Today we received a mail offer for Reliant’s “Secure 24” electric plan with all the warning signs: “Get a low price”, $600 bonus”, and of course “Limited time offer”. They’ll even cover your current provider’s cancellation fee (up to $300) so you can “take advantage of this deal”. No mention of actual electricity pricing, though, so we followed the link to check it out.
The key number is the “energy charge”. At 7.6 ¢/kWh, it’s nearly double some low-cost competitors. Including the TDU delivery charges, you’ll pay upwards of 12.5 ¢/kW. This is not a competitive rate. But there’s the $600 bonus to consider, so let’s do the math for 3 average electricity usage cases:
| 2-Year Electricity Costs (Houston/Centerpoint area) * | |||
| Avg monthly usage (kWh) | |||
| 500 | 1000 | 2000 | |
| Reliant “Secure 24” plan | $1,596 | $3,056 | $5,964 |
| Low-cost competitor 24-month plan | $768 | $2,238 | $4,262 |
| Difference | $828 | $818 | $1,722 |
Clearly this plan is overpriced for nearly any household, but especially for those with higher electricity usage. Even after the $600 “bonus” it costs $218 to $1122 more than competitors. If you sign up and then decide you’ve made a mistake, you’ll incur a $295 cancellation fee.
Those in the DFW/Oncor service area with very low usage may be able to break even, depending on your shopping skills. But likely not once you consider 12-month or shorter alternatives, which tend to be cheaper. Also this offer “is nontransferable to another person, household, or address”, so Reliant’s Marketing department might only offer it to residences with higher consumption.
In any case, don’t fall for Secure 24’s high rates masked by cash-back gimmicks. Electricity is just electricity, and many competitors — and even other Reliant plans — offer much better deals. Skip the runaround and click below to let Texas Power Guide’s RateGrinder calculator help you find your best plan quickly and easily.
April 2018 update:
Another month, another “Secure 24” offer. The latest flyer ditches the URL to encourage you to call for details, but you can still find them here with the promo code. Since January, rates for Secure 24 and the best competitor plans have both risen by about 1 ¢/kWh, so our guidance hasn’t changed.
September 2018 update (Now with airline miles!):
In the latest iteration, Reliant adds another layer of obfuscation by rebating you with Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards miles instead of real money. The math, however, is similar. At 12.7 ¢/kWh for a Dallas customer using 1000 kWh/month, this plan costs $768 more than competitors. The 27,000 airline points are worth ~$405, so you’d be overpaying by $363 (…or more if you live in Houston or use more electricity). And rates are still falling from their June peak, so now is not a good time to lock into a long-term 24-month contract.
November 2018 update:
Reliant changed the name of this plan to ‘Texas Bonus 24’, but it’s still the same overpriced plan as always. For details, see here.
Did you receive an even newer version of this offer? Send it to us and we’ll gladly help check it out.
* Notes: Calculations are based on the plan EFLs posted on Reliant.com and competitor sites as of 1/31/2018, and assume the 2016 average Texas monthly residential load profile from EIA scaled linearly to each target monthly usage. Cost projections exclude taxes and non-recurring fees.
In Reliant’s $600 bonus promotion they do not inform the potential victim of the fact that TDU charges will add and additional 37% . This is a terrible company. DO NOT FALL for their promotions. Legitimate companies charge around 9-10 cents per KWH and it is detailed on their bill. When Reliant bills you it will be 13.9 cents per KWH and they of course do not note that on their billing. WHAT A SCAM!! IT will cost one a lot more than $600 in two years of average usage. I wonder if the PUC knows about them and their predatory marketing strategies?
I had a 12 months secure plan and I wanted to renew it. I called and i was told I could get the same rate than before with a 24 month secure plan. I therefore agreed because they told me the 12 month secure plan did not exist anymore
They assured me over the phone that the rate was going to be the same . Now I am receiving my bill and the cost of electricity is 3 time the price I paid before … I feel cheated. I did not call for any bonus or anything I just wanted to renew my plan… Crazy
Good job of exposing this bait and switch mail offer. Reliant offers a “Secure 24” when you access it online through the PUC sponsored PowerToChoose, where their electricity facts label shows rates much lower than the rates I got when I phoned Reliant about their mailed offer. The so called bonus does not come close to offsetting the higher cost. Moreover even the rates online for “Secure 24” were not competitive with other companies. When I complained to Reliant they were using the same name, “Secure 24”, for two different plans with markedly different rates, they told me PUC approved. If that’s correct, it makes one wonder whether the PUC is acting in the interest of the consumer.
In fact I question whether this system with Retail Electric Providers provides competition beneficial to consumers. The REPs do nothing but advertise and bill. They do not deliver electricity or provide service; they don’t even read the meter. If you have tried to compare offers, and there are hundreds of them, you know how confusing the companies make them. A professional negotiator for commercial businesses told me this is deliberate. Maybe we need to let our representatives in the Texas legislature to go back to the old way and eliminate the REPs.
Reliant and all the other companies need to state their rates up-front and be up-front with customers. Free nights and solar days is the same mickey mouse add. What is best for two old retired people and what is best for larger families is different. State the facts, not the sales pitch. When you call in, the sales person knows what the best rate for you is, soooo, state it and close the deal.
Yes do not fall for this!,. I never recieved any $600 bonus or any bonus for that matter, my electric bill these past couple months have been rediculous, just steadily going up and using the same energy as always nothing has changed, been here for a year and started getting $105 Ebills, and now its gone up to $350-$400 I live in a Single Story 1700sqft house if that tells you anything,. Switching for sure on my Next bill!
@TexasPower Guide Thank you for posting the article
& @David V thank you for your comment/feeback. You saved me lot of headche.