Looking to switch electric service?  Lots of folks already know the www.powertochoose.org website is a good place to start when you’re comparing prices. What’s less known is that the website also includes useful data about customer complaint rates.

Prices go up and prices go down, but under the state's flawed deregulation law, one fact of life appears to have remained constant: Texans pay too much.

Consider that customers in TXU's service territory pay more today than they would have paid in March of 2000, which was prior to deregulation, but when the price of natural gas was slightly higher. Even customers on the least expensive rate plan in North Texas still pay more today than they would have paid before deregulation, according to publicly available data.

Tens of thousands of consumers living in north and east Texas would end up paying 20 percent more for electricity under a proposed rate hike by AEP Southwestern Electric Power Company. 

Consumers in Houston and Dallas continue paying some of the highest electric bills in the nation, according to a new survey by an online comparison shopping firm. 

Although some electric retailers have cut prices in recent weeks, Texas consumers continue paying too much for power, according to an analysis of federal data.

Oncor’s controversial push to double collect for expensive advanced meter service continues riling state lawmakers — with one north Texas representative saying consumers should not have to pay for the company’s bad business decisions.

Oncor’s push to charge its customers for hundreds of thousands of white elephant meters continues riling north Texas residents, who have complained about the issue to their local lawmakers. 

In case you missed it, the Associated Press has an interesting story this week about a small bird that’s leading to big headaches for the wind industry.  Known as the “lesser prairie chicken,” the bird is apparently very close to being listed as threatened or endangered by the federal government.

          Oncor customers could see their rates go up by about $130 million annually, according to an analysis of several preliminary decisions rendered by the Texas Public Utility Commission in the utility’s pending rate case.

Check out this promising new consumer and energy blog, Keep The Lights On, which you can find here. Although this blog is just getting under way, it already includes plenty of useful tips for comparing electric prices, filing complaints, and reviewing the fine-print detail in electric bills. The blogger behind the keyboard is Cory Henrickson, a legislative staffer working in the office of state Rep. Sylvester Turner.