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TXU Free Nights plan (just switched)

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TXU Free Nights plan (just switched) UPDATE!

With one plug-in vehicle, and a second on the way, I started digging into this TXU plan. My Reliant Power Tracker Plus plan was changed on me and I was getting hit with ~13 cents per Kwh. After several hours of spreadsheet magic, I concluded that I would be saving about 15% without even modifying my energy usage.

The gist of the TXU free nights is this:
17.1 cents per Kwh
100% free from hours 10PM-6AM
$10 monthly fee
Normal taxes apply

Here's what I have planned now that I have a nice, fat window to play in:
1. Only charge the cars after 10PM
2. Dishwasher and laundry timed for after 10PM
3. Modify the pool's pump to do its big filter cycle and chlorine generation from 11PM-6AM. Have two 30min skim cycles during the day.
4. Crank the AC down a bit from 10-6.
5. It seems small, but charging portable electronics after 10PM (including power tools)

This will be a fun game to play this summer, too.
 
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Although I'm not in TX, I switched over to a TOU plan here in WI and have 10pm-6am and weekends at a significantly reduced rate vs weekday business hours.

By switching, my electric bill has gone up by ~ $40 per month since I got the Roadster...for the 2,400 miles I am averaging per month. Not too bad - works out to the equivalent of 210 miles per gallon at the current price per gallon of $3.50.

Bottom line, there may be significant savings by using TOU (or TXU in TX), especially if you drive a lot.
 
Is it really a good deal though? Im about to switch providers again as my current play with Pennywise expires next month....if you're willing to look at 3 month plans (and are not focused on renewables), there's some cheap deals out there. Of course, I've not really done the math on this, I did go through the process of a spreadsheet a year ago when a few of the Poco's were doing TOU plans, but none of them really stacked up for me - I typically use 1500kwh in the winter months, and maybe 4000-5000 at the height of summer.

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I've seen the sub 10cent plans, and it works for a few months. Then, you get slammed with ~20cents when that is up. There's a reason Pennywise's ratings look low. Bounce Energy is another one that promises low rates, but makes up for it when the small term plan is up. Additionally, check back in July and August to see what those 3mo "cheap" plans will be.

I've played with the numbers a bit and with the amount power use I'll shift into the evening, It's going to be hard for something like an 18mo ~8cent plan to beat.
The main thing we'll have powered in the summer during those day hours will be the A/C, which is ~17SEER. My plan has a $265 cancellation fee, so I'll be sticking to it through at least two summers ;)
 
Yeah, it just depends on your discipline I guess....if you do let the plan lapse (as I'm sure 90% of the population does), then the rates go quite a bit higher, but the highest I've paid over the past 3yrs was 8.3cents. I signed up with Green Mountain last week for 5.9c for 6 months, so hopefully that'll get me through the summer. It's so easy to switch providers these days, but does take a bit of diligence.
 
TXU just upgraded their Free Nights plan to an extra free hour at night.
It went from 10PM-6AM, and it's now 9PM-6AM.
The KWh for daytime went from 17.1 cents to 17.0 cents.
They now have a 36 month Free Nights plan.
I was able to switch into this new plan since I was in the 90 day window without any penalties.

So far, I've saved over $1000 in my electric bills since starting this plan. My wife and I love playing the "What can we put off until 9PM game" and we're getting damn good at it. Charging 2 EVs for free is a wonderful thing.

We haven't paid a cent for electricity for the past 3000 miles or so on either car. Combine that with Superchargers for Houston and Austin trips and it just keeps getting better and better!
 
Just an update to the TXU plan I'm on:

I've been able to still work with shifting a lot of activities after 9PM. Keeping it chilly at night is amazing to wake up to! Coffee, tea, yerba mate, or hot gluhwein on the weekends is great to sip at the breakfast table while it's 70F in the house. My biggest power draw during the day is my Bitcoin mining operation, but that pays for itself in the first day of the billing cycle.

So in conclusion, I'm still happy with the plan! Charging the Tesla and the Volt for free since March feels great!
 
We singed up for free night effective Aug 21. Went the next step and installed 10kW Solar system. So far so good avg kW per day is 50 for the month. Been busy trying to distract myself Model S deliver September 2014! Chris Tx we are looking forward to charging at night. I see you got the Pano. I skipped it due to the TX heat.

Glad the plan is working well for you.
 
Congrats on the solar system! The TX heat doesn't really affect the car with the pano roof, from what we've found. We primarily got it since that's the only (safest) way to get a roof rack on top. The extra headroom doesn't hurt, either.


We singed up for free night effective Aug 21. Went the next step and installed 10kW Solar system. So far so good avg kW per day is 50 for the month. Been busy trying to distract myself Model S deliver September 2014! Chris Tx we are looking forward to charging at night. I see you got the Pano. I skipped it due to the TX heat.

Glad the plan is working well for you.
 
It will be interesting to see how it works out for you. My biggest load is AC in the days/summer and a penny difference in rate is getting close to $100/mo+fees and such. I opted to stay in the .07 range and don't think the Tesla consumes that much in the grand scheme in my household. .15 during the days would probably sink me.
 
I have been with TXU for 2 years (2011 to 2013) and currently with Reliant. TXU gave me $250 two years for staying with them but the bill was high too..( at least I felt that way).

My contract is about to expire with Reliant...I am in interested in the TXU free nights plan too...
 
I have been with TXU for 2 years (2011 to 2013) and currently with Reliant. TXU gave me $250 two years for staying with them but the bill was high too..( at least I felt that way).

My contract is about to expire with Reliant...I am in interested in the TXU free nights plan too...

When I got the lawyer letter saying that I had to put in a claim to be included in the list of creditors, I figured it was time to switch from TXU.
 
When I got the lawyer letter saying that I had to put in a claim to be included in the list of creditors, I figured it was time to switch from TXU.

There's no reason to be hesitant signing up with TXU, even though they are filing for bankruptcy protection. Even if you sign a 36mo contract (like I did) those terms would transfer to any potential buyer of TXU's assets. TXU's eager to get more customers right now, so it's definitely a buyer's market in my opinion.
 
There's no reason to be hesitant signing up with TXU, even though they are filing for bankruptcy protection. Even if you sign a 36mo contract (like I did) those terms would transfer to any potential buyer of TXU's assets. TXU's eager to get more customers right now, so it's definitely a buyer's market in my opinion.

When I looked, their lowest rate plan was 14 cents compared to 9 cents. Seemed like they were raising the rates to get out of bankruptcy. At one time there was a reason to go with TXU--because they supplied the service. Now they don't so they are just like any other electricity billing firm.
 
I was shopping around yesterday (after letting my existing plan lapse into the 'flexible rate' of 13.9c for the two worst months of the year!!!!). Normally the 100% renewable plans are a little more expensive, but I see that Breeze currently has some great rates - I went with the shorter one this time around:

breeze.png
 
These wind rates don't surprise me. Texas is now the largest wind generator in the country (11,000 MW of commercial wind power capacity) and ERCOT set a record in April 2014 where 29% of the electricity used on the grid was provided by wind. Average is still ~11% but there's 8,000MW of additional generation under construction. We just need to increase transmission capacity to get those West Texas electrons to DFW, Austin & San Antonio.
 
I was shopping around yesterday (after letting my existing plan lapse into the 'flexible rate' of 13.9c for the two worst months of the year!!!!). Normally the 100% renewable plans are a little more expensive, but I see that Breeze currently has some great rates - I went with the shorter one this time around:
Luckily, my "flexible" rate was only in affect for one month; my bill doubled despite using less electricity! I switched to StarTex at 6.9c on a 6 month contract.