Knowing the date your electric service agreement expires can save you a lot of money. Although large electric companies understand they need to make the contract expiration date clear some providers use this customer confusion as a way to earn additional money.
Many people are very new to the idea of shopping for electric service. Some people consider the idea of picking a cheap electric provider as a myth. Consider that most people have used a monopoly electric provider for years and never had to choose a competitive electric supplier because they simply did not exist.
Now in many states you will find that electric rates and service are deregulated. In Texas, for instance, there are over 50 retail electric providers all offering different prices, plans, terms of service, as well as tricks and gimmicks. Of course not all electric rates come with tricks and gimmicks but it is good to know about these before proceeding to choose an electric company.
A disreputable electric company will hide the fact of exactly when your electric agreement expires. These electric suppliers may even stipulate in the finer details of their electric agreement that if you fail to renew the contract in a certain time frame you may be automatically locked into a new longer term contract at an electric price higher than market conditions.
As of late a few prominent electric companies have actually been caught slowly raising their electric rates on their customers as to appear under the radar. Some of these electric providers had built a reputation as being ethical and honest as well as green. To see a supposed ethical electric company do something as back handed as this is nothing new.
There are a dozen tricky things I have seen lately that electric providers have done to trick their customers into what appears to be the lowest electric rate.
A couple of gimmicks I have seen involve the following:
- Advertising an electric rate but locking in a different rate depending on the date when the physical meter was read and switched.
- Hiding transmission charges that are past through on the electric bill from a different company. Than charging these hidden fees later when the customer receives their electric bill showing a completely different electric rate than they were sold.
Before going with a too good to be true electric rate we recommend checking out our comparison chart. You may click on the link below to begin comparing electric rates in your area.
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