Think shopping for electric rates is confusing? So does the chair of the PUC

If shopping for electric rates on the state website powertochoose.org seems confusing, you're not alone.

DeAnn Walker, the chair of the Public Utility Commission — the agency that oversees the site — has similar concerns.

At Thursday's board meeting, staff members referred to electric rates on the website that offered 2.3 cents per 1,000 kilowatt hours.

There's only one problem with those rates. If the electricity usage was higher or lower than that precise amount, the actual cost averaged out to 10.8 cents per kilowatt hour.

"This concerns me," Walker said. "I know we have a competitive market and people can come up with their products but it does concern me that we have things on powertochoose that are maybe not deceptive but at least misleading."

Walker said she was encouraging "the retail electric providers to re-examine the transparency of what they're posting and offering" and she would ask PUC staff to conduct " a deep dive on this."

A look at the powertochoose website on Thursday found six companies offering 2.3 cents per 1,000 kilowatts hours in Tarrant County. But the rates jumped dramatically on all of the plans if the customer used 2,000 kilowatt hours.

R.A. Dyer, a policy analyst with the Texas Coalition for Affordable Power, a coalition of cities and political subdivisions that have joined together to purchase electricity, said the organization applauded the commission for responding to the complaints.

"We think the best course of action is for the PUC to continue to be on top of it, call out the bad actors and do everything they can to encourage transparency," Dyer said.

For consumers, Dyer said it is important to do "your homework" on the website to determine the actual costs. Choosing fixed rates and narrowing down the length of the contract can help. Avoiding rates with special charges and credits is also recommended.

Looking at the complaint scorecard on the website can also give insight into problematic companies.

On the rates, offering 2.3 cents per kilowatt hour, Dyer noted that's less than the "distribution charges' from Oncor that are fixed on every bill. Those charges can account for as much as half of a user's monthly electric bill, Dyer said.

The coalition has recommended the state require standard offer rates so consumers could easily understand what they're paying. So far, standard offer rates, while used in some other states, have failed to gain traction in Texas, Dyer said.

He also warned consumer to beware of websites with similar sounding names that are actually not overseen by the PUC.

During the meeting, Commissioner Arthur C. D'Andrea also expressed concern about the misleading rates on the website and urged staff to return with recommendations as soon as the August meeting.

There is concern that wholesale electric rates could soar this summer because of demand and tight supply.

"It's obviously intended to mislead," D'Andrea said. "There's no getting around that. There's no other way to have a price curve that way unless you're just trying to game that website, which is understandable and rationale, but it deceives consumers."

This story was originally published June 29, 2018 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Think shopping for electric rates is confusing? So does the chair of the PUC."