Category Archives: Energy and Money Saving TIps

04.22.16
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Obligatory Earth Day Post

Too cynical? Probably, but if you’re like me you’re probably a little tired of every company using Earth Day as a way to sell its wares. Well, today we aren’t buying into the hype. We make good decisions every day to promote Earth’s health and environmentalism, and our company is working – one household at a time – to try and get more people using renewably produced electricity.

Here’s an article from Inhabitat writer Jill Fehrenbacher about the top 5 worst Earth Day Gimmicks. It’s a fun read, and a good reminder that our actions every day are what count. It’s a good reason to think about what habitual changes you can make to protect the health of the planet. Might we suggest choosing 100% renewable electric? There’s a good chance it won’t even cost more than traditional. Happy Earth Day!

01.15.16
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Over Three Million Texas Households Aren’t Taking Advantage of Energy Choice

 

You could be one of over three million Texas households not taking advantage of energy choice.

The “incumbent” power companies in Houston and Dallas, Reliant Energy and TXU Energy, have over three million (3,000,000) Texans as customers between the two of them.  Except in some very rare cases, all of these customers could be saving money by taking advantage of energy choice.

If you’re on Reliant Energy’s cheapest variable plan in Houston, you’re currently paying $0.086/kWh at 2,000 kWh/month.  That’s $172/month.  You could be on a fixed rate plan for $0.069/kWh or $138/month.  That’s a savings of $34/month; and that’s just with rough numbers(1).  Choosing a plan specific to YOUR electricity use could save you even more.

If you’re on Reliant Energy’s cheapest variable plan in Dallas, you’re currently paying $0.076/kWh at 2,000 kWh/month.  That’s $152/month.  You could be on a fixed rate plan for $0.038/kWh or $76/month.  That’s a savings of $76/month or CUTTING YOUR ENERGY BILL IN HALF!  And that’s with just rough numbers(2).  Choosing a plan specific to YOUR electricity use could save you even more.

Energy Simply provides a service to our customers for $5/month to monitor the electricity market and keep you in the cheapest (or cheapest 100% renewable) plan for YOUR energy use.  You can sign-up today at https://www.EnergySimp.ly/.  And Energy Simply is 100% customer-focused – only accepting money from our customers and never taking kick-backs from power companies.

If you’re curious, read below to see how we calculated the number of customers who could be taking better advantage of energy:

Analysis

Texas power companies don’t usually publicly report their number of customers, but the staff of the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) suggests an amount of taxes each company is required to pay proportional to their number of customers.  Paul Ring of EnergyChoiceMatters.com has a story with these numbers.  You can easily calculate the approximate number of Texas customers for each power company:

 

Company             Taxes paid          Approximate number of Texas customers

TXU Energy               $22,210         1,670,000 customers

Reliant Energy           $19,770        1,500,000 customers

Ambit Texas               $5,627          425,000 customers

Green Mountain Energy     $4,567              350,000 customers

Stream Energy             $4,203        315,000 customers

Direct Energy             $3,896          300,000 customers

Just Energy               $3,327            250,000 customers

(1) Data is from PowerToChoose.org for Houston zip code 77009 as of Friday, September 25, 2015

(2) Data is from PowerToChoose.org for Dallas zip code as 75206 of Friday, September 25, 2015

12.18.15
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Gift Energy Simply: Get Energy Simply

The clock is ticking for those last minute gifts. Might we make a suggestion? How about a 6 or 12 month subscription to Energy Simply? At $5/month it is an affordable gift which we are sure your friends and family will love for two reasons:

  1. They won’t have to worry about choosing an electricity provider for the subscription term. Energy Simply shops the market and uses their usage to find them the best price at all times.
  2. They will see savings on their electricity bills! Your gift is worth far more than the subscription fee because our customers save an average of $50/month!

As a special incentive, we’ll throw in a 3 month free subscription for YOU when you give Energy Simply as a gift.

Simply call 1-844-586-9850 or email jordan@energysimp.ly to place your order and we will email a notification and ship the recipient a gift certificate for the subscription amount desired. Thanks!

electricity_julbussen

11.10.15
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Winter is coming: let us help you save

It’s November and winter is coming.  According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 65% of energy costs are tied to heating or lighting; and these are costs that will increase in the winter months: Winter is coming jpg

  • Colder outside temperatures mean more energy is needed to heat your home and water
  • Shorter winter daylight hours mean more energy is needed to light your home

There’s a good chance you’re probably paying more than you need for the electricity you’re going to need more of.  Energy Simply is a consumer-focused service that monitors the complex and frequently changing energy market and helps you get the best deal, personalized FOR YOUR electricity usage.  Learn more about how Energy Simply works and sign-up to start saving today:https://www.energysimp.ly/users/sign_up.

(Data and graphic from: U.S. Department of Energy)

10.21.15
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If you live in one of these Illinois cities, you’d better watch your energy bills

Many Illinoisans live in cities that have negotiated competitive electricity rates for their citizens. This is referred to as money to burnmunicipal aggregation. In most cases, the negotiated rates are lower than the default Comed Utility rate. However, Comed’s rates have come down to 7.006 cents/kwh which means many city rates are now too high. Depending on electricity use, consumers who live in these higher rate cities could be paying an extra $10, $20, $30 or more for electricity every month.

The cities and their rates are listed here:

Aurora – 8.086/kwh

Dwight – 7.88/kwh

Justice – 7.89/kwh

Lanark – 7.852/kwh

Morton Grove – 7.84/kwh

Mount Prospect – 7.935/kwh

Owen Township – 7.845/kwh

Riverside – 7.81/kwh

Warrenville – 7.89/kwh

Consumers living in those cities should consider opting out of their municipal plan. There are no penalties to do so under Illinois law. While they can now switch back to Comed whenever they want, consumers in those cities could also shop for much cheaper rates or let a service such as Energy Simply manage that shopping and switching for them. Rates in Illinois are as low as 6 cents/kwh meaning that significant savings can be realized. And – when consumers let Energy Simply do the shopping and switching, they can rest easy knowing that they’re in the cheapest electricity plan at all times.

04.29.15
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Illinois Residents: As municipal rate plans expire, rates may go up

If you buy electricity in Illinois there is a good chance you’ve saved a little money due to municipal aggregation. A few years ago when Illinois opened up its retail electricity market the law allowed for companies to negotiate deals with local municipal governments (villages, cities, counties, townships) which typically resulted in cheaper electricity for residents. Okay, hopefully I haven’t already lost you…this is important!tearing contract

Most of those rates were pretty good – unless you’re in Aurora, IL – your rates are very high and you should call us immediately! But, many of those agreements are set to expire in coming months. One very big example is the City of Chicago who’s municipal aggregation agreement expires in May of 2015. However, there are many other agreements that are set to expire soon.

What that means is there will be uncertainty in the market and potential rate increases. Here are a couple of tips to protect yourself from rate increases:

  • Check here to see if your municipal aggregation plan is set to expire soon.
  • If it is, check with your town about the new rates.
  • Keep a close eye on your electricity bill.

With preparation and research you can benefit from the market uncertainty by getting lower rates from competitors. If you don’t have the time to research and manage the switching – we can do it for you.

Many people (Chicago included) will automatically switch to being Comed customers. If you’d prefer cheaper or greener electricity than Comed offers, sign up with Energy Simply and we’ll keep you locked into the cheapest or cheapest green electricity available at all times.

04.22.15
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Make Every Day Earth Day

Have you ever wondered, “What is Earth Day really all about?” According to Wikipedia, Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970 and is now recognized in 192 countries across the globe. The purpose is to recognize and demonstrate support for environmental protection.

wind farm

Think about how our world has changed since 1970. Threats to our environment may seem greater than ever, but there has also been a proliferation of life options and products we can select that will lessen our impact on the environment. One of the reasons we started Energy Simply was to make it simpler and less costly for residential customers to select green energy for their homes. By choosing electricity produced from 100% renewable sources you can make a significant impact on the health of the planet – every day! And, as we pointed out in an earlier blog post, in many cases it costs only slightly more (if not the same or less) as traditionally sourced electricity.

So make every day Earth Day! Choose a 100% renewable electricity plan and you’ll know that every time you turn on a light, plug in your laptop or charge your phone you are having a mini Earth Day celebration. Better yet, let Energy Simply select the best 100% renewable plan for you and manage your plan switching so you won’t have to worry about hidden fees or rising costs when your plan expires.

04.09.15
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Energy Simply’s new web tools help Texans save on electric company bills

“On average we can save Texans $50 every month, but we’ve saved some of our customers much more.” -Jordan Hobfoll, Energy Simply President and CEO

Energy Simply, an energy services company dedicated to helping Texas consumers choose the right electricity plan, debuted dynamic new tools for its web-based services. The enhancements include a Savings Calculator, Explainer Video and How it Works Page, as well as a streamlined sign-up process.

Choosing the right electricity plan is confusing and time-consuming. Retail electric companies make it even more difficult by offering teaser rates and expensive fees. Energy Simply takes the pain and frustration out of choosing the right plan by doing the work for their customers. Energy Simply employees use proprietary modeling to constantly sort through thousands of electricity plans, choosing the perfect plan for each of their customers – either the cheapest or cheapest 100% renewable based on customer preference.

“Our new explainer video and web tools make our services even easier to understand and access,” said Hobfoll. Consumers can go to http://www.EnergySimp.ly to view the minute and a half, animated video, use the savings calculator and sign up.

04.03.15
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Texas Tribune: Companies charge you more when you use less…What’s up with that?

“Toni Harrelson tries to limit her electricity use, she says, because every dollar counts for fixed-income folks like her…The fruits of those efforts? A $9.95 surcharge on most of her electric bills. Dallas-based StarTex Power adds the fee whenever she uses fewer than 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity in a month.”

What's up with that

Read the whole article here.

There is a law being proposed that would ban this practice. The Texas Power Companies have the gall to be actively lobbying against this! If you’re getting burned by your electricity company we want to hear your story. Get in touch with us through our contact page. And, consider becoming a customer so you’ll know you’re getting the best deal on the market..and no longer have to say…

What's up with that 2

03.30.15
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Heating & Cooling Costs Top Priority for New Home Buyers

The National Association of Realtors recently published an infographic showing why new home buyers are going green. Topping the list of priorities was controlling heating and cooling costs. Energy Simply helps new home buyers (or any residential customer) stay in the cheapest 100% renewable electricity plans on the market at all times – helping consumers save money and go green!

green-home-features-infographic-2015-03-17 (1)