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February 1, 2022
Electricity Shopping
Reviewed By Alfred Poindexter

“What electric company services my address?”

The better question is actually “what electricity company doesn’t?”

In Texas, consumers have the opportunity to choose between over 150  Retail Electric Providers (REPs) when they pick their electric plan. 

That’s a lot of choices. Imagine if you went to the store and there were 150 different brands of cheese! How would you choose?

How would you know which cheese brand was advertising accurately and which brand was just a chunk of orange plastic?

While the cheese example is, fortunately, a hypothetical situation, unfortunately, you still have to choose an electric plan. 

what electric company services my address

Deregulation Gives You The Right to Choose An Electricity Company

You have the right to choose. You have the power to choose.

Did you know?

In most areas in Texas, residents have the right to choose their own electricity company thanks to deregulation.

Deregulation gives you the right to choose.

There are many states now, including most of Texas, that have chosen to give customers the right to choose an energy supplier.

Why was this needed?

Back in the 1930s, the entire energy market was regulated. Only utilities could supply energy. The government created a rate cap on the utility’s energy prices to help customers and to control costs.

However, this left those customers with no power to choose their rates or their plans.

Since then, each state’s government now controls how energy is served to that state.

This still doesn’t solve the issue of “no choice” for the states who have not passed deregulation laws.

Even for states that have deregulation laws, the laws vary from state to state.

Thankfully, deregulation in Texas was approved on January 1, 2002.

This most likely gave you as a Texas resident the power to choose.

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How The Power To Choose Works

Meet Frank and Bonnie.

They have lived in Texas for the past 40 years. When they first were given the option to choose their electricity provider, they were also new to the Internet and didn’t know how to search to compare their options. They wondered, “What electric company services my area?” They chose only based on the advertisements and flyers that they saw without a tool for comparing companies.

While they did get to choose their provider, they did so without the help of an unbiased search tool.

Now, after years of extra fees and customer service nightmares, their

children are encouraging them to use their power to choose and find the best provider that is right for their specific needs.

So, how do they start? How does it work?

Search. And then search some more.

When you search, you’ll need to consider:

  • Your unique home energy data
  • Your actual usage and needs

You’ll need to compare:

  • The 100s of rate options and plans
  • The fine print
  • The hidden fees

It sounds daunting and it can be if you don’t use the right tools to aid your

search.

Instead of taking the hours, days even, to manually research each of the 50+ companies available in their zip code, it only took Frank and Bonnie less than 5 minutes to find the best plan for their unique needs.

How Many Electricity Companies Service My Address?

How do you find a company near you?

Thanks to deregulation, there are a lot of companies to choose from.

Using your zip code, you can search online to find the providers for your area.

Keep in mind that there are currently more than 150 retail electricity providers in Texas.

That’s a lot of comparing to do.

That’s a lot of time. Time that could be spent with family, or just living life.

 

what electric company services my address

Are All Electricity Companies that Service My Address Priced Similarly?

Yes, and no.

This can depend on many factors:

  • What type of plan you choose
  • Your unique needs
  • Other costs
  • Hidden fees

You can literally save hundreds of dollars by choosing the right plan for

your specific needs.

We all want to save money. But we also want to save time. Time is money, right?

If some companies cost the same, while others cost more but offer more, how can you know what the right choice is for your home?

Electricity Companies That Service My Address Vs. Electric Utilities That Service My Address

Is your head spinning yet from all of the choices?

Besides all of the choices that we have for our electricity company, we are also bombarded with numerous initials, acronyms, and terms.

One of the biggest obstacles for customers who are researching companies and trying to seek more information is knowing what all of these letters and terms mean.

Electricity company, electric supplier, REP, electric utility, EDU…

So, who is who, and who does what?

While you are shopping for the best plan, it’s important to understand the differences and what each will do for you as the customer.

Electricity Company Vs. Electric Utilities

Your electricity company, or retail electricity provider (REP), deals with purchasing and marketing electricity to customers.

They purchase wholesale electricity from generators and sell it at a retail level to the public.

Every deregulated state, including Texas, requires its electricity companies to be licensed or certified by the state. This helps to protect you as the customer.

On the other hand,

Your electric utility company, or electric distribution utility (EDU), deals mainly with poles and wires that service your home.

These are the people who own and maintain your utility poles and power lines.

They are responsible for physically delivering your electricity to your home.

When the power goes out…

And it’s dark inside…

Who you gonna call?

Ghostbusters! No, your friendly neighborhood utility company.

How To Find Electricity Companies That Service Your Address

There are several different ways to help you find out what companies service your address.

  • Ask a friend or neighbor and hope they did the hours of research needed for a comprehensive list
  • Call the 150+ different electricity companies
  • Do an extensive internet search
  • Visit each company’s website one by one
  • Use a third-party provider to search for you

Of course, not all search methods will work in your favor:

  • Some will probably just waste your time.
  • Some will give you too many options to wade through.
  • Some might help you make the right choice.

You Can Spend Hours (Or Even Days) Searching Manually

Now that you have all the “what’s” and “how’s” of all things electricity, it’s time to choose the right company.

You basically have two choices for how to begin the process of eliminating and ultimately choosing the right company for your home.

Choice 1 is to DIY it. – Do it yourself. – The old-fashioned way.

Step 1: Find Electricity Companies Based on Your Location

With so many providers in Texas, how do you know which ones service your area?

So you’ve searched and searched, you’ve compared and compared. You found the one. But is it?

It’s important to know that not all electric providers or companies in Texas are available in every area.

The company that you’ve settled on might not even service your area.

You will need to start your search by first determining which companies service your address.

How Do I Find Electric Companies That Service My Address?

Figuring out each and every electric company option that services your specific area and home is a difficult task for customers.

However, you do want to know what all of your options are.

You want to ensure that you have investigated every choice, looked in every nook and cranny.

You want the best option for your home.

How do you make sure that you find each option available to you?

You could:

  • Search manually – do the work yourself – assuming you have the hours of extra time and the patience of a saint
  • Use an REP site
  • Use a comparison site like Power Wizard where you can see multiple electricity companies and plans all at the same time

Your choice will depend on how much time and effort that you have to dedicate to a search. Finding the right company for your home’s unique power blueprint, AND your lifestyle, can take hours, and even days.

Step 2: Determine Which Electricity Company Has a Plan That Meets Your Needs

If you are still trying to search manually, now you need to compare each plan that each company provides.

Do you have a spreadsheet ready? Are you proficient in Excel?

You pretty much have to be an Excel wizard to organize all of your choices for this. You can do it, though. It just takes a lot of time and a lot of prep work.

So now you have each plan from each company laid out and you’re ready to compare. But, what are you comparing them to?

It’s more than just comparing them to each other.

Before you can actually compare the 100s of plans, you have to gather a lot of information about your home. You have to ensure that the plan you settle on fits your unique needs.

It’s REALLY hard to find ALL of the specific information that can help you make the best choice for your home.

You can start with the basics:

  • The age of the home
  • The size of the home
  • Current usage
  • Past and projected usage

Types of Electricity Plans

More terms to know. You just want a plan that you can understand. Here in Texas, we are lucky to have the power to choose.

While there are 100s of different plans out there for you to choose from, they mostly fit into 4 categories:

The 2 most common:

  1. Variable-rate plan
    • Rate changes month to month
  2. Fixed-rate plan
    • Rate is locked in

There are a couple of other plans that might be available as well:

  1. Indexed-rate plan
    • Rate is based on an index (variable)
  2. Time of use plan
    • Rate depends on the time of the day

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Let’s dive into each one to help you make the right decision so that you can use your power wisely.

Variable-Rate Plan

Do you like surprises?

You arrive home to find a dark house. Your spouse should have been home by now. You walk inside the door. You flip on the light switch. Surprise! You have a house full of friends and family who are there to celebrate you – an early birthday surprise.

We all love good surprises.

But what about the not-so-good surprises?

  • The strange smell coming from an air vent
  • The C- on a test that you thought you aced
  • The car that won’t start
  • The “whatever it is” that you just stepped in

We’ve all been there.

A variable-rate plan can be both a good surprise and a bad surprise.

With this type of plan, you can expect to always be surprised when you get your bill. You will pay a different amount per kilowatt-hour each month. The amount is based on fluctuations in the market.

This can work in your favor, but it can also catch you off-guard.

It can also be hard to budget, plan, and prepare for what the bill will be each month for your usage.

Fixed-Rate Plan

A fixed-rate plan is just what it sounds like. Your rate is fixed, aka locked in.

Are you a planner? Do you budget?

This can be an easy way to manage your energy usage and your bill.

You are locked in for a certain length of time. Your contract will determine this timeframe.

If rates fall, this plan’s rate will remain the same. This may seem to you that you’re paying more.

However, when the market rates are rising, this plan will save you the most money. It is consistent and reliable.

That being said, if you need flexibility, being in a long-term contract may work against you. There could be associated fees for breaking a contract early.

Your personal circumstances are going to determine if this is a good plan type for you.

Indexed Rate Plan

This rate can be the hardest to fully understand. It can be quite complicated.

Rather than basing the price on just your usage and the market, this plan prices your electricity on another variable or index. This index might be the current cost of natural gas for a particular month, for example.

This index price is created using a formula that your provider of choice will determine. The variable that is used will be in your contract.

This offers similar results as the variable-rate plan as the rate can vary. The price of the variable can increase or decrease, causing your bill to fluctuate.

With this plan, it’s imperative that the customer understands the index and that the rate can be constant, or can be constantly changing.

It can sound confusing, but your power company or third-party resource can help to answer any questions that you might have.

Time of Use Plan

Do you want to have greater control of your usage and rate?

This plan could be for you if you’re willing to be flexible with the times that you use your energy, especially with large appliances like your air conditioner or laundry dryer.

Its goal is to encourage customers to lower their energy usage during certain hours when the energy demand is high.

This rate is actually a flat rate. However, this flat rate is determined by demand. The higher the demand, the higher the cost for that particular time.

Different months of the year, along with different times of the day will have a different flat rate.

For example, 8 am-10 am is a typical high rate timeframe all year long. The afternoon and evening timeframes can vary depending on the season. May-October might have a higher rate from 2 pm-8 pm, while November-April’s rate will be higher from 5 pm-9 pm.

It will be important to always know when the higher rate times are so that you can monitor your own usage.

Closing

In summary, finding out which electric company services your address doesn’t have to be a daunting task. By utilizing online resources, reaching out to electric companies directly, and leveraging the expertise of platforms like Power Wizard, you can easily identify the best electricity provider suited for your needs.

Whether you’re looking for the most cost-effective plan, excellent customer service, or environmentally friendly options, understanding your choices empowers you to make well-informed decisions.

 

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