A large percentage of electricity plans focus on free electricity during the weekend. It sounds appealing for most Texans who work Monday to Friday and spend the weekend at home. But is it really a good option?
First, Let's be clear: free weekend plans are usually a bad deal for most Texans, especially the ones heavily advertised by the big companies. However, there can be value.
Clear Energy Facts has found a way to let Texans evaluate these plans for free, and there is no better way to test if a plan will work for you than comparing it against the most competitive plans on the market. This tool allows you to:
- Based on your previous usage data, compare whether a weekend plan is cheaper than a top competitive fixed plan on the market (no gimmicks, just the best plans available, including offers on Power to Choose).
- Test free weekend plans in advance, before you switch. For example: your contract is about to expire and you want to know if a free weekend plan is a good fit for you. You can select a competitive free weekend plan, check the free window hours, start shifting your electricity toward that free window, and track your progress week by week. If you beat the true fixed plan, great, you can consider it. If not, just stick with a competitive true fixed plan (never bill credit).
Below is a guide on how to use the free weekend calculator and how to read the results:
Step 1: Download your SMT data.
This is the most important step. You can't evaluate a free weekend plan if you don't know your daily habits. You can find simple steps to download your data here: https://clearenergyfacts.com/en/tools/free-weekends-calculator#smt-export-guide
Step 2: Type your zip code and the term range.
CEF recommends selecting plans with 12, 24, or 36 month terms. Plans with uncommon terms like 11, 9, or 5 months are designed to force you to renew during the months when rates are historically high (June and July). Then attach the SMT data you downloaded in Step 1 and click Submit.
Step 3: Attach the SMT data you downloaded in Step 1 and click Submit.
Step 4: Now you need to select the free weekend plans you want to evaluate.
Clear Energy Facts already orders the plans from cheapest to most expensive based on the advertised rate. However, you should review the full list and select your preferred plans. Each plan shows you the free window hours when the electricity is free, and whether the TDU delivery charges are also free during that window.
You'll notice that some plans include TDU delivery fees in the free window and others don't. There is no right or wrong choice here. The plans that include them raise the rate during the paid hours, which is exactly why it's so important to evaluate.
CEF collects these plans from the energy company websites and updates or verifies them at least once per week. The "last update" line tells you when the plan was last checked. Always check the 500/1000/2000 kWh rates.
If you check the availability of any plan, a box will appear telling you exactly what to do, and you'll be redirected. However, it's important to check the plan's EFL on the provider's website against this data, to make sure you're selecting the right plan and that the rates haven't changed. This is what keeps your simulation accurate.
Step 5: Select the true fixed plans to compare against.
Clear Energy Facts offers three comparison options: the top 20 plans, the top 10 plans, and the cheapest plan on the market. As you'll notice, these include offers from Power to Choose. We are 98% confident that the cheapest of these are the lowest rates available, and they're usually the Power to Choose plans.
We recommend leaving this setting on the top 10. The difference between the cheapest plan and the top 10 is usually less than $4 per month, and it gives you more options to find a company with better customer service than the cheapest one offers.
Step 6: From here, you only need to read the results.
The first graph is the break-even free window curve. Based on your selections in Steps 4 and 5, it calculates from your monthly usage how much electricity you would need to shift into the free hours window to make the free weekend plan cheaper than the true fixed plan you selected.
For example, the graph below shows that in order for the free weekend plan to beat the true fixed plan, you need to consume at least 41% of your electricity during the weekend. That's when you can start to see savings.
Now think about what that means: the week is seven days, and you would need to consume more than 41% of your total electricity in roughly two and a half days. From here, you can start to get an idea of whether a free weekend plan will actually save you money.
Step 7: This is the real result and the analysis.
This table contains the previous weeks of your usage, based on your SMT data. For example, in the week from July 27 to August 2, consumption during the weekend was around 35%, and we already calculated how much you need from the step above (41%). That means for that specific week, you fell short by 5.9%, and you would probably overpay for electricity.
Step 8: Analyze the results.
The table tells you whether your current usage clears the break-even threshold or falls short of it, week by week. If you are consistently above the line, a free weekend plan could genuinely save you money, and it's worth considering. If you fall short, you now know exactly by how much. That's useful information: you can start adjusting your usage, shift consumption toward the weekend, raise your thermostat during the week, and check again next week to see whether you closed the gap.
Free weekend plans are usually a bad deal for most Texans. Free nights plans offer more chances to adjust. Either way, if you want stress-free electricity, simply select a competitive true fixed plan.
Suggestions from Clear Energy Facts:
- Pick a free weekend plan that includes part of Friday night. That gives you a wider window for saving.
- Understanding whether the TDU delivery charges are included in the free window is important, but a plan that charges them isn't necessarily a bad deal. This tool already accounts for that, so you don't have to worry about the calculation yourself.
- The plans in the selection dropdown are arranged based on the advertised rate, and the company assumes a certain percentage of your electricity falls in the free window to calculate that rate. Unfortunately, some companies take advantage of this and assume more free window usage than the average customer actually has, just to make the plan appear cheaper than it really is. This tool calculates your real habits instead, so you don't have to worry about it.
- Start evaluating your options early. If you think a free weekend plan might be right for you, start using this tool a month in advance so you have enough data to work with. It's also better to run this during the summer, or during the winter if your heating is electric, because that's when most of your usage is HVAC. If you use the tool in a mild month, you may fail to account for the full weekday HVAC load you'll see in peak season.