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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.

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.

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 1-903-245-4989

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 electricitybid dot 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 1-903-245-4989

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.