How to Know If You Can Save Money by Switching Electricity Providers
By Rafael Morales|
Saving on electricity
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You could have a good plan that you enrolled in a year ago. But maybe at that time, rates were not as good as they are now. So how can you quantify whether you are overpaying?
This week there is one plan in particular — SoFed Try Us Out – 16 from South Federal Power — that looks insanely cheap, so I decided to use the “My Plan vs Market” option in Clear Energy Facts, and even though I currently have a good 36-month True Fixed rate plan that was considered one of the best when I enrolled, the comparison showed that I could still save around $300, even after deducting the early termination fee.
Before I show you the results, I want to clarify several points:
The SoFed Try Us Out plan caught my attention for two reasons: it is currently very cheap, and the termination fee is very reasonable — $99 for a 16-month plan.
It is a 16-month plan, which would move my renewal to the middle of Summer August 2027. The rate could be higher at that time, but I am willing to take that risk.
How We Did the Test
To do this test, I used the Plan Comparison feature in the Clear Energy Facts dashboard.
This tool is especially powerful for users who connect their SMT (Smart Meter Texas) data. It calculates how much money you could save if you end your current contract and switch to one of the cheapest plans currently available in the market.
Data Needed
To get the most accurate results, you need:
Your SMT connected, with at least one full year of usage data. If you don’t have a full year, the tool will calculate savings only based on the 500/1000/2000 kWh advertised rates, not your real consumption pattern.
Your current EFL (Electricity Facts Label). This is sometimes not easy to get. You usually have to download it from your current provider’s account portal. Some providers make it easy, others do not, and sometimes they change the layout, which can make it more difficult for the comparison tool to properly analyze your data.
Capabilities
The tool analyzes your plans using an AI pipeline, including multiple validation steps to ensure your plan is categorized correctly.
If the plan is too complex (for example, seasonal plans or plans with unclear language in how charges are structured), validation may fail. In that case, the tool will fall back to comparing plans based only on the 500/1000/2000 kWh advertised rates.
The tool extracts your cancellation fee and factors it into the calculation. For example, if switching would save you $200, but your cancellation fee is $300, the tool will show that you would actually lose money by switching early.
Limitations
This tool relies heavily on some of the most advanced LLM models available today. Even so, it can still make mistakes. We have placed several validation layers in the pipeline, but it is impossible to test every single scenario. We are confident the results are accurate in most cases, but you should still double-check.
Login required. The tool consumes a significant number of AI tokens per run, and tokens are expensive. To prevent abuse, users must be logged in and are limited to 2 runs per day. If you use both attempts, you can try again the next day.
If you encounter any issues, please take a screenshot and contact us through chat.
As mentioned above, to fully use the tool’s capabilities, you need to connect your SMT data and have at least one full year of usage. If you don’t connect SMT, don’t have a full year, or your plan fails validation, the result will be based only on the 500/1000/2000 advertised rates.
The tool compares your plan only against the 10 best plans in the market with terms of 12 months and above. You cannot manually select other plans outside this list.
Now the Fun Part: My Results
The figure below shows my current plan and the calculation for the future year.
Figure 1 - My Current Plan Bill Calculations
Next, the tool calculates the projected bills under the cheapest plan available:
Figure 2 - Chepeast Plan Bill Calculations
You can clearly see that I could save some money by switching. But how much?
Here is the final outcome:
Figure 3 - Saving Summary
This is a great tool for people who track their bills closely. If you live in a small apartment or medium-sized home and have a bad plan, you can quickly calculate whether switching to a cheaper plan makes sense.
However, this tool is especially powerful for large homes, where electricity usage is high. In those cases, even small differences in the rate can have a significant impact on your annual bill.
After I realized how much money I could save, I decided to give it a shot and went to the REP website to enroll in the plan. Big kudos to Southern Power. I was able to enroll in the plan without any issues. They should take care of the switching process for me, and now I just need to make sure I pay my last bill and settle the termination with my previous provider.
By
Rafael Morales
|
Saving on electricity
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