Retail Electric Providers

Pre Buy Electric was one of the only electric companies in Texas that would approve all applicants for their electric service with no deposit amount. A Texas electric customer would pre pay for their electricity and would insure their electric service remained on. PreBuy Electric failed to meet their financial power payment obligation to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas in May of 2008 and is no longer in business. Prebuy Electric used to do business from the website: www.prebuyelectric.com. The company had about 9,000 residential customers and a handful of commercial customers in Texas.

Green Mountain Energy is well known for offering several different electric power plans that are green friendly. The marketing approach of cleaning up the environment along with the catchy brand name has helped create that needed buzz to sell their products. Having become one of a few of the well known energy brands in Texas they have succesfully created a very large and succesfull retail electric provider in Texas. Most of the other energy companies offer a green energy plan as well but Green Mountain has frequently been able to sell some of their clean electricity even cheaper then what they sell their coal fired generated electricity. We don't know exactly how they do this but it's great isn't it? There clean energy isn't always affordable but it is nice to know that you can sometimes buy it for less. Green Mounatin is not just a Texas electric company. They started business in 1997 in Vermont and have now headquartered in Austin, Texas. Austin is known for their tree huggers and hippy culture and so it is only fitting that this would be their new location. They have received their fair share of protests and activists at their door and on the internet due to the fact that they will still sell you dirty electricity but what can you really do about a pot smoking PETA member thats main goal in life is to sell hemp clothing? Are they really going to listen to your reasons? Green Mountain does not have the cheapest residential electric rates but as of recently they can offer some pretty decent commercial energy rates. They also are very flexible in the way they run their business and in their energy contracts they offer commercial customers.

This is a slightly new take on how to sell electricity in Texas with similarities to both Ignite Energy and Ambit Energy. This is a relatively new Texas MLM start up that sells electricity through a large independent sales base which increases their sales organization through word of mouth and enthusiastic sells pep rallies throughout the state of Texas. The company began business back in 2005 and are a licensed REP registered with the PUCT under the number 10105. Their electric rate information on their site is out of date from back in October 2007 and in order to get a updated price you need to email or call the company. This is a very small up start and has the potential to balloon into a sales organization much like Ignite or Ambit Energy. The downside to the smaller Retail Electric Providers like this is an untested customer service and billing system. Signing up with an energy company with no track record can pose a risk although at the most if there were an issue the risk can be summed up in one word, frustration! Hopefully this company does well as the underdog in the ever growing list of Retail Electric Providers in Texas.

Tara Energy started business back in 2002 just as "Electricity Deregulation" in Texas was beginning. Tara Energy is located in the energy hub, Houston Texas and is a licensed Retail Electricity Provider (REP). Tara sells electric service to commercial and residential customers in Texas. Lately they have offered a competitive residential electric rate with a few other providers beating them by only a small fraction. Tara Energy's commercial contract is objectionable as they have labeled a couple of additional charges in their contract "official names" and many pass these off as being a part of the TDSP charges that are normally past through on a 1 to 1 basis by the pole and wires company. These additional charges if added into the commercial "energy only" rate would show their rate to be uncompetitive but since they section these charges out unlike most other energy providers in Texas you may think you are getting a better electric rate then you really are.

Startex Power started business in Texas a little after Texas deregulated back in 2002 by having some key players at Gexa jump ship to start their own Retail Electric Provider. Startex Power is actually Star Electricity, Llc but has named themselves a pretty catchy brand that has stuck with a lot of Texas consumers. Not only has their brand been well taken but their electricity prices have been competitive in the residential electricity market and they are making in roads at being just as competitive in the commercial energy sector in Texas as well. If you have used Startex Power for either residential electricity or commercial energy and have an opinion about them please feel free to leave a comment and go ahead and rate them while your at it on the star rating scale from 1 - 10. 3200 Southwest Fwy Houston, TX 77027-7528 United States Phone: 713-357-2800

Constellation NewEnergy describes themselves as North America's #1 competitive energy supplier and some would agree with this statement and some do not. They have about 20 employees in their Houston offices according to information from sources found online and assist primarily in procuring electricity for commercial businesses. Constellation NewEnergy is a very large electric company with a conservative energy hedging and sales approach. They have been in the commercial energy markets in the beginning of restructuring and deregulation in Texas. They know how to properly put together competitive pricing for commercial businesses but many other energy companies are beginning to do the same thing and there is now plenty of competition in the Texas market fighting for the same customers. Multiple new electric providers have entered the market and have taken valuable commercial business away this electric provider. Constellation NewEnergy continues to grow and change with the ever changing energy market in Texas. Manager Ms Stephanie Gardner 500 Dallas St Ste 3010 Houston, TX 77002-4804 United States (Map) Phone: 713-658-1041 Manager Mr Kevin Jordan 1221 Lamar St Ste 50 Houston, TX 77010-3000 United States

Mega Energy is a brand new electric company in Texas and has estimated annual sales of 5.5 million dollars. They currently have about 25 employees. They are entering both the commercial electricity market and the residential electric market. They have hired on well seasoned professionals from Gexa Energy to assist in ramping them up for selling commercial electricity. Their residential electricity terms of service has good terms and conditions accept for a slightly high early termination penalty of $200. All and all the company looks good. This is a new provider so we still have to wait and see how billing, customer service, and pricing goes. Anyone with more information should write in a comment letting us know how they are doing. Their D-U-N-S number is 801176327 and the Partner financing this operation is Javed Meghani. The official name of the company is Mega Energy, Lp and they are located at 7500 Bellaire Blvd Houston, TX 77036-5018 United States. Mega Energy Phone: 713-779-4653

Cirro Energy is located in Richardson, Texas, and has several thousand customers in this state. This electric company is a licensed Retail Electric Provider (REP) in Texas and has been doing business as Cirro Corporation right before Texas deregulated in 2002. For several years what Cirro Energy meant as flexible electricity contracts was actually an energy contract that had a clause that basically allowed them to raise your commercial electric rate at anytime without reason even though you signed what looked very similar to a fixed electric rate contract. The commercial energy contracts they are offering now no longer have a fuel surcharge or that clause that allows them to raise the rate for no reason but they do have the option to terminate the contract at anytime. This new clause in their commercial energy contract means that you are still not signing a true fixed electric rate contract. If the market were to go against Cirro Energy's risk management and energy hedges they could cancel all unprofitable energy contracts leaving a Texas business at the mercy of a much higher market rate they would have to negotiate with another retail electric provider. Cirro's residential electricity plans right now are very similar to their old commercial energy contracts. They have what appears to be the most competitive residential electric rate but when reading closer they are asking that you sign a 12 month agreement for a variable energy rate. You are basically signing up on an energy product that looks good the first month but can then be raised for any reason during the course of the agreement. If you shop around you will notice that most other Texas electric companies offering variable electric rate products leave the agreement as a month to month contract, meaning you can get out of the contract without penalty at anytime. In comparison, Cirro Energy would charge you an early termination penalty for leaving their variable energy rate product. At this time Cirro Energy has enough problems in their contracts for us to recommend that you look elsewhere.

Champion Energy Services is a Lehman Brothers company which means they are a well-capitalized retail electric provider (REP) in Texas. They have consistently provided competitive electric power service to residential, commercial and industrial (C&I) businesses in Texas for several years. They have wide access to wholesale power supply sources and tremendous experience in commodity marketplaces. Although there have been issues in the past as they were bought and sold by several companies they have now settled down and the in house customer service platform they have now ensures you will receive accurate and straightforward billing.

Reliant is the incumbent Retail Electric Provider in the Houston Texas area and at one time owned both the retail electric division that sells the energy to residences and commercial businesses and the pole and wires company that owns and services the electric lines. Texas deregulated the Texas electric market back in 2002 and broke off Reliant from the pole and wires company Centerpoint. They are now rebranded as Reliant Energy and Centerpoint now only provides pole and wire transmission and distribution services. Reliant has worked out a deal with Texas ERCOT to be the POLR or Provider Of Last Resort. What this means is if you were to sign up with an electric company that later on goes bankrupt during the course of the electricity agreement you would be switched back to Reliant Energy with no interruption in service. This POLR setup created by the ERCOT deregulation organization has become a benchmark in how to do deregulation in other states and continues to effectively provide for continued uninterrupted electric service as new energy companies come and go in the Texas retail energy market.