Reliant’s heavily advertised “First Month Free” electricity plan is more expensive than alternatives from other providers and even Reliant themselves.
For comparison, here’s a table of the annual costs of three options at three different average usages:
| Annual Electricity Costs (DFW/Oncor area) * | |||
| Avg monthly usage (kWh) | |||
| 500 | 1000 | 2000 | |
| Reliant “First Month Free” | $657 | $1,067 | $2,017 |
| – Lowest-cost competitor plans | $357 | $695 | $1,656 |
| = “First Month Free” cost premium | $300 | $372 | $361 |
| Reliant “Secure 12” (as FYI) | $506 | $889 | $1,656 |
Even after rebating the most expensive [August] bill, the “First Month Free” plan costs Dallas residents hundreds extra per year. (For Houston residents, all the numbers in the table above increase slightly.) While it’s by no means the most expensive plan we’ve seen, TPG recommends numerous options from other providers over Reliant’s “First Month Free” plan. And if you’re set on Reliant, the “Secure 12” plan is currently their best offering for most cases.
To see all the costs and best options for your home, just plug your monthly electricity usages into TPG’s RateGrinder tool. You won’t find a cheaper rate easier anywhere else.
* Notes: Calculations are based on the plan EFLs posted on Reliant.com and competitor sites as of 7/30/2017, and assume the 2016 average Texas monthly residential load profile from EIA scaled linearly to each target monthly usage. Annual cost projections exclude taxes and non-recurring fees.