TXU’s “Season Pass 24” plan has a catchy gimmick, but it’s nobody’s best deal on electricity.
TXU is the largest Retail Electricity Provider in Texas. Lately, they’ve been heavily advertising their “Season Pass 24” plan on radio and TV. This plan grabs your attention by touting 50% off energy charges in 6 summer and winter months (Jun-Aug and Dec-Feb). Certainly these are among the months when most homes incur their largest energy costs. But is it worth it?
With this plan, the EFL’s own disclosures tell most of the story: The lowest average price claimed is a whopping 12.9 ¢/kWh at 2000 kWh/month usage. That’s 70% more than our Oncor-area benchmark of 7.6 ¢/kWh for the same usage. The math for Centerpoint customers is similar. No wonder TXU can afford to advertise so much.
“But what about the half-price months?”, you ask. They’re already included in TXU’s 12.9¢ math. Breaking it down at 2000 kWh usage, the plan actually charges 15.75 ¢/kWh in spring and fall and 10.1 ¢/kWh in summer and winter. (The “50% off” applies to energy charges, but not base or TDU charges.) Even if it were possible to shift all of your annual usage to just those 6 months, 10.1 ¢/kWh is still a hefty 33% premium over many better year-round options.
Season Pass 24 also locks you into a 2-year contract with a sizeable $295 early termination fee. For the “average” Texas home that uses 14 MWh annually, the total Season Pass 2-year cost is $3706. That’s $1500 more than numerous competitive options. Don’t fall for it. Even if you’re set on TXU as your provider, there are better options. You can find and compare the best plans yourself easily with TexasPowerGuide.com’s RateGrinder calculator.
Note: TXU doesn’t list Season Pass 24 on PowerToChoose.org, and the plan doesn’t make TPG’s cut for inclusion in the RateGrinder database.
11/15/2017 update: TXU is ramping up the advertising for “Season Pass” again this winter. The current plan rates are nearly identical to those originally described above, which is to say they’re still very expensive, with or without a $100 gift card. To find better options from TXU and others, click here: