Author Topic: Have you price shopped your utilities?  (Read 9185 times)

Retired To Win

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Have you price shopped your utilities?
« on: March 29, 2015, 01:21:16 PM »
I just recently learned that, if you have the option where you live, it pays to price shop your supplier of electricity, natural gas or propane.

When in January, my propane supplier billed my most recent delivery at $3.89 a gallon, it just did not seem right to me.  So I got on the phone and did a little price shopping.  I found a competing supplier that would deliver propane to me at $2.65 a gallon.  Had I been using that second supplier this winter, I could have saved myself between $250 and $300 in propane costs*.  And you can be sure that I will be setting up an account with that second supplier for this next winter.

How about you?  Have you got the option to buy your electricity or other power source from different vendors?  Have you benefited significantly from choosing one over another?


*I did go to my current supplier and pretty much demand a price reduction on that invoice.  And I did get a reduction down to $2.89 a gallon.

Spork

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Re: Have you price shopped your utilities?
« Reply #1 on: March 29, 2015, 01:25:52 PM »

I've tried with electrical... semi successfully.  The electric utilities around here price things in ways that make them very difficult to compare.  The rate plans are not X cents per kwh.  They all have a base rate and different kwh charges and different this and that charges...  They're very difficult to compare side by side.

As for propane: I can also suggest you try to buy it off season.  Around here the price goes down SIGNIFICANTLY during the summer months.  They cut back on deliveries and don't just pop by and check/fill.  You have to call and request them in that time frame.  You might not make it through the winter on a summer fill (depending on how cold it is where you live) but you can at least get one fill at a lower cost.

caliq

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Re: Have you price shopped your utilities?
« Reply #2 on: March 29, 2015, 01:28:56 PM »
Our only utility is electric, and we do price-shop that by changing our supplier.

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Re: Have you price shopped your utilities?
« Reply #3 on: March 29, 2015, 04:10:10 PM »
I've tried with electrical... semi successfully.  The electric utilities around here price things in ways that make them very difficult to compare.  The rate plans are not X cents per kwh.  They all have a base rate and different kwh charges and different this and that charges...  They're very difficult to compare side by side.

As for propane: I can also suggest you try to buy it off season.  Around here the price goes down SIGNIFICANTLY during the summer months.  They cut back on deliveries and don't just pop by and check/fill.  You have to call and request them in that time frame.  You might not make it through the winter on a summer fill (depending on how cold it is where you live) but you can at least get one fill at a lower cost.

It's true that a summer propane fill will be less expensive.  But I'll wager that even then my current supplier would be overpricing when compared to its competition.  So I've already decided to set up an account with its lowest cost competitor.  So I'll save two ways.

As for electricity, I am going to give it a good try.

danny9m

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Re: Have you price shopped your utilities?
« Reply #4 on: March 29, 2015, 10:00:31 PM »
A long lost relative works for a multi level marketing company and convinced as to switch our electric supplier to zoom power from jcp&l.  She tried to get to to change our gas supplier as well but a quick check of rates at the time convinced to to keep pse@g because their rates were lower.

I forgot about this because I don't pay the bills, my wife does, however I started to use mint and now see every expense.   I did notice our electric bills were running higher than when I paid the bills. Then I received an electric bill for $575.  I immediately read the meter and sure enough they read the meter wrong.  I got the bill, and saw zoom power. I called jcp&l, our old stogy electric power supplier and asked their rate, about .10 kwr.  I was being charged .15 kwr by zoom power, about $50 extra per month on average. In short don't believe you are going to save money on your utility bill by changing suppliers.

I've reviewed every offer to Change and none of these companies offer any guarantees on rates.   The only reason I changed was because my wife's cousin was selling this and she claimed the rates would be lower and they were not lower but 50 % higher.


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Re: Have you price shopped your utilities?
« Reply #5 on: March 30, 2015, 06:40:48 AM »
There are no options around here :(  I wish we could. What's weird, is the electric company that services 90% of my city doesn't service my side of the city, so I'm stuck with a rural co-op.  I'm not rural!

maricela

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Re: Have you price shopped your utilities?
« Reply #6 on: March 30, 2015, 07:45:33 AM »

I do have the option to price shop my electricity.  But this other company says they can reduce it and I will keep my same distribution service.  It just always sounds like a scam to me.  Am I missing something with this?  Anyone else have the same experience?
if you are in a deregulated market it's not a scam necessarily, but you need to be smart and do your research into their actual pricing. Don't ever just sign up when someone shows up at your door or cold calls. Know your current rate, including minimum usage fees, then compare.

In Texas, go to powertochoose.org to compare apples to apples.

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Re: Have you price shopped your utilities?
« Reply #7 on: March 30, 2015, 06:19:44 PM »
... don't believe you are going to save money on your utility bill by changing suppliers.

I've reviewed every offer to Change and none of these companies offer any guarantees on rates...

I don't think you can get a guarantee on rates from anyone.  One just has to watch the utility bills every month and act on any increased rates or fees.

caliq

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Re: Have you price shopped your utilities?
« Reply #8 on: March 30, 2015, 06:51:26 PM »
... don't believe you are going to save money on your utility bill by changing suppliers.

I've reviewed every offer to Change and none of these companies offer any guarantees on rates...

I don't think you can get a guarantee on rates from anyone.  One just has to watch the utility bills every month and act on any increased rates or fees.

My electric (both the distributor-linked supplier and the independent supplier) offer 12 month lock in rates.  You can choose a variable rate but it's not always lower.  There's also options with slightly increased rates for 18-month lock ins.

caliq

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Re: Have you price shopped your utilities?
« Reply #9 on: March 30, 2015, 08:39:35 PM »

I do have the option to price shop my electricity.  But this other company says they can reduce it and I will keep my same distribution service.  It just always sounds like a scam to me.  Am I missing something with this?  Anyone else have the same experience?
if you are in a deregulated market it's not a scam necessarily, but you need to be smart and do your research into their actual pricing. Don't ever just sign up when someone shows up at your door or cold calls. Know your current rate, including minimum usage fees, then compare.

In Texas, go to powertochoose.org to compare apples to apples.

I am not very familiar with how the process of electricity works to get to my home, but this is a run down version of what they are trying to sell:

There is a supplier and the distributor, currently my electric company does both.  But, I could buy from a different supplier at a cheaper rate and keep my distribution provider the same therefore keeping the same provider I have now at a lower cost.  Does this sound right?

To me why not just give me the lower cost in the first place?

That is how it works.

The only reason you are allowed to pick the specific supplier is because the market was 'deregulated' at some point.  I think this is something the traditional electric companies fought against (ie. in my area there's only one distributor option -- it would have been a total monopoly before the deregulation).

But most people won't ever notice or care enough about the minute differences in kWh price -- so the distributor pockets the difference and legally, it's not a monopoly because it's not their fault that people are too lazy to switch suppliers. 

econberkeley

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Re: Have you price shopped your utilities?
« Reply #10 on: March 30, 2015, 09:03:16 PM »
In Texas, there is an online website to shop for electricity from so many providers. I recently found a great 8 months contract that gives you $55 credit if you consume less than 1000 kwh in a month. If you consume less than 500 kwh, they start giving you credit depending on your usage. Even for 1000 kwh, the rate is 7 cents per kwh after the credit. That's a great rate too. I showed the rates to my director and he told me the rate for 2000 kwh, 10 cents, is okay, but not cheap. He did not even look at the other rates. I only reach the 1000 kwh once a year. I can not believe how much people spend on electricity. He also told me " You must be living in a small house". I live in a 2500 sqf house. I guess it is small for Texas standards:-)

caliq

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Re: Have you price shopped your utilities?
« Reply #11 on: March 30, 2015, 09:07:39 PM »
If you had the option would you switch suppliers if it meant a little savings?  I just don't see the benefits of switching other than the cost.

I switch, on a 12 month fixed rate basis.  It saves me about 1 cent per kWh, but it only takes 20 minutes of effort, max, per year.  I'm not sure exactly how much electricity we use per month, but I live in New England and electricity is my only utility -- we have electric resistance baseboard heat, hot water heater, everything  :(  My monthly budget plan is around $300, so I'm not exactly talking small change here.

This past year, actually, I called the supplier I had chosen when we bought the house (Jan 2014) after we got the letter detailing their rate increase.  I told them they'd be more expensive than just getting electricity from the distributor, and they promptly knocked my per kWh rate down lower than the cheapest supplier option in order to keep me as a customer.  That's locked in until Dec 2015 and to be honest, I don't care enough to check it on a monthly basis (plus I think there's an early termination fee so I'm not going to change it more than once a year anyways).  So yeah, more like 5 minutes of work. 

Edit: my state has a super easy comparison website as well. 

caliq

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Re: Have you price shopped your utilities?
« Reply #12 on: March 30, 2015, 09:21:24 PM »
Your heat is electric in your house?  I can understand why that savings may impact you a lot.  I currently have natural gas for heat, so my electricity is really on $30 a month.  I don't think I would see an impact at all in what I would be paying.

Meh, certainly not as much as I save. 

But still, to me, being mustachian is about minimizing expenditures on things that don't matter to your quality of life.  Maybe it only saves you $20 a year, but I'm sure you can think of better uses for that $20 than needless waste on a bill that's higher than it has to be. 

HopefulMustache

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Re: Have you price shopped your utilities?
« Reply #13 on: March 31, 2015, 09:54:20 AM »
I do have the option to price shop my electricity.  But this other company says they can reduce it and I will keep my same distribution service.  It just always sounds like a scam to me.  Am I missing something with this?  Anyone else have the same experience?

I get letters/emails to that effect a couple of times a year. They generally promise they'll keep the rates low for a few months and then, well they can't promise anything. A quick look for reviews of the company revealed tons of complaints online with skyrocketing rates after 3 months, so I don't get tempted by them anymore.

It may be that there are some legitimate alternative suppliers that consistently beat out the "standard" ones, but definitely do your research.

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Re: Have you price shopped your utilities?
« Reply #14 on: March 31, 2015, 03:59:23 PM »
No options here. We have only electric, water, and Internet, but all three are monopolies. Fortunately, the electric is a rural co-op, so the rates are much lower than the "urban" company - which has a monopoly in all of the towns and cities.


Our internet is a monopoly only for us; if our house were closer to the road, there's a cable company that would be available, bu they won't run a line this far. Technically, we could get satellite, for that matter, but that's really no option at all.

h2ogal

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Re: Have you price shopped your utilities?
« Reply #15 on: March 31, 2015, 09:30:18 PM »
We are looking for a Propane Co-Op.  We found one a few hours away but they dont deliver to our town.  The cost per gallon is WAY less.   Anyone have experience with Propane/Gas/Oil Co-Ops?

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Re: Have you price shopped your utilities?
« Reply #16 on: April 01, 2015, 09:12:05 AM »
... Our internet is a monopoly only for us; if our house were closer to the road, there's a cable company that would be available, bu they won't run a line this far. Technically, we could get satellite, for that matter, but that's really no option at all.

Very similar internet situation for us.  The cable company ends its service just a short bit up the road.  Past that, and where our house is, is considered farm country and the house density is too low to justify running the cable.  Unlike you, though, we did get satellite internet.  No way not to have it because my wife's consulting gig and my investment management (not to mention my dear old BLOG!) require us to have it.  So we pay... PAY... $90 a month in order to have enough usage to last the month (without doing any movie or music streaming.)  :[

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Re: Have you price shopped your utilities?
« Reply #17 on: April 01, 2015, 11:01:07 AM »
... Our internet is a monopoly only for us; if our house were closer to the road, there's a cable company that would be available, bu they won't run a line this far. Technically, we could get satellite, for that matter, but that's really no option at all.

Very similar internet situation for us.  The cable company ends its service just a short bit up the road.  Past that, and where our house is, is considered farm country and the house density is too low to justify running the cable.  Unlike you, though, we did get satellite internet.  No way not to have it because my wife's consulting gig and my investment management (not to mention my dear old BLOG!) require us to have it.  So we pay... PAY... $90 a month in order to have enough usage to last the month (without doing any movie or music streaming.)  :[


We're fortunate that we could get DSL, so we have a phone line. Otherwise, it would have been satellite for us, too. I can't do my side gig without high speed at home, and I'd have a very hard time managing the day job that way, too.


I guess a wireless hotspot would've been an option if we had cell signal.

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Re: Have you price shopped your utilities?
« Reply #18 on: April 02, 2015, 08:31:29 AM »
... Our internet is a monopoly only for us; if our house were closer to the road, there's a cable company that would be available, bu they won't run a line this far. Technically, we could get satellite, for that matter, but that's really no option at all.

Very similar internet situation for us.  The cable company ends its service just a short bit up the road.  Past that, and where our house is, is considered farm country and the house density is too low to justify running the cable.  Unlike you, though, we did get satellite internet.  No way not to have it because my wife's consulting gig and my investment management (not to mention my dear old BLOG!) require us to have it.  So we pay... PAY... $90 a month in order to have enough usage to last the month (without doing any movie or music streaming.)  :[

Don't give up hope.  Stick a reminder in your calendar and query the cable company every 6-12 months (and the telcos and whatever other options you have).

We live in the sticks and had nothing but a cobbled together cellular solution for ages.  At some point the cable company in the nearest city gobbled up the crappy mom-n-pop cable company in our area and -BAM- instant internet.

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Re: Have you price shopped your utilities?
« Reply #19 on: April 02, 2015, 08:14:41 PM »
I have PP&L for electric and they are always begging me to drop them as a supplier and go with some "competitor". That alone makes me stay. It's a scam. PP&L apparently will make more money if I leave. Kickback? Or they get a percentage of competitors profits?  The whole thing reeks of bullshit, so I just stay with PP&L. Besides, they admit in writing that they are legally required to provide me with electricity (the "generation" portion) at cost, with no profit to them. The cost per KW hour at the competitors is always very very close, and, as others have mentioned, they will jack it up later. 

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Re: Have you price shopped your utilities?
« Reply #20 on: April 03, 2015, 07:02:07 AM »
... Our internet is a monopoly only for us; if our house were closer to the road, there's a cable company that would be available, bu they won't run a line this far. Technically, we could get satellite, for that matter, but that's really no option at all.

Very similar internet situation for us.  The cable company ends its service just a short bit up the road.  Past that, and where our house is, is considered farm country and the house density is too low to justify running the cable.  Unlike you, though, we did get satellite internet.  No way not to have it because my wife's consulting gig and my investment management (not to mention my dear old BLOG!) require us to have it.  So we pay... PAY... $90 a month in order to have enough usage to last the month (without doing any movie or music streaming.)  :[

Don't give up hope.  Stick a reminder in your calendar and query the cable company every 6-12 months (and the telcos and whatever other options you have).

We live in the sticks and had nothing but a cobbled together cellular solution for ages.  At some point the cable company in the nearest city gobbled up the crappy mom-n-pop cable company in our area and -BAM- instant internet.

From your mouth to God's ear!

paddedhat

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Re: Have you price shopped your utilities?
« Reply #21 on: April 03, 2015, 08:29:33 AM »
I have PP&L for electric and they are always begging me to drop them as a supplier and go with some "competitor". That alone makes me stay. It's a scam. PP&L apparently will make more money if I leave. Kickback? Or they get a percentage of competitors profits?  The whole thing reeks of bullshit, so I just stay with PP&L. Besides, they admit in writing that they are legally required to provide me with electricity (the "generation" portion) at cost, with no profit to them. The cost per KW hour at the competitors is always very very close, and, as others have mentioned, they will jack it up later.

I think if you dive a bit deeper you will find that the PUC requires all PA. utilities to aggressively notify their residential customers that they have other options.  I use their own supplier (PPL Energy plus) which is currently about 10% lower than their standard rate for those that use the default option of not selecting.

If you want to talk scams, propane is where it's at. My buddy built a house a few years back. He had a contractor deliver and install a massive above ground tank.  Every summer, wen it's about as hot as it gets, and local suppliers can't give the stuff away, he calls around for a cash price on a thousand gallons+.
This past summer he paid $1.39 after a bit of bidding war.

Spork

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Re: Have you price shopped your utilities?
« Reply #22 on: April 03, 2015, 08:54:38 AM »
I have PP&L for electric and they are always begging me to drop them as a supplier and go with some "competitor". That alone makes me stay. It's a scam. PP&L apparently will make more money if I leave. Kickback? Or they get a percentage of competitors profits?  The whole thing reeks of bullshit, so I just stay with PP&L. Besides, they admit in writing that they are legally required to provide me with electricity (the "generation" portion) at cost, with no profit to them. The cost per KW hour at the competitors is always very very close, and, as others have mentioned, they will jack it up later.

I think if you dive a bit deeper you will find that the PUC requires all PA. utilities to aggressively notify their residential customers that they have other options.  I use their own supplier (PPL Energy plus) which is currently about 10% lower than their standard rate for those that use the default option of not selecting.

If you want to talk scams, propane is where it's at. My buddy built a house a few years back. He had a contractor deliver and install a massive above ground tank.  Every summer, wen it's about as hot as it gets, and local suppliers can't give the stuff away, he calls around for a cash price on a thousand gallons+.
This past summer he paid $1.39 after a bit of bidding war.

Holy shit.  1000gallons *is* a big tank.  Ours is 250gal and we refill it a little more than once a year -- maybe every 9 months or so.  (Of course, we live in the south where heating isn't a huge expense.)

paddedhat

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Re: Have you price shopped your utilities?
« Reply #23 on: April 03, 2015, 10:02:36 AM »
If you want to talk scams, propane is where it's at. My buddy built a house a few years back. He had a contractor deliver and install a massive above ground tank.  Every summer, wen it's about as hot as it gets, and local suppliers can't give the stuff away, he calls around for a cash price on a thousand gallons+.
This past summer he paid $1.39 after a bit of bidding war.

Holy shit.  1000gallons *is* a big tank.  Ours is 250gal and we refill it a little more than once a year -- maybe every 9 months or so.  (Of course, we live in the south where heating isn't a huge expense.)
[/quote]

Yea, it is huge, maybe 3' in diameter and 12-14' long. It was a brilliant move however. Once you own a large tank, can ride out the winter, and engage in competitive pricing when suppliers are dying for cash flow, it's probably the cheapest way to heat, cook, operate a dryer, or heat water. The tank is big enough that in a mild winter, (not the last two LOL) he can skip the annual fill, and have enough for the following year.

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Re: Have you price shopped your utilities?
« Reply #24 on: April 03, 2015, 08:52:29 PM »

If you want to talk scams, propane is where it's at. My buddy built a house a few years back. He had a contractor deliver and install a massive above ground tank.  Every summer, wen it's about as hot as it gets, and local suppliers can't give the stuff away, he calls around for a cash price on a thousand gallons+.This past summer he paid $1.39 after a bit of bidding war... Once you own a large tank, can ride out the winter, and engage in competitive pricing when suppliers are dying for cash flow, it's probably the cheapest way to heat, cook, operate a dryer, or heat water. The tank is big enough that in a mild winter, (not the last two LOL) he can skip the annual fill, and have enough for the following year.

Even with a 500-gallon tank we were still able to ride through the winter that way, even in western Maryland.  But we can't do it now with a 250-gal tank even though we're located in milder central Virginia.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!