My contract is up and my same plan is roughly a 60% increase in price. How long should I look to lock in? Basically when do you think energy prices will go down again.

MaxPower said:

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My contract is up and my same plan is roughly a 60% increase in price. How long should I look to lock in? Basically when do you think energy prices will go down again.

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Wouldn't bank on a material decrease in rates. Too much has changed fundamentally, in my opinion. Reliability, redundancy, global market, renewables...

I'd look to lock in that sucker for as long as I can because who knows what kind of sh*tstorm we are in for this winter - especially if Putin gets funky with natural gas going to Europe and pushing up prices further.

I locked in for 3 years a few months ago. Value Power -- 10 cents/kWh and $250 cancellation fee.

Anyone here use PowerWizard? I've used them for a couple of years and they've been pretty good. I just got a bill for a $750 early termination fee from PowerNext when they switched me overt to Constellation.

Man, a $99 cancellation fee is free money on these newer rate plans. Simply think of your cancellation fee as roughly equivalent to 1 month or less of your normal bill to get out of it to save mucho money later if rates drop.

Actually a pretty good deal.

Just renewed with Constellation for 14.1c /kwh fixed avg on 1,000kw/mo. $99 cancellation fee on a 36 month plan.

https://www.constellation.com/bin/residential/Terms_TX?versionNum=36201

Btw when I was on the phone with the sales rep, I asked for the Fact Label id # (36201) so that I could read through it before agreeing.

MaxPower said:

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My contract is up and my same plan is roughly a 60% increase in price. How long should I look to lock in? Basically when do you think energy prices will go down again.

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The price of natural gas has to come down. To do that we need the supply of nat gas to increase. Factors causing high nat gas price and crimping supply
1. Biden administration war on fossil fuels (FGBLGBx1,000,000)
2. War in Ukraine

Biggest factor is our idiot in chief and the earth worshipers who are convinced they are serving a higher purpose.

In short not until we have a new administration will prices start to ebb. You might lock in a 6 month contract and try again. I don't think they go drastically higher from here but I would not expect a huge decline either.

Also I have found that annual contracts are slightly cheaper during low demand periods such as October and March.

I just went with solar for my small house. 30KW per day that should be generated will cost me $69 per month. Last month in the hottest month in a long time we used right at 40kwh so should come close to paying the electric bill for most of the year.

Looking for some education on this topic... I don't have a contract and simply pay what my utility charges in Brazos County, which is just under $.10/kwh. I assume that will vary over time based on the utility's energy cost, and I would expect it to increase in the coming months due to the state of energy markets. If/when energy costs come down, then I would expect it to gradually ease over time.

Am I thinking about this right? How do you get a contract?... do you opt out of your utility's base pricing and then buy your energy on the open market? What if you want "back in" and don't want to be exposed to market volatility, but would rather let your utility manage that and then pass it on to you in your bill?

I've never had an energy contract in the various states I've lived... I just pay the bill when it comes in, and they've all seemed reasonable to me. Where I have lowered my costs is thru investments in better efficiency, weather-proofing, and eliminating wasteful consumption (leaving lights on, empty bedrooms at 72 degrees, half-full dishwasher, etc).

Living in brazos county, you live in a regulated energy market. With the exception of maybe very large industrial customers, you are charged the utility stated rate. That rate depends on certain factors. Some of it is timing relative to market conditions. More than likely one would expect regulated rates to lag behind run up in prices during gas price run up. Then similarly lag behind if/when gas prices run down.

Depending on the utility some are localized to cities. Then it sort of depends on how the city wants to do its budget. It can subsidize energy costs to lower water/waste treatment costs.

texagbeliever said:

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Living in brazos county, you live in a regulated energy market. With the exception of maybe very large industrial customers, you are charged the utility stated rate. That rate depends on certain factors. Some of it is timing relative to market conditions. More than likely one would expect regulated rates to lag behind run up in prices during gas price run up. Then similarly lag behind if/when gas prices run down.

Depending on the utility some are localized to cities. Then it sort of depends on how the city wants to do its budget. It can subsidize energy costs to lower water/waste treatment costs.

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Thanks, very helpful. Is the regulation/non-regulation decision made at the local level or by the energy provider? If a utility chose to deregulate, can they force all customers to play the open market, or is that typically an opt in/out model?

Aggies75455 said:

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I just went with solar for my small house. 30KW per day that should be generated will cost me $69 per month. Last month in the hottest month in a long time we used right at 40kwh so should come close to paying the electric bill for most of the year.

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Something's not right here.

You're using almost zero electricity. And paying $2.30 per kWh for what you do use.

Ducks4brkfast said:

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Aggies75455 said:

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I just went with solar for my small house. 30KW per day that should be generated will cost me $69 per month. Last month in the hottest month in a long time we used right at 40kwh so should come close to paying the electric bill for most of the year.

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Something's not right here.

You're using almost zero electricity. And paying $2.30 per kWh for what you do use.

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Not sure where $69 per month is coming from, but if accurate: 30KW/day x 30 days = 900kw. $69/900 = $0.076/KWh

AND yes 900 KWh is very low for a month.

Ducks4brkfast said:

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Aggies75455 said:

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I just went with solar for my small house. 30KW per day that should be generated will cost me $69 per month. Last month in the hottest month in a long time we used right at 40kwh so should come close to paying the electric bill for most of the year.

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Something's not right here.

You're using almost zero electricity. And paying $2.30 per kWh for what you do use.

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This is a picture of my usage last month. The solar panels are supposed to produce 30KWH per day and cost $69 per month. Maybe I'm missing something.

Fightin_Aggie said:

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MaxPower said:

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My contract is up and my same plan is roughly a 60% increase in price. How long should I look to lock in? Basically when do you think energy prices will go down again.

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The price of natural gas has to come down. To do that we need the supply of nat gas to increase. Factors causing high nat gas price and crimping supply
1. Biden administration war on fossil fuels (FGBLGBx1,000,000)
2. War in Ukraine

Biggest factor is our idiot in chief and the earth worshipers who are convinced they are serving a higher purpose.

In short not until we have a new administration will prices start to ebb. You might lock in a 6 month contract and try again. I don't think they go drastically higher from here but I would not expect a huge decline either.

Also I have found that annual contracts are slightly cheaper during low demand periods such as October and March.

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There's another factor at play on the natural gas side, though it's kinda buried in among your #1 & #2

1.5 -- Increased LNG to Europe and elsewhere. Oddly FJB has gone on record as being in favor of increased US LNG exports. So this bumbling fool can't even keep his story straight on what fossil fuels are bad, when they're bad, and where they're bad. But when NG is going for roughly $30 per MCF in Europe and elsewhere, we're going to export all we can. It's trading in the $8 / MCF range domestically currently.

The only parts of the country that can materially increase NG production are the Eagle Ford and the Permina. Apache dumped their Alpine HIgh assets for being too gassy, but at these prices someone will pick those back up. That still doesn't solve the pipeline shortages to move that gas out of the Permian.

Friend works for one of the "let us find the best plan for you" companies and they're locking customers into the longest terms they can get (with good termination fees). Side bar on the health of the economy, she said an overwhelming number of calls to their call center are to dis-enroll from autopay. We're about to see A LOT of folks stop paying or not paying in full their electric bills.

Kenneth_2003 said:

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Fightin_Aggie said:

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MaxPower said:

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My contract is up and my same plan is roughly a 60% increase in price. How long should I look to lock in? Basically when do you think energy prices will go down again.

---

The price of natural gas has to come down. To do that we need the supply of nat gas to increase. Factors causing high nat gas price and crimping supply
1. Biden administration war on fossil fuels (FGBLGBx1,000,000)
2. War in Ukraine

Biggest factor is our idiot in chief and the earth worshipers who are convinced they are serving a higher purpose.

In short not until we have a new administration will prices start to ebb. You might lock in a 6 month contract and try again. I don't think they go drastically higher from here but I would not expect a huge decline either.

Also I have found that annual contracts are slightly cheaper during low demand periods such as October and March.

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There's another factor at play on the natural gas side, though it's kinda buried in among your #1 & #2

1.5 -- Increased LNG to Europe and elsewhere. Oddly FJB has gone on record as being in favor of increased US LNG exports. So this bumbling fool can't even keep his story straight on what fossil fuels are bad, when they're bad, and where they're bad. But when NG is going for roughly $30 per MCF in Europe and elsewhere, we're going to export all we can. It's trading in the $8 / MCF range domestically currently.

The only parts of the country that can materially increase NG production are the Eagle Ford and the Permina. Apache dumped their Alpine HIgh assets for being too gassy, but at these prices someone will pick those back up. That still doesn't solve the pipeline shortages to move that gas out of the Permian.

Friend works for one of the "let us find the best plan for you" companies and they're locking customers into the longest terms they can get (with good termination fees). Side bar on the health of the economy, she said an overwhelming number of calls to their call center are to dis-enroll from autopay. We're about to see A LOT of folks stop paying or not paying in full their electric bills.

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Not sure anyone is trading MCF