Username:
 Password:
   Remember Me   Forgot password?  Register
0-9  A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z  

Find or Refer a Contractor in Tyler

Lindale Renewable Energy in Texas

February 10th, 2010

East Texas will soon have a very exciting aspect to our energy sector here. The Lindale Renewable Energy in Texas wood biomass energy generation plant will be a green energy version of power generation. Most of our electricity is generated from coal and natural gas power plants. These old school power plants create steam via natural gas and coal burning which power large turbines that create our electricity. With a biomass energy generation plant in our backyard we can effectively clean up the Texas environment by buying green electricity from Tyler and Lindale electricity providers who buy their Renewable energy credits from this East Texas project. Right now most of our green energy we buy when using a green electricity provider comes from REC’s in other states.

This project is owned and operated by Decker Energy which is a privately held company located in Winter Park Florida. We are happy and encouraged to see a project of this scale opening up in the Tyler Lindale area.

Map of the Lindale Biomass power plant in relation to other projects

Lindale Biomass Power Plant

East Texans can now truly say that their electricity comes from green energy created in East Texas. A biomass power plant will help clean up the state of Texas air quality overall and offer more Texas options for green electricity choice. Many people think that when they sign up on a green or renewable electricity plan they are helping the Texas air quality. This has not been the case for many years as most electricity providers simply buy REC credits from renewable energy projects operating in other states. This power generation plant will create new jobs in East Texas, clean up the state of Texas and bring in some new technology most people have not seen before.

GD Star Rating
loading...

Tags:
Posted in Utilities | No Comments »

East Texas Wifi Internet Service Provider

January 20th, 2010

To receive a call and a quote regarding Tyler and East Texas broadband high speed wireless internet service please click here to email East Texas Wifi. Click here to email

Choices Among Internet Providers in Tyler Texas

If you are like me and live out in the country you don’t have as many choices as someone living in the city limits of Tyler. There are a lot of things that I don’t have the privilege of doing without paying more money such as having a fast internet connection and going to the Tyler Public Library. Both of these things I will end up paying much more for than the average Tyler Texas joe living in the city limits. For those inside the city you can go with Suddenlink cable internet or AT&T highspeed internet service.

There are now even more internet options available for those in and outside the city of Tyler Texas than there has been for many years. There are these highspeed wireless PC cards offered by all the major cell phone carriers that allow you to plug a PC card into your laptop or desktop computer and have a fairly fast wireless internet service. The downside to the PC card wireless access is if you go over your usage limit you could be charged as high as 25 cents per megabyte. Those megabytes go pretty quick especially if you watch Youtube videos or download software.

Best Deal On Wireless Internet PC Card Service In Tyler

As far as cell phone wireless internet PC card service the best deal in Tyler is probably with Sprint although their coverage is spotty out in the country. The fastest and pretty good coverage in and outside the city of Tyler is with Verizon. Verizon will charge you 25 cents per megabyte if you go over your usage limit which is why I no longer use this company. Sprint only charges 5 cents per megabyte if you go over their limit however they also have an unlimited usage plan for a little more money.

Which Wireless Internet PC Card I Prefer The Most

AT&T’s wireless internet PC card goes by the name aircard and offers great speeds and coverage in the city of Tyler although the coverage gets a little spotty depending on where in the country you may be living in Smith County. Overall I prefer the speed of Verizon wireless internet PC card, the price and coverage of the Sprint wireless PC card, and enjoy the speed and coverage of AT&T’s aircard provided you use it within the city of Tyler and not out in the country.

Best Choice For Wireless Internet in Tyler Texas

For an even faster wireless internet outside the city limits of Tyler I recommend going with a wifi service that broadcasts from tower antennas. There is a company by the name of East Texas Wifi that I use and I love the service, low latency and internet speed they offer. There is another wireless internet company that competes with them called DCTexas Internet and they also boast some very fast speeds and low latency. Low latency simply means that any downloads you do will be very quick. If you were to compare the latency of a satellite internet service as you would get with Hughes net it would be a night and day difference. For instance, if you attempted to watch a funny youtube video with Hughes net you might as well queue it up and go eat a sandwich before it will be ready. With East Texas Wifi you will be able to watch the movie immediately almost as if you turned on TV to watch a show you like.

Stay Away From Hughes.net Satelite Internet Service!

WARNING!!! If you live in Tyler Texas or around the area avoid Hughes net at all costs! They will have you commit to a contract while wireless internet service companies like East Texas wifi will put you on a month to month plan. Once you are locked into the Hughes net contract you will quickly discover that the internet service is very slow and reminiscent of old dial up service back in the olden days. You will pay a high price for this lousy internet service too. It simply is not worth it and everyone I have spoken with about Hughesnet in Tyler have told me just how much they hate their internet service.

Contact Our Preferred East Texas Wireless Internet Provider

If you would like to contact our preferred East Texas wireless internet service provider please contact East Texas wifi at : 903-534-8888

You may also visit their website at : East Texas Wifi

GD Star Rating
loading...

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Internet | No Comments »

Tyler Energy Companies, Recession Proof

January 12th, 2010

Call Our Preferred Energy and Electric Service Company At 1-800-971-4020 To Compare Electricity Rates

Tyler Texas is home to a large amount of oil and drilling companies, machine shops, natural gas, and oil refining companies. Tyler and the East Texas area actually did great even during the depression because of our reliance upon the energy field as our primary income source for our economy. Now Tyler and East Texas is also known for being a strong medical center having some of the top facilities and doctors in the country for certain procedures. Even if the energy sector were to decline the medical area in Tyler would still thrive as everyone needs medical care. Everyone also needs oil, natural gas, and gasoline but sometimes the price of oil or natural gas goes down and so the need to extract more from the ground is not needed. When there is enough natural gas and oil in storage and the price is too low there is not as much drilling that is done. People in the energy field get laid off when the prices are low because drilling companies are holding off on drilling until it is cost effective to start up again.


Most of the drilling that you see in Tyler Texas is actually natural gas drilling. Natural gas is the fastest growing energy commodity being used right now. It has quickly surpassed all other energy commodities because of its ease of storage and how cheap it is. Many companies in the past and even now have burned off natural gas when pumping oil and this is still being done in several Asian countries. The natural gas that is being burned off is potential billions of dollars in additional profit to these energy companies although East Texas has been profiting from natural gas for several decades. The local refining plant here in Tyler actually burns off energy from one of their stacks as of July 2009 which is counter productive and a little archaic in this day in age. We know how to store and transport natural gas and it could mean several hundred thousand dollars if not millions of dollars simply by capping it and storing it to sell to other companies.

Since natural gas is one of the primary energy fuels in East Texas and because the world is quickly utilizing this fuel as the fuel of choice for things like electricity generation power plants we see a bright future a head for the Tyler and East Texas area. Historically when the stock market’s drop in price things like US currency and energy commodities go up in price. Energy and currency many times acts as a hedge against recessionary behaviors in the US economy. I have talked to some hair brained loonies in Tyler who have suggested investing in oil and natural gas drilling companies because of this. I strongly suggest staying away from investing in small cap stocks held by small time energy drilling companies. Oil and natural gas drilling is extremely speculative and trying to sell your small cap stock for a profit can be quite difficult when it goes up because there is not enough volume from other people wanting to buy.

A smarter way to invest in the global trend and Tyler strong hold in natural gas is to buy what is known as an ETF from a stock or commodities broker in Tyler. There are ETF’s for stock indexes, energy commodities, Gold, Silver, and many other popular items. There is no diamond ETF because diamonds have no commodity index that they are traded on. Diamonds are basically run by a monopoly company that sets their prices without interference from any type of index or market. We recommend avoiding any type of scheme related to buying diamonds or diamond stock in a small cap company. An ETF is like a mutual fund because it is a composite of several different companies in a related field but without the fees you would pay to buy a mutual fund. By saving money in fees an ETF diversifies your holdings in your preferred commodity as well as save you money you would pay a brokerage in fees to continually invest in a mutual fund. An ETF is a little more risky than investing in a mutual fund but a lot less risky than putting all your money in only one stock or commodity. Instead of investing in a small cap oil or natural gas drilling company in Tyler Texas we recommend buying an ETF. You will save yourself a lot of heartache and will likely still have something to show for your investing efforts several years down the road.

Next time you are driving down an East Texas road and see a drilling pump and get the desire of wanting to invest in drilling yourself just consider looking into ETF’s to satisfy such a risky endeavor and still participate in the East Texas and global trend towards natural gas energy. There is actually a 90% correlation with the price of natural gas and electricity in East Texas and Tyler because most of our electricity power is generated using natural gas. When picking a natural gas power company for your home you only have one choice which is Centerpoint Energy. When picking an electricity power company in Tyler and East Texas you have up to 50 different choices in electricity service companies. All of these Tyler electricity companies get their energy off of the ERCOT grid which also goes by the name Electric Reliability Council of Texas electric grid. This Texas grid operator approves a bidding system called the balancing energy market that lets power wholesalers, marketers, and generation companies to bid their power price on this enclosed Texas electric grid.

Most of the power generation companies are producing their electricity through natural gas or coal fired power plants. These generation companies then sell this electricity power on the ERCOT balancing energy market. Retail electric companies in Tyler can then buy natural gas commodities in a paper transaction in order to create a fixed retail electricity price they can sell to the Tyler or East Texas energy consumer. Whenever you buy a fixed electricity price you are actually buying a variable electricity rate that was hedged through a paper transaction over a natural gas commodities exchange. The Tyler electricity companies selling retail electric service usually has an agreement with a company who specializes in hedging energy in order to be resold as a fixed electricity rate. This allows a Texas electricity provider and consumer to avoid any risk or exposure when power prices go up.

GD Star Rating
loading...

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Utilities | No Comments »

Best Internet Providers in Tyler Texas

December 10th, 2009

When trying to determine which internet provider is the best when it comes to price and speed it can be a little hard. You are dealing with very location specific speed issues and some neighborhoods will be worse than others. You basically have two choices, Cable internet, or DSL internet. There is now EVDO wireless internet cards but these have limitations when it comes to bandwidth so for the most part you want to stick with DSL or cable.


Your cable internet choice is Suddenlink internet which back in the early 90’s was called Tyler.net or Tyler internet. Cox bought them which later became Suddenlink. We have seen several customer reviews claiming that Suddenlink cable internet just isn’t very fast. Here are a couple positive and negative reviews to give you some idea what people are saying:

John says:

December 12, 2007 at 12:30 pm

I use Suddenlink here in Tyler, TX, for my broadband provider, and I have never been disappointed. It is up 99.9% of the time, and the speeds are awesome. I am paying for 4Mbps, and on several Internet-based speed tests, I am always at about 8Mbps (those are download speeds, of course). Add to that the convenience of billing included with my cable statement, and Suddenlink broadband is the way to go!

  • Lollerskates says:
    April 12, 2008 at 11:23 pm

    Pretty sweet John. I paid for 8 mb dl speeds and get 4 to 5 on average! Instant and random disconnects, lag on online games. I recently cut my dl speed to 1 mb dl. I can still play video games with the same lag for a cheaper price! You rock severedlink!

    • For the video gamers out there you may not want to go with cable internet as you are basically sharing internet speeds with your neighbors. That coaxial cable that you see on the power lines outside runs to every house and the bandwidth is shared by everyone. When that bandwidth gets used at the same time by multiple neighbors that are all subscribed to suddenlink cable internet you may see a degredation in your internet speed. If it happens once it will probably be a regular occurence as people are creatures of habit. If you use the internet in the evening there is a good chance that everyone else in your neighborhood does too. This isn’t a good thing for those relying on cable internet.

    DSL internet is provided by AT&T for the most part in Tyler Texas and offers you a dedicated line rather than something shared with your neighbors. You will not have to worry about sporadic slow internet speeds but will get exactly what you pay for every time. The times that cable internet beats DSL is when you are in a neighborhood where most of your neighbors are not subscribers to high speed internet but you are. This type of neighborhood is ideal because you will pay a little less with Suddenlink cable internet and will still have the fast speeds. Unfortunately there aren’t many neighborhoods like this anymore.


    AT&T U-Verse 250x250

    Our preferred choice is AT&T DSL high speed broadband internet. You will get a guaranteed internet speed and will not have to compete with your Tyler neighbors on when to use the internet for optimal speeds. This is by no means a hard and fast rule but just a little intelligent understanding of how the whole internet service thing works in Tyler Texas. Feel free to comment below if you agree or disagree.

    GD Star Rating
    loading...

    Tags: , , ,
    Posted in Internet | No Comments »

    No Deposit Electricity Companies in Tyler Texas

    December 3rd, 2009

    Speak to an Electricity Bid Energy Consultant in Tyler Texas to Find a Low Deposit Option For Electric Service

    Electricity Bid can be reached at 1-800-971-4020

    When relocating into a new place in Tyler Texas especially if you are a young person you may get hit with several deposit requests. Anything from your apartment, water utilities, to electric service will be essential services that will want some type of deposit. If you have good credit you may not be asked for a deposit at all but for young people, those with no credit history, and people with bad credit you will definitely be asked for a deposit. The larger deposits are usually with your electricity service company and your landlord. The electric company will want something in the range of $400 and the apartment, home, or duplex rental will usually need anywhere from 1 to 3 months rent up front.


    Finding a Tyler Texas electricity provider that will ask you for zero deposit requires that your credit score be in the neighborhood of 700 and no late payments with any companies or utilities past 30 days. If you have maxed out any credit cards lately this will drop your credit score by as much as 50 points. If you have paid off a collections agency lately you may find that your credit score has dropped another 100 points. If you have had a 700 credit score in the past you may be surprised to find that your score can drop very quickly for some strange reasons. One of the strangest ways your credit score can go down is by paying off your credit card balance in full. It is best to leave a small balance on all of your credit cards to maintain a good credit score. This may sound strange but to credit scoring companies it simply shows them that you can afford to have multiple credit lines you can pay off.

    So how do you avoid that $400 deposit a Texas electric company may be asking you for? There used to be more then a few electricity providers in Texas that offered a prepaid electricity service. These pay as you go electric service companies in Tyler seem to come and go. Right now there are only a couple and their names are DPI Electric and Freedom Power. Some of the other prepay electric companies in Tyler that used to be around have gone out of business because of bad execution and PUCT and ERCOT penalties associated with disconnecting non paying customers before giving proper notice.

    Pre pay electricity providers have to abide by strict PUCT rules that require them to send out post cards or letters giving proper notice that a non paying customer will be disconnected if they do not pay their bill. In the case of prepaid electricity service your bill is not for electricity already used but for future electric service you will use. So how does a prepaid electric company determine what you will pay? Pay as you go electric service companies in Tyler TX will estimate your usage by using the historical usage from the previous tenant at your address. So if you are a conservative electric service customer that tries to not use that much energy you may still have to pay a $300 a month electricity bill. The reason you have to pay more than what you use is because they are billing you for someones elses electric usage from the previous year.


    This old usage billing is the only cost effective way for prepaid electric providers to operate in Texas. To avoid additional profit loss a pay as you go energy service provider will inflate their electric rate dramatically. If the going cheap electricity rate is 10 cents per kWh with TXU or Reliant you can bet that a prepaid electricity company will want something more in the neighborhood of 17 cents per kWh. These higher electric rates will cause you to come up with about the same or more in electricity service prepay charges as you would have originally paid as a deposit to a traditional electric company.

    Our recommendation is to avoid going with a pay as you go electric company in Tyler Texas. Since you will have to come up with about the same amount of money to pay a prepay company as would to pay your initial deposit it makes more sense to come up with that deposit amount. For $400 or less that you will get back at the end of your electric service term you will be able to sign up with a traditional electricity company like TXU, Just Energy, Bounce Energy, Reliant, Ambit or someone else and will be able to be on a cheap rate based on your actual usage. Sure you may have to pay a $400 deposit but your first months electricity bill may only be $100. If you add your first months electric bill to the deposit amount you get $500. Now imagine you are charged by a prepaid Tyler Texas electricity company, you will likely be charged $300 – $500 for your first month. You will never get this money back as this is not a deposit but the actual cost of your electricity usage.

    As you can see although you may put off having to pay a large dollar amount for a month you will end up having to pay close to the same amount in actual electric usage charges. We do not believe a Tyler TX prepaid electric company that offers a rate with no deposit is really a good situation for a Tyler TX resident. If you are low income than you will have a really big problem when you get your first months electricity bill. The pay as you go electric companies will usually hook you in to an electricity rate by offering you an option to get started with only $99. The problem is they haven’t charged you for the first month but only a small portion of your total bill for the first month. A few weeks later they may ask you for $300 more dollars to continue to keep your Tyler TX electricity service on.

    So be sure to compare traditional electricity companies in Tyler TX rather than pay as you go providers. You will save a lot of money by not falling for the hook of “$99 to get started” pitch line. These prepaid electricity companies tend to go out of business as well which means you will end up having to shop for a new electric company anyway. If you have questions about any of this we recommend you speak with someone from locally owned Electricity Bid at 1-800-971-4020. One of their Tyler TX energy consultants will be able to assist you in shopping for a cheap electric company with a low deposit option.

    To read about this topic from a Mexican American perspective visit our no deposit Tyler Texas electricity and utilities (no hay electricidad depósito Tyler Texas y los servicios públicos) article written by a local Mexican American living in Tyler TX.

    GD Star Rating
    loading...

    Tags: , , ,
    Posted in Electric | No Comments »

    Tyler Texas Energy Service

    November 10th, 2009

    When relocating or moving to a new house or area in Tyler Texas you come up with the problem of needing to sign up again for utility services like water, natural gas, and electricity. Some homes do not have a natural gas hook up and for you that may be a positive or minus. Generally a home owner will save a little money by having a home that uses both natural gas and electricity. There is only one natural gas company in Tyler Texas and their company name is Centerpoint Energy. They have a very handy online bill oay feature that will automatically deduct your monthly payment from your credit card, check card, or checking account. You can call Centerpoint Energy at their local Tyler phone number: (903) 939-8648

    If you do not have natural gas service at your Tyler home than you will still need your electricity turned on. Most people will tell you to call TXU Energy but over the last year they have been much higher in price than several other Tyler TX electricity providers. Although TXU Energy was the monopoly electricity utility for decades in the Smith County area of Texas you now have a choice among over 30 different Texas electricity providers. Most electricity companies in Texas operate in all deregulated cities in Texas. Since Tyler Texas is deregulated it means you can pick and choose among all the active and registered electric companies in Texas.

    Many Energy Providers in Texas Will Want a Deposit To Turn on Electric Service

    Right now because of the credit market how it is if you do not have good credit you may be asked anywhere from $200 – $800 as a deposit. If you have already put down a deposit for water, gas, and your apartment you may find this a bit expensive. Unfortunately there is really no way around the deposit if you have no credit or your credit is bad. I recommend trying to sign up with several providers until one accepts you at little or no deposit. If you get accepted for a deposit amount in the range of $200 consider that a good thing.

    Electricity Bid, A Comparison of Electricity Companies and Rates

    You can reach Electricity Bid at 1-800-971-4020

    You can compare electricity rates in Tyler Texas by visiting a website that specializes in comparing electricity companies in the Tyler Texas area. We recommend going to Electricity Bid.com and checking out the residential electricity comparison chart on that site. You may also call Electricity Bid and an energy consultant can answer your questions about an electricity company you may be interested in.

    GD Star Rating
    loading...

    Tags: , ,
    Posted in Utilities | No Comments »

    Electricity Bid in Tyler Texas

    September 30th, 2009

    Electricity Bid is an online comparison site for electricity rates in Tyler Texas. There are other sites out their that also compare electricity prices and plans but Electricity Bid concentrates on comparing rates in a clear apples to apples comparison. All fees and charges are disclosed in their comparison chart so the electric service customer in Tyler knows exactly what they will be paying when they sign up for electric service.

    You may call Electricity Bid at 1-800-971-4020

    Some other sites like Electricity Bid that compare multiple electricity companies are Powertochoose, Watttochoose, Chooseenergy, Saveonenergy and electricityTexas. Power to Choose is the state of Texas run website that has attempted to inform the public of their choices when it comes to picking a Texas electricity company. Some Texas electricity providers have attempted to abuse the state run website by advertising variable rates with a low quoted price. When the customer signed up the price would sometimes be much higher than what was shown on the site.


    One particular electricity company in Texas that did this explained it like this, the variable electric was that price at the time the customer signed up but the utility did not switch them on that date. During the time of signing up and the utility switching them the electricity rate had gone up. Most consumers including myself would assume that the first months rate would be locked in based on what was quoted on the site. Many energy consumers were surprised to find out later that this electric company was not locking in the advertised variable price for the first month and to most people this represented a bait and switch ploy to gain new customers at inflated prices.

    Some comparison sites that compare Tyler Texas electricity rates use customer confusion regarding price to trick people into a “too good to be true” offer. The customer signs up with the electricity company and pays a few cents more than they perceived the electricity rate to be in the advertising. Most customers let this type of thing slide and wait out their contract. A few electricity service customers complain and very few actually contact the PUCT and or the Attorney General of Texas. It is important if a Texas electricity customer has been tricked into an electric rate through false advertising to make a complaint with the PUCT. We recommend first trying to find out and resolve the issue with the electric company and if you still feel more should be done to file that complaint with the state of Texas.

    You can file a complaint with the PUCT at : Complaint Form

    Electricity Bid is a local Tyler Texas company that has been providing online comparison services for Texas electricity companies and rates for many years. Electricity Bid is a for profit company but maintains a clear apples to apples comparison of electric rates from several reputable electric companies. Many in Texas do not realize that they can switch from what used to be the monopoly electric company in Tyler, TXU Energy. By comparing electricity prices from several reputable stable electric providers in Tyler Texas you can observe just how much cheaper electric rates can be against a familiar brand like TXU Energy. Sometimes TXU may have cheaper electricity rates then the providers Electricity Bid displays on their website. It is important to compare what TXU is offering with the electricity rates on Electricity Bid to form an accurate apples to apples comparison and to calculate the savings by going with a less familiar brand but stable and reputable none the less.

    TXU Energy is a very good company and has provided electricity service in the East Texas area for many years. Unfortunately TXU does not have very good prices (as of Sept 2009) in comparison to several competitive electricity providers who have entered the deregulated electricity market. Texas deregulated back in 2002 and from time to time TXU Energy has been the price leader and sometime in the future they may make it to that position again. Since their are cheaper electric companies in prices it serves everyone in East Texas and Tyler well to check out a local electricity comparison site like Electricity Bid and compare energy prices from multiple Texas electricity providers.

    Electricity Bid can be found simply by using your favorite browser and typing www.electricitybid.com

    A Google or Yahoo search for Texas Electricity Bid will also likely bring up their website. You can compare and sign up for Tyler Texas electricity service all online without ever even having to make a phone call. If you would like to talk with someone on the phone you may call 1-800-971-4020

    You may read an article written by a local Mexican American and his personal experience with higher electricity bills in the winter months. He currently is with TXU Energy.

    GD Star Rating
    loading...

    Tags: , , ,
    Posted in Electric | No Comments »

    Startex Power

    September 5th, 2009

    Startex Power as of 2009 has been ranked the number 30 fastest growing privately held company in the United States of America and has been been ranked by JD Power and Associates with the highest in Customer Satisfaction with Texas Residential electricity service customers.

    Wide fluctuations in Texas electricity prices during the past year have led to a decrease in overall customer satisfaction with residential retail electric providers in Texas, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Texas Residential Retail Electric Provider Customer Satisfaction StudySM released last month.

    Startex Power delivers a straight forward electricity rate to their Texas customers with no hidden fees or charges. Startex also comes through on customer service and over the last year has consistently had a much lower electricity price than both TXU Energy and Reliant Energy.


    For those relocating to Tyler Texas or just moving out of one home or apartment into another you can’t go wrong with Startex Power and in fact will save quite a bit of money on your electricity bill when compared to TXU and Reliant electricity rates as of September 5th 2009 when this study was done.

    Startex Power offers several different fixed electricity rate terms as well as a variable short term option for those who do not want to commit to anything. Startex Power’s variable electricity price follows the natural gas and balancing energy market to provide a real time market tracker type of electricity rate product. With a variable electricity price with Startex you can get off of the rate at anytime with no penalty and you get to follow the energy market prices down as well as up. Because the electricity service customer takes on the risk when picking a variable electricity rate they sometimes pay much less than a fixed rate. If fuel prices go up a customer could end up being shocked in regards to electricity price and that is why a variable electricity rate in Tyler Texas is not recommended for everyone.

    For those that want electricity rate certainty a fixed electric rate with Startex Power is the only way to go. You can pick from 3 months, 6 months, 12, 24, and 36 month fixed electricity rates. Locking in at the bottom of the market is exactly what you would be doing as of September 2009 and because of this a 3 year fixed electric rate with Startex Power makes the most sense right now.

    Click here to visit Startex Power and check their electricity prices in the Tyler and East Texas area. You don’t just have to go with TXU or Reliant anymore, there are other choices like Startex. You have the “Power to Choose”.

    GD Star Rating
    loading...

    Tags: , ,
    Posted in Electric, Utilities | No Comments »

    Southern Utilities of Smith County

    August 31st, 2009

    I usually try to focus my writing efforts on businesses I can endorse (at least in some measure). This time however, I find it necessary to shine the rays of critism on one of the  worst companies with whom I have ever had the misfortune of doing business.
    For those citizens of Tyler who to get their water services from the city, be thankful that you need not do business with Southern Utilities. The fact that they have a monopoly on area water services outside the city proper allows them to charge whatever they will for the absolute minimum in return. The aforementioned monopoly has also served to insulate the public relations department (such as it is), from the companies reputation in the community. I have yet to encounter an institution (aside from the IRS perhaps), which cares less for the customers it is supposed to serve.


    Upon returning home to Tyler, I purchased and moved into my new home. When the time came to activate the usual services I was able to open new accounts easily and usually over the phone except in one instance. The single most frustrating service to open was not in fact the gas, nor was it the electricity. The most difficult company to deal with, the one with the most red tape and unhelpful staff was in fact our local water company, Southern Utilities. I had potentially hazardous soruces of power and energy activated in my home by simple phone call, and yet, taking a shower required the former owner of my house (fortunately a friend of mine), to visit during his busy work week in order to remove his name from the account and validate the sale of the house.

    But this initial hassel was only a sign of things to come. The customer service department does nothing to make the company more approachable. They have no on line services to allow the costumer an easier way to pay, nor will they take payments over the phone. For those financially challenging months which require a personal visit to ensure on time payment, its best to arrive before four o’clock  since the lobby closes at that time. To be fair, the drive through window is now open until five, but you had better be prepared to pay in cash or with a check. Southern Utitlities does not accept either credit cards or check cards. And should you find yourself making a late payment, you can forget about an extention. Rarely are those granted, and when they are, you can bet a lot of stamina was required to win the argument.   

    But these complaints are not new. Virtually everyone I know who has dealt with S.U. tells me the same stories. So how can the company work its way back into the customer’s good graces? For starters get a website, one that provides easier access to individual accounts. This would necessitate allowing people to pay by card, also an improvement. Generally, at least appear to make an effort! Try to convince me that my satisfaction is actually important.

    On a scale of one to five I have to give Southern Utilities a one.  So if you’re new to Tyler and you have a choice of water companies, take the one that’s not Southern Utilities you’ll be glad you did. Southern Utilities is located on Broadway just north of the down town square.

    GD Star Rating
    loading...

    Tags:
    Posted in Water | No Comments »

     
    Get Adobe Flash playerPlugin by wpburn.com wordpress themes
    Tell Friend | Contact Us | FAQ | News | Check listing status | About Us | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Help | Advertise With Us | Categories map
    © 2009 Powered by
    Tyler TX Directory