TXU's latest electricity rate plan (marketing gimmick) is designed to grab consumer’s attention. But for most people, it’s not likely to be a money saver.
The attention grabbing headline is “TXU offers free nighttime electricity”. But the fine print will reveal that they are doing this by increasing daytime rates to 50% higher than rates offered by many of their competitors.
The day time rates for the TXU nights free plan is 12¢ per kwh for the 12-month contract. At the time of this writing, other electric providers are offering 12-month fixed rate plans for as little as 8.1¢ per kwh.
Nighttime in this plan is defined as 10PM to 6AM – a time slot where most people are sleeping and not using much electricity to begin with. In order to even make the plan a break even proposition, most people would have to change their habits considerably. You could in theory program your dryer to come on at night or run your dishwasher at midnight. People with plug-in electronic cars would almost certainly benefit from the plan. But there aren’t too many of those in Texas.
Read more: TXU Free Nights
