If you’re new to the Fort Worth area, one of the first things you’ll notice is that there are dozens of electricity companies. While part of the reason for this is because Texas is the top energy producer in the U.S., it’s also because Texas has a deregulated electricity market. As a result, anyone who wants to can start their own electricity company that buys and sells electricity to Fort Worthians.
In order to make life easier for Texans when it comes to choosing an electricity provider, the Public Utilities Commission created Power to Choose. However, because of its wording, “power to choose” can also refer to the fact that Texans have the power to choose their own electricity provider.
Still trying to figure it out? Not to worry! ElectricityRates.com is here to help you make sense of the power to choose madness in Fort Worth.
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Shop Fort Worth Electricity Rates
| Plan | Rate Per kWh At 1000kWh avg. usage |
|---|---|
| 4Change Energy Maxx Saver Select 24 24 Months | 11.4¢ Select |
| 4Change Energy Maxx Saver Select 12 12 Months | 11.4¢ Select |
| Frontier Utilities Frontier Saver Plus 12 12 Months | 11.4¢ Select |
| Rhythm Simply Select 6 6 Months | 14.0¢ Select |
| Constellation 12Mo Usage Bill Credit + A/C Protection 12 Months | 14.9¢ Select |
- 100% Renewable Sources
- A/C Protection Included
What Does the Phrase “Power to Choose” Fort Worth Mean?
As we said before, “power to choose” has two meanings, one of which is that residents of Fort Worth have the power to choose their own electricity plan and provider. You can thank deregulation, which took place in the early 2000s, for this fact.
When Fort Worth and Dallas first decided to deregulate their electricity market, there was a total of 10 providers offering 11 plans between them. Back then, choosing your electricity provider was easy and straightforward, thanks to the limited options. Nowadays, however, the market has become much more complicated, and there are 100+ electricity providers offering hundreds of plans between them. Here’s how the system works.
1. Power plants take fossil fuels and renewable energy sources and convert their mechanical energy into electrical energy using heat, movement, and steam.
2. Once it’s created, power plants store the electricity until it’s ready to distribute.
3. When that time comes, local utility companies throughout Fort Worth turn on electrical meters at residential and commercial properties.
4. When this happens, it activates the flow of electricity from local power plants and transformers to the electric meter via wires, lines, and poles. It is then available and ready for use for homes and businesses in Fort Worth.
5. However, while the local utility company and power plant create and facilitate electricity for your home or business, they don’t sell it to you.
6. That task falls to retail electric providers who purchase electricity from power plants and sell it to residential and commercial customers throughout Fort Worth.
7. As a result, you pay your monthly electric bill to your provider, and they compensate utility companies and power plants for their services.
What is Power to Choose Fort Worth
Power to Choose Fort Worth also refers to a website that the Texas Public Utilities Commission created after deregulation. It is a state-run and managed website that was created with the goal of making it easier for Texans to find and choose the right electricity plan based on their location and needs.
However, Power to Choose quickly ran into problems thanks to how it was designed. Retail electric providers that advertised their rates on the website learned how to manipulate the system. They would do things such as promote their lowest possible rate despite having higher pricing tiers or advertise a promotional rate without providing notice that the rate would increase after the promotion.
Finally, some companies flat-out lie or omit facts about their electricity rates and plans. As a result, people would sign up for them, only to realize they were forced to pay higher rates than expected.
Power to Choose Fort Worth: The Upside
Luckily, Power to Choose was able to get a handle on their problems and fix most of them. As a result, they provided a mostly reliable way for residents of Fort Worth to compare and choose electricity plans.
Issues With the Power to Choose Website
While the PUC was able to make adjustments to prevent the advertisement of fraudulent and false electricity rates, it’s a far-from-perfect website.
Clunky Design
The first thing you’ll notice if you go to the Power to Choose website is that it looks clunky and outdated. The website was created in the early 2000s, and looks like it hasn’t been updated since.
Difficult to Navigate
Because of how it’s designed, the Power to Choose website is difficult to navigate. The filter options don’t always make sense unless you’re intimately familiar with the different types of electricity plans in Fort Worth and their features. Additionally, rather than displaying information in a manner that’s easy to read and take in, it’s all piled on top of each other, which makes speedy comprehension difficult.
Doesn’t Always Have the Best Rates
Finally, if you compare the plans on Power to Choose with other comparison tools, such as ElectricityRates.com, you’ll quickly notice that the rates are higher on Power to Choose than on other sites. This is because not all power companies display their rates on Power to Choose. As a result, they may omit newer providers with better rates than some of the old ones.
All Fort Worth Electricity Rates
How to Use the Power to Choose to Your Advantage in Fort Worth
Contrary to what you might think, the best way to take advantage of the power to choose is to use something other than the Power to Choose website. Instead, use ElectricityRates.com – an electricity comparison tool that makes choosing your electrical provider easier instead of more complicated.
Rather than showing you most of the electricity plans from random providers in your area, we only offer you the best of the best. In most cases, depending on your location, this will mean between 50 and 60 plans, which is a surprisingly manageable amount.
To simplify things, we display the plans in order, starting with the overall best. If you don’t like what you see, keep scrolling until you find a plan with the right rate, benefits, and features. Enter your ZIP Code into the free comparison tool at the top of the page to get started!