If you're considering a new electricity plan in Texas, you might have come across Reliant Energy's Free Nights and Weekends offers. These plans can be enticing, but are they worth it? Let's get into the details to help you make an informed decision.
Reliant Energy currently offers Free Nights and Weekends plans, including the Truly Free Nights and Truly Free Weekends options. These plans provide free electricity and delivery charges during specific time periods.
If it sounds too good to be true, it just might be. These plans require a substantial adjustment in your energy habits to fully benefit from the free hours. If you can adapt your lifestyle to align with by-the-hour timeframes, the savings could be significant. If not, you will likely end up paying a much higher price per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
For this reason, our site does not feature the TXU Free Nights and Weekends plan or similar plans promising 'free' usage times. We believe for a large majority of customers, these plans are not in their best interest. This is because they often trade free use times for extremely high rates during non-free use times, leading to high electricity bills and customer frustration.
Instead, we offer a tool to simplify comparison between free time-of-use plans and traditional fixed-rate plans, which you can access here.
The Truly Free Nights plan from Reliant Energy offers free electricity and delivery charges from 8pm to 6am every day. To benefit from this plan, you'll need to shift a significant portion of your electricity usage to the nighttime hours.
Reliant assumes that you will use 42% of your power during these hours to calculate the average price per kilowatt-hour (kWh). To actually see savings, you'll need to use 42% of your electricity between the hours of 8pm and 6am. This is important to remember because the cost per kWh is much higher during peak times for these plans.
If you're someone who is away from home during the day and able to shift a considerable portion of your energy use to the nighttime, this plan could work for you. It's particularly well-suited for individuals with regular 9-5 jobs who are not home during weekdays, as well as electric vehicle owners who primarily charge their vehicles at night. However, it's important to be mindful of limiting high electricity usage activities during the day.
On the other hand, if adjusting your habits significantly isn't feasible, you may want to explore other options. This plan may not be the best fit for retirees, homemakers, and remote workers who use a lot of electricity during the day, or for those who are unable to alter their energy usage to take advantage of the free periods.
The Truly Free Weekends plan from Reliant Energy offers free electricity and delivery charges from 8pm Friday to 12am Monday for every kilowatt hour used. This plan assumes that you will use 32% of your power during the weekend to calculate the average price per kWh.
To benefit from Reliant's free weekends, you would need to shift 39% of your power usage to the weekend, which would make the average price per kWh similar to Reliant's fixed-rate plans.
Is it worth it? Well, if you're often out of town for work during the week or have a second home for weekend getaways, Reliant Energy's free weekends could be beneficial for you. But if you can't shift your energy use to the weekends, you might want to look into other plans that better fit your needs.
The advantages of Reliant Energy’s free nights and weekends plans include:
The disadvantages of these plans are listed below:
Reliant Energy's Flextra Credits is another option in the "Pick Your Free" program. It offers up to 8 of your highest energy usage days free per month, or up to 48 hours of free power per week. However, Reliant's assumption is that 32% of your power will be used on these peak days.
Your average cost per kWh may differ from the advertised rate if you are unable to adjust your energy usage accordingly. The Flextra Credits Plan also includes three $25 bill credits, totaling $75, which you can apply to your electricity bills during your term.
Here are the pros of the Flextra Credits Plan:
Cons of the Flextra Credits plan include:
Time-of-use plans like Reliant Energy's Free Nights and Weekends can offer savings for those who are able to align their energy use with the free periods. However, these plans often come with higher rates during peak hours and may not be ideal for everyone.
Unless you can significantly adjust your energy habits to take advantage of the free hours, you might find better value in a plan with a consistently low average rate. In most cases, the simplicity and predictability of a traditional plan outweighs the potential benefits of free electricity periods.
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