

Cirro Energy offers various plans for residents of Corpus Christi, Texas.

Their rates range from 10.6¢ to 17.4¢ per kWh.

Reliant Energy

Reliant Energy offers various fixed and variable rate plans in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Rates in Corpus Christi range from 10.9¢ to 15.5¢ per kWh.

Rates In The TNMP Service Area

TNMP is an electricity transmission and distribution service provider headquartered in Lewisville, Texas.

They are a subsidiary of PNM Resources, Inc., and even though their formal name is Texas-New Mexico Power Co., they now only service the state of Texas.

Let us find you the best plan in seconds and start saving.


Cirro Energy

Cirro Energy offers various plans for residents of Pecos, Texas.

Their rates range from 10.9¢ to 17.4¢ per kWh.

Reliant Energy

Reliant Energy also offers various fixed and variable-rate plans in Pecos, Texas.

Their rates range from 10.9¢ to 15.5¢ per kWh.

Cirro Energy vs. Reliant: Plans

Both CirroEnergy and Reliant Energy offer fixed-rate and variable-rate plans.

In the Corpus Christi zip code 78336, for example, Cirro offers five different plans while Reliant offers ten different plans.

That’s fifteen plans to choose from just with these two companies.

Imagine how many options you would have if you compare more than two providersThe options could be overwhelming.

To make the choice easy, let Power Wizard find the best plan for you.

Take five minutes to enter your zip code on our Shopping Tool along with a few details about your home. In just minutes, Power Wizard will generate a list of plans that fit your needs.

Plan Option #1 – Fixed-Rate

A fixed-rate electricity plan allows you to lock in a set rate for a determined period of time in your contract. Contract lengths can vary from six months to twenty-four months.

As with any plan, there are always advantages and disadvantages.

Some advantages of a fixed-rate plan include:

  • Stability of pricing – Your rate per kWh stays the same throughout the term of your contract.
  • Ease in budgeting – Knowing what you will pay from month to month makes it much easier to budget electricity costs.
  • Choice in contracts – Since term lengths vary, you have more options and can choose the plan that fits your needs best.

Some disadvantages include:

  • Contract commitment – Once you sign your contract you are locked in until the term is over.
  • Cancellation fees – If you want to cancel your plan before your term ends, you may need to pay a hefty cancellation fee.
  • Overpaying – If electricity prices drop, you may end up overpaying for your electricity usage.

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Cirro Energy

Cirro Energy offers several fixed-rate plans for the Corpus Christi zip code 78336.

One of the plans is the SmartLock Select 24 plan.

The details of this plan include:

  • Term length – 24 months
  • Rate – 11.4¢ per kWh
  • Cancellation fee – $200
  • Average rate per monthly use
    • 14.8¢ per kWh for 500 kWh per month
    • 12.9¢ per kWh for 1000 kWh per month
    • 11.4¢ per kWh for 2000 kWh per month

Reliant Energy

Reliant Energy also offers several fixed-rate plans.

For the same Corpus Christi zip code, 78336, Reliant Energy offers the Get More, Save More 24 Plan.

The details of this plan include:

  • Term length – 24 months
  • Rate – 11.5¢ per kWh
  • Cancellation fee – $295
  • Average rate per monthly use
    • 14.9¢ per kWh for 500 kWh per month
    • 13.3¢ per kWh for 1000 kWh per month
    • 11.5¢ per kWh for 2000 kWh per month
    • With this plan, you get a competitive energy charge for the first 1000 kWh used and have a lower energy charge for anything beyond that 1000 kWh.

Plan Option #2 – Variable-Rate

A variable-rate plan is one that has rates that vary from month to month depending on the current market prices for electricity.

Variable rates offer the following advantages:

  • Flexibility – Because the customer doesn’t need to sign a contract, they maintain the ability to change plans when they want to.
  • Fees – Variable-rate plans allow the consumer to avoid cancellation fees.
  • Market prices – Variable-rate plans allow the customer to take advantage of low market prices of electricity.

Some disadvantages include:

  • Higher rates – Sometimes variable rates can be higher than fixed rates.
  • Surprise – If the market prices of electricity suddenly skyrocket, you may find yourself in a difficult financial situation.
  • Inconsistent rates – Because the rates are determined by fluctuating market prices, you will also have an invoice total that fluctuates from month to month.
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Cirro Energy

In the Corpus Christi zip code that we’ve been considering, Cirro Energy currently offers one type of variable-rate plan.

They call it Smart Flex Online.

Some of the features of this plan include:

  • Term length – 1 month
  • Rate – 17.4¢ per kWh
  • Cancellation fee – No cancellation fee for this month-to-month plan
  • Average rate per monthly use
    • 20.4¢ per kWh for 500 kWh per month
    • 17.9¢ per kWh for 1000 kWh per month
    • 17.4¢ per kWh for 2000 kWh per month

Reliant Energy

Reliant Energy currently offers two different variable-rate plans for the 78336 zip code in Corpus Christi.

The two plans are called:

  • Reliant Clear Flex Plan
  • Reliant Power Tracker

It may be helpful to take a closer look at each plan.

  • Reliant Clear Flex Plan
    • Term length – month to month
    • Rate – 11.5¢ per kWh
    • No contract or cancellation fees
    • Average rate per monthly use:
      • 14.9¢ per kWh for 500 kWh per month
      • 12.0¢ per kWh for 1000 kWh per month
      • 11.5¢ per kWh for 2000 kWh per month
  • Reliant Power Tracker
    • Term length – month to month
    • Rate – 12.1¢ per kWh
    • Cancellation – There is no cancellation fee for changing from this plan. However, if you do change from this plan, you will need to wait for at least 12 months to switch back to it.
    • Price changes – Price changes occur on the 15th of each month based on the market price of natural gas.
    • Average rate per monthly use:
      • 14.2¢ per kWh for 500 kWh per month
      • 12.8¢ per kWh for 1000 kWh per month
      • 12.1¢ per kWh for 2000 kWh per month

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Cirro Energy VS Reliant Energy

Cirro Energy vs. Reliant: Reviews

When comparing electricity providers, it’s always a good idea to know what other customers are saying.

Reading reviews can be very helpful.

But you should proceed with caution when reading reviews.

Consider these tips when reading reviews:

  • Reviews can be skewed, so keep that in mind when reading either glowing reviews or those that are more critical.
  • Most people write reviews either when they are extremely pleased or extremely disappointed, so remember that reading reviews that are posted probably only represent a small percentage of actual customers.
  • Remember that there are two sides to each storyand often many details are left out of reviews. Especially when reading a negative review, know that you may not be getting the full story.

Cirro Energy Reviews

There are several online platforms to find reviews.

The following Cirro Energy reviews:

The following review gives an enthusiastic report with 5 stars:

Love the simply flat plan!!

“This company offers me an amazing rate, I heard about the simply flat plan on the radio and was thinking, that sounds way too good to be true, the monthly rate must be ridiculous, right? WRONG… the rate was great! I went online just to see and signed up immediately, they only charged me $5 more than the base price (what my previous electric company charged before any usage) for my previous electric company! What?! Hopefully, there won’t be a dramatic price hike when it comes to renewal, but I have been thrilled with Cirro thus far.”

The following negative review concerns Cirro’s billing practices:

Billing is a nightmare

“ Was switched to Cirro after they apparently took over Source Power. They never send me an actual bill just a notice they are going to disconnect if I don’t pay. Website is not very user friendly. I thought I was signed up for automatic payments but apparently there were several steps involved besides providing banking information. Last company provided weekly info about my usage and I never once had a billing problem with them. To bad I just renewed before Cirro took over. Guess I’m stuck with them for a year. ”

With such vastly different reviews, how do you know what to believe?

There is a better way.

Power Wizard gives you an honest and neutral look at your electricity provider options.

Let us find you the best plan in seconds and start saving.


Using Power Wizard takes away the need for you to spend endless hours comparing plans and reading reviews. In just a few minutes, Power Wizard picks the best plan for you, allowing you to spend your precious time doing what you love.

Reliant Energy Reviews

There are a mix of positive and negative reviews on this REP.

This positive review highlights the additional services that Reliant Energy offers:

Better than my last 2 companies! 5 stars

“We moved to our first home about 4 months ago (we were in an apartment before) and took the opportunity to try a new service. The agent I spoke to got us an amazing deal for first time homebuyers. He also got us in contact with their security side of the company who beat any quote that Vivant, ADT, and a lesser known company could offer. Anytime that I have had to call in regarding my account the agents have always been friendly and helpful. I used the chat service for the first time today, and it was also a great experience. I would definitely recommend Reliant.”

The following less glowing review mentions misleading information on free weekends:

Free weekends are not really free.

 I just had the free weekend plan for a month. Friday 8pm to Sunday midnight is the “free” time.

The label is here:

Average price 11.5¢ per kWh, based on 2000 kWh, includes the following:

Energy charge per kWh: 12.2¢

Base charge per month: $0.00

ONCOR Delivery charges passed through without mark-up : $6.48 per month and 2.8876¢ per kwh

Well, it looks great at first and low usage people like me with five months of below 500kwh would not have much choice.

I still have to pay oncor charge (2.88c per kWh) on free weekends.

Hope this will help anyone thinking about the “free” weekend plan. 

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Cirro Energy Vs. Reliant: How to Choose

Even with the information we’ve provided in this guide about Cirro Energy vs Reliant, you may still be wondering how to choose.

In addition to the information we’ve included here, there are many other plans, details, and lots of small print that you should consider.

So, how can you make an informed choice?

You have two options.

Manually Compare Both Companies

Your first choice is to do it the hard way by yourself.

This option will require a large amount of your time and energy. Manually comparing companies means you will need to search both companies online and look at individual plans, rates, and terms.

In addition to your online search, you need to know that there are many other factors that should be considered in choosing the best plan.

Some of the factors you should consider include:

  • The size of your home
  • The historical electricity usage of your home
  • The age of your home

Simply looking at a company’s website doesn’t give you all the information you need.

In the end, you may be left still feeling insecure and unsure when you finally make your choice.

Use the Magic of Power Wizard

Your second option is to do it the easy way and let Power Wizard do the hard work for you.

After entering your zip code in the Shopping Tool and then entering a few details about your home, Power Wizard finds the best plan for you in three steps.

  1. We use the information you provide and our technology to search through hundreds of plans and rates and then choose the one that is best for you.
  2. We enroll you in the chosen plan and take care of other tasks such as sending your service information to the new provider and registering for autopay if available.
  3. Power Wizard manages your account from that point on. We alert you when a better plan comes available and help you switch to a new plan.

It’s that easy.

Let Power Wizard work for you so that you can rest assured that you have the most economical electricity plan for your individual needs.

Let us find you the best plan in seconds and start saving.


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