At the close of 2013, electric rates in Texas have finally become lower than the national average. What is Texas’ rate compared to the national average; 11.75 cents per kilowatt-hour is the average for Texas, which is 0.13 cents lower than the national average.
Does this mean that the deregulation naysayers will stop harping? Of course not. It’s never been about lower electricity prices. It’s about control. Both sides make it about price because public opinion can be swayed with their pocket books. Right now the naysayers are saying “who cares if the average is lower, people are still paying more for electricity deregulated areas of Texas than those in regulated areas.” Yes, this is true but let me try to explain why.
True story, I sat down at the dinner table at my grandparent’s house for Christmas dinner and my cousin who graduated from the University of Texas and lived in Texas most of her adult life, did not know the first thing about energy deregulation. I have been selling and writing about electricity now for 4 years which is not a long time; however, Texas has been deregulated for 12 years which is a long time. So here is what I’m thinking, if a highly educated people do not know about deregulation then how are they going to navigate the market and find the lowest electricity plan? The answer is they are not going to find a low priced plan.
So what is the solution?
If I had all the answers I would give you the perfect solution but since I don’t I can only give you what I think should work. Education, but Luke what about your cousin? If you think about all the educated people in the world does it really make them smarter than you? Absolutely not. What makes someone smarter than you is their experiences. What I mean by education is getting everyone to learn how to shop for electricity. Yes this has been tried before but what I would suggest is if you have gotten a better deal on your electricity rate share it with someone you know. If you hear someone complaining on Facebook about how high their electric rate is tell them to shop around. By sharing our experience with others it makes everyone better off.
If you feel compiled to share your experience right now then just leave a comment or head over to our Facebook page and tag our Facebook page by adding the @electricrates to your post. Also follow us on Twitter here.
Donny Eisenbach
Donny has been writing about the deregulated energy markets since early 2007. His knowledge has helped consumers lower their electricity cost.
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