harlie: Beverley in Copperfield says, “I’m from Massachusetts.”
Tom: I’m Sorry….
Charlie: 81 years old. She’s looking for the best electric company, Tom. How does she do that? What should she look for?
Tom: You got to go to PowerToChoose.org and find out what’s the best one in your area. Everybody lives in a different zip code and everybody has different deals. I can’t give you a name of one. PowerToChoose.org.
Charlie: How do you prepare for that? I mean let’s make believe nobody has ever heard of this thing. You go there.
Tom: You go to the website.
Charlie: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Tom: I think there’s three questions they’re going to ask you, what kind of rate you’re looking for as far as fixed or variable. It’s kind of like a mortgage, I go with a fixed.
Charlie: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Tom: Second thing will be is the length of the term. I go four to 12 months usually myself. Then, the third thing is they’re going to ask you how many kilowatts you average each month. You put in whatever that is. Then, it’ll pop up whatever’s the cheapest starting at the top and working its way down.
Charlie: When you look at those rates, what I’ve learned since I’ve been using this thing is make sure you look at all three of the rates on there.
Tom: They’re going to show that, yeah. I’ve got one where the first 1,000 or less is $32. They cap it. Then, from 1,000 …
Charlie: 32 cents you mean.
Tom: No, no. $32.
Charlie: Period.
Tom: Yes. Then, the second line is if you go to 2,000, it’s $132. That’s where it tops out.
Charlie: Okay.
Tom: Then when you hit over 2,000, like I’ve been doing this summer, then you get pop for 11 cents a kilowatt hour on just what’s above 2,000. That’s how my deal works. Read them carefully, but most of the deals are falling in line like that.
Charlie: Beverley, since you’ve got time to do it, make sure you read those fact sheets. That’s a real important part.
Tom: That’s where it’s all explained.
Charlie: Exactly. You want to do that. The rates that they show you are just the beginning of your journey at PowerToChoose.org.
Tom: Remember, you have fees for CenterPoint and stuff on top. They cannot control that. That is going to be up to CenterPoint who delivers your electricity.
Charlie: Every complaint we get about PowerToChoose.org is somebody who didn’t read the fact sheet.
Tom: Of course.
Charlie: That goes with it.
Tom: Yeah.
Charlie: Take time to do that. All right.
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