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Tag: Lower Electricity Rate

Crypto Struggles as Prices of Electricity Rise & Imaginary Money Falls

We have to admit that we rather enjoy jumping on the dogpile of crypto fans

A crypto hodler, crypto investor, and crypto analyst are in front of your house… how do you get them off your porch?
— Pay them for the pizza, cancel the Uber, and ask them to leave the Instacart bags. —

Crypto prices are crumbling but bitcoin continues to stay around $20K. It is just astounding that the price for a line item on a digital spreadsheet made of 1s and 0s of code is still that high. Even so, many “miners” (where are the pickaxes, sledge hammers and hard hats?) are crumbling as spiking electricity prices and lower hash prices (i.e. lower crypto prices) cut into the hodl fantasy business model.

BTC’s price has fallen about 56% year to date, and the sky continues to fall for various crypto and bitcoin miners. Unfortunately one of the causes is higher electricity prices, which also affects those of us in the real world that appreciate history, tangibility, and stability. Furthermore, the global recession is looming while inflation catches up with all the money the Fed printed the last few years and the unnatural interest rate they suppressed to make up for the 2008 financial collapse while they reloaded bankers’ pockets.

GET THE BEST ELECTRICTY FOR YOUR BUSINESS

We FORCE electricity companies to compete! Electricity providers will offer a lower price to us because they know they are competing for the business. This drives your price down!

CLICK HERE TO START SAVING

Hash price is a metric to determine the market value for each unit of hashing power, which is set through changes in bitcoin mining difficulty (which is currently high) and the price of the cryptocurrency. At a high level, the higher the hash rate the greater the difficulty to mine bitcoin — meaning that it takes more electricity to do so. If the electricity price is high, it’s harder to make a profit when they try converting imaginary money back into USD. Who’d a thunk it!

The hash price is near a historical low, and it is about $70.72, down 80.5% from $361.82 a year ago. Additionally, energy prices have increased across many markets, which means miners’ expenses are at all-time highs.

Ways to Lower Your Electricity Bill

Electricity Prices Are Going Up – Here Are Other Ways to Save

November 4, 2022
Winter Forecast: Higher Rates & New Fees

It looks like electric rates will essentially stay the same this fall and winter.

When summer winds down and temperatures cool off, it is usually time to shop for a lower electric rate. But this year prices are not falling simply because of higher generation rates and new fees for the grid are countering the normal seasonal drop we see in Texas. Here’s what you need to know about your electricity bill and how you might find a better electric rate.

What is the price of electricity right now in Texas?

The average price for a 12-month plan is $.16 to $.17 per kilowatt. While that is down from the super-high $.21 rates we were seeing this summer, it is still histrionically high. In the scorching heat of a Houston summer many of us raise our thermostat to76-79 degrees during the day while we’re out of the house, hang items to dry, and avoid the drying cycle on the dishwasher. We do a lot to save, but if your electric contract is up don’t expect to get lower rates right now.

Lower Rate Are Not In The Forecast

Several factors keep electric rates high right now: the price of natural gas needed to make electricity is still high (Russia!). and retail electric providers are worried about another winter storm.

“So now we’re worried about a problem in summer and then we’re worried about a problem in winter. So, what it means is we used to exit summer and I could find a really cheap, like six-month or eight-month contract to get me through the winter. And now winter is sometimes more expensive than summer.

Let’s See About a Better Electric Rate

Some electric companies let customers move into lower rate if you agree to a longer-term contract but you have to watch out for early termination fees! If you’re contract is ending, you can source a better rate now and do it quickly-easily online…

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP
FOR RESIDENTIAL SERVICES

Please note that you will leave this website and connect to Chariot Energy.

Don’t Let Your Electric Contract Auto-renew!

If you have a couple of months before your contract expires, check rates regularly. Prices used to be relatively stable but these days they go up and down significantly.

GET THE BEST ELECTRICTY FOR YOUR BUSINESS

We FORCE electricity companies to compete! Electricity providers will offer a lower price to us because they know they are competing for the business. This drives your price down!

CLICK HERE TO START SAVING

New Fees in Electric Bills in Texas

No matter your rate, there are some new fees on your bill you can’t control. Effective September 1st CenterPoint’s delivery charge went from $.038 per kWh to $.049. That’s a 29% increase in the base rate and approximately an extra $11 on the average electricity bill.

Securitization charges are up too in order to provide a safety net for the entire Texas market after the mess from the recent winter storms.

Other Ways to Lower Your Electricity Bill

Electricity Prices Are Going Up – Here Are Other Ways to Save

October 20, 2022
Power Wizard in The News

This story came out back in 2019, but we’re still mistaken for “Power Wizard.” Wizard Energy is NOT Power Wizard. Nonetheless, we do work hard to help people save big money on their electric bills! We’ve been at this for nearly 20 years and are proud of the reputation we’ve developed. Our work is based on honesty, integrity, and impartiality in dealing with electricity companies to get our customers the lowest electric rate to lower your electricity bills.

We’re an INDEPENDENT energy broker that forces large electricity companies to bid on YOUR BUSINESS in order to get you the BEST POSSIBLE ELECTRIC RATE no matter what!

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Here is the article that was in the Houston Chronicle…

Power Wizard, a new electricity shopping website in Houston, promotes itself as an independent voice on the side of consumers looking for low cost plans, providing unbiased advice to shoppers because Power Wizard has no ties with retail electric providers.

Except it does.

Power Wizard is owned by NextEra Energy, the nation’s biggest utility company, which also owns two retail electric providers in Houston, Frontier Utilities and Gexa Energy, according to registration records on file with the Texas Secretary of State and other public records. The chief executive officer of Power Wizard, Brian Landrum, is also president of Gexa, according to public records.

“It doesn’t sound very unbiased to me,” said Fred Anders, founder of Texas Power Guide in Houston, a website that helps consumers find the cheapest power plans.

Power Wizard, which was launched in February, is one of a growing number of concierge-like services in Texas that promise to find the best retail power deals for consumers. The growth in the industry reflects the confusion many Texas consumers face while shopping for power as they wade through gift card offers, free nights and weekend promotions, multi-tiered rates that change based on the number of kilowatt hours used and electricity brokers who promise they can find the best deals. Power Wizard also offers an on-going bill management service for $8 per month.

GET THE BEST ELECTRICTY FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Wizard Energy FORCES electricity companies to compete! Electricity providers will offer a lower price to us because they know they are competing for the business. This drives your price down!

CLICK HERE TO START SAVING

Power Wizard says on its website that it will navigate electricity buying for its customers as a “totally unbiased” partner. “We don’t have any alliances, relationships, or partnerships with any REPs,” referring to retail electric providers, according to Power Wizard.

But the address Power Wizard uses with the Texas Secretary of State is the same address of Florida Power & Light, another electricity company owned by NextEra Energy, according to the registration statement Power Wizard filed in February with the Texas Secretary of State.

All eight executives of Power Wizard work for NextEra, including five who list Florida Power & Light’s address in Juno Beach, Fla. as their business address, according to Power Wizard’s broker application to the Texas Public Utility Commission. Three of the executives, including Power Wizard’s CEO, chief financial offer and assistant vice president of regulatory affairs list NextEra or Gexa addresses in Houston on the registration form Power Wizard filed in August.

Gexa spokeswoman Ashley DePaolo said that Power Wizard is an affiliate of NextEra, but operates independently of other NextEra business units, including the retail operations of Gexa and Frontier. Power Wizard is not influenced by any retail energy provider or energy broker, regardless of ownership, she said.

But after being contacted by the Houston Chronicle, Power Wizard removed the claims from its website that it has no ties with retail electric providers.

As to whether Power Wizard puts customers in Gexa or Frontier plans, DePaolo would not say. PowerWizard selects the best electricity plan on behalf of its members regardless of the retail energy provider, she said.

Electricity brokers have largely escaped scrutiny in Texas, but a law enacted during the most recent legislative session requires brokers to register with the commission and comply with consumer protection rules and marketing guidelines. The registration deadline was Sept. 1 and about 1,000 brokers have signed up, according to commission records.

The commission has proposed new regulations for brokers and asked for comments, which will be incorporated into a new rule that will oversee electricity brokers.

April 9, 2022
Texas Can Phase Out Coal with Wind & Solar

Texas has enough wind and solar power to phase out coal entirely to reduce Electric Rates, but there’s a catch!

According to a study by researchers at Houston’s Rice University, it would take just 1/3 of the solar and wind energy projects that have been proposed to phase out coal in Texas.

The caveat is that the state’s energy grid is a mess, and it is standing in the way of a faster transition in Texas away from coal and toward renewables.

“Transmission lines are the leading bottleneck that is slowing down the growth of wind and solar,”
Daniel Cohan, Rice University

Texas is Energy-rich so why are Electric Rates still high?

As the top U.S. producer of crude oil and natural gas, Texas is easily one of the most energy-rich states in the country. It also leads the nation in wind power generation, which accounts for around 20% of Texas’s energy usage, while the state’s solar power industry is also growing fast. The potential for renewable energy in the state is massive! Unfortunately, Texas is also the country’s largest coal consumer.

Dirty Energy & Electricity

As the nation’s largest coal consumer, and biggest electricity consumer in general, how coal is phased out and replaced with clean energy in Texas would be crucial to meeting any nationwide climate agenda and to lead other states in the inevitable energy transition.

Since June 2020, dozens of the new renewable energy projects have been approved, and the number of new proposals for solar and wind farms has doubled. But there’s still the huge problem…

Texas Electrical Grid is Embarrassing

Different parts of the state can generate more energy at different times. Winds are strongest at night in west Texas, for instance, but tend to pick up during the afternoon in coastal southern regions of the state. You need a power grid to connect all those areas. Simply put, it’s not always windy and not always sunny, but it’s almost always windy or sunny somewhere in Texas. But without an extensive and up-to-date network of transmission lines to connect the electricity generated at these farms to cities, Texas’s energy transition will have to wait.

In February 2021, Texas was hit by a historic deep freeze that led to prolonged power outages across the state. Although lawmakers blamed wind power and renewable energy for failing during the storm, the major culprit was the electrical grid’s dated infrastructure and aging transmission lines. After the storm, ERCOT, the private company that manages Texas’s electrical grid, came under fire for reportedly cutting corners and loosening regulations, leading to outdated and ill-equipped infrastructure.

Progress Will Help Electric Rates

Nationwide, aging electrical transmission infrastructure could soon be updated. In the recently approved infrastructure bill, the federal government laid out a financing plan worth over $15 billion to construct thousands of miles of new lines and upgrade existing ones.

While Texas’s ERCOT has historically remained inflexible with regard to integrating with the national grids, it is beginning to intertwine itself more with neighboring power systems, such as through the ongoing $2 billion Southern Cross Transmission project.

Researcher Daniel Cohan at Rice University believes that even though the infrastructure bill is a good start. More attention and investment is needed to sufficiently update the country’s power system. It’s nowhere near the scale of what’s needed nationwide to expand our transmission infrastructure.

March 29, 2022