Doom and Gloom on Texas Electricity?

When I open up the paper in the morning (yes, I still get the newspaper delivered to my door everyday) all I see if doom and gloom. We all see it - the economy, layoffs, stock prices, mutual funds, etc. Many articles have also been written recently about how Texas electric rates are high and deregulation is bad. Did you know you can get a Texas electric rate today for about the same price as you could before deregulation? Probably not because that doesn't sell papers. Do you pay the same for a gallon of milk, a gallon of gas, or a gallon of pickles as you did 7 years ago? Well, I really don't know about pickles but stay with me here.

According to data from ChooseEnergy.com, Texas electricity prices have gone down 30% in the DFW area and 35% in the Houston area since the July 2008 summer highs. I think that's pretty good considering how the Texas electricity markets price their services. They are dependent are a number of things including natural gas prices and access to credit. While natural gas prices have dropped nearly 70% since those summer highs, the access to credit markets is certainly not what it used to be. These are difficult economic times that we live in and like most products and services - prices go up.

In regards to deregulation being bad for Texas. Let me ask you - Do you shop for milk at a convenience store or a grocery store? If you are going to fly are you going to just go up to the counter on the day of the flight and purchase a ticket? Are you on the same cell phone minute plan that you signed up for 7 years ago? If you are like most people - the answer is no.

If you go to the convenience store and buy a gallon of milk you are probably going to pay $3.50 - $4.00. However - if you shop around at a grocery store - you'll probably pay less than $2.00 for that same milk.

If you purcahse a last minute ticket from the counter at the airport to fly, to let's say Florida - you may pay over $1,000 for that ticket. However - if you shop around a bit early and compare prices online - you may get that ticket for as little as $100.

10 years ago - cell phone plans were expensive and you had a limited amount of minutes to use. Nowadays - they are so competitive that rates change monthly and you get unlimited minutes.

You see what I'm getting at here? You have to shop around for deals in deregulated environments. If everyone shops around - prices get more and more and more competitive and you save money. If you don't do anything - you are at fault. Not the convenience store owner that is selling you $4.00 milk or even the electric company that is selling you 14 cent electricity. It's "convenient" to just grab the milk while you are there rather than going down the street to save $2.00 and it's also convenient to not do anything in regards to shopping around for electricity - but it saves you money.

If you are currently on a rate above 12.5 cents per kWh for your residential electric service like many Texans - it's time to shop around. If you don't mind paying $4.00 for a gallon of milk - you probably don't mind paying 13 cents of more for electricity, but you shouldn't complain about it and people shouldn't write about it. Just because some people don't like to shop around for the best price, it doesn't mean that dregulation is a bad thing.