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I'm with Reliant at the moment, never had an issue with them, but, from an overnight EV charging point of view, I'm considering switching to TXU when I'm due up for renewal in December. Have you checked Power to Choose ? They have details on all plans available, some of which don't seem to be readily offered by the electricity companies (but they do when you quote the exact details of the plan you want).
W.Petefish
Active Member
stephenpace
VIN S00219
I have Reliant and have never had an issue, and they have some hardware available free (smart meter monitors, Nest thermostat, etc.). However, TXU has the following plan that may appeal to EV owners:
Save With Free Nights Plan | TXU Energy
Basically this is free power from 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. every day for 12, 18 or 24 full months. For those that charge their car overnight (most people) and keep the air conditioner temp low at night, this plan could be decent. Otherwise, for an 18 month plan, this locks your daytime usage at 12.9¢ per kWh.
Save With Free Nights Plan | TXU Energy
Basically this is free power from 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. every day for 12, 18 or 24 full months. For those that charge their car overnight (most people) and keep the air conditioner temp low at night, this plan could be decent. Otherwise, for an 18 month plan, this locks your daytime usage at 12.9¢ per kWh.
stephenpace
VIN S00219
Yes, the 12.9¢ per kWh during the day isn't great, but you have to factor it against how much power you might use at night for air conditioning and charging the Tesla. The real cost to you will be lower than 12.9¢ per kWh in that case. Likely the deciding factor is how many miles you drive per day. However, I kind of like the idea of being able to answer "$0" when someone asks how much the car costs to drive. 
Yes, the 12.9¢ per kWh during the day isn't great, but you have to factor it against how much power you might use at night for air conditioning and charging the Tesla. The real cost to you will be lower than 12.9¢ per kWh in that case. Likely the deciding factor is how many miles you drive per day. However, I kind of like the idea of being able to answer "$0" when someone asks how much the car costs to drive.
Oh year, for sure. I can move other high-consumption stuff overnight as well (pool, dishwasher, washing machine etc), but I'm planning on super-cooling the house at around 5am, so that I don't need air for the first few hours of the (chargeable) day
The family have yet to approve this strategy, however.
W.Petefish
Active Member
Geothermal for the win. I can keep my house 66 all year round. (not that I'd want to.) And I get free hot water out of the deal too.
Hey, stephen, this is slightly OT, but if you want to dream a bit:
LPPhysics (Lawrenceville Plasma Physics) is a wee privately funded company developing a generator based on the Dense Plasma Focus concept, in which a small vacuum chamber "hosts" a repetitive collapse of microscopic "plasmoids". The fuel gas for the plasma will be (likely) decaborane, B10H14, providing the elements for a kind of fusion-fission process, H + B10 → C12 → 3 He + energy.
When final prototypes are ready for manufacture licensing in about 4-5 years (planned), a 5MW radiation-free totally "clean" generator will cost about $250K FOB factory door, and ship anywhere in a standard shipping container. Output would cost about 2% of what you pay retail, and retail for perhaps 5%. Fuel (boron) is adequate on-planet to last at 10X current electric demand till about when the sun goes red giant.
Relevant sites: LPPhysics.com and focusfusion.org .
stephenpace
VIN S00219
Speaking of Elon, these might be usable as power sources for his VTOL electric globe-spanning airliners ...
Well, I ended up renewing with Green Mt Energy. They have a EV rate.
It's a flat 10.6 cents. They quoted me at 10.52
Oncor - Pollution Free EV | Green Mountain Energy Company
I looked at my usage and I peak at 3000kwh but drop into the low 1000 during the winter months. With the free nights rate from TXU, its 13cents between 1000 and 2000kwh which I am at the majority of time. So the 10 cents might be the best for me....
unless William wants to pipe some of that geothermal goodness to the uptown area!
It's a flat 10.6 cents. They quoted me at 10.52
Oncor - Pollution Free EV | Green Mountain Energy Company
I looked at my usage and I peak at 3000kwh but drop into the low 1000 during the winter months. With the free nights rate from TXU, its 13cents between 1000 and 2000kwh which I am at the majority of time. So the 10 cents might be the best for me....
unless William wants to pipe some of that geothermal goodness to the uptown area!
taurusking
Member
It's been a while that anybody posted to this thread
Since we have new info I thought I will ask about Texas Free Nights
Just called and talked to the rep over the phone and checked few things online.
TXU free nights for 18 months contract is 13.9 cents if using 2000kWh per month..
Anyone using TXU free nights and have good things to say about it
Since we have new info I thought I will ask about Texas Free Nights
Just called and talked to the rep over the phone and checked few things online.
TXU free nights for 18 months contract is 13.9 cents if using 2000kWh per month..
Anyone using TXU free nights and have good things to say about it
No....I'm back with Pennywise at 7.2c for 2000kWh (6 months). Normally in the winter it's a struggle to get to 2000 a month, but a change in jobs means I'm charging at home now, so it won't be a problem. I still like the idea of free nights and weekends, but I can never make the numbers work for me.
I got the 36 month plan with them. August was a bit high, just because of the daytime heat. However, I pre-cooled my house in the morning and the AC didn't usually kick on until around noon.
Now that cooler weather is here and the AC isn't running, I'm seeing the bill drop dramatically. I do have a large Bitcoin mining operation that runs 24x7x365, but that pays for its electricity after 2-3 days of the billing cycle.
Here's my strategy to "game" the system on this plan:
I charge both my Volt and the Model S after 9PM
Delayed dishwasher and clothes washer/dryer until after 9PM
Baking foods in the oven for the week happens after 9PM on Saturday or Sunday.
Longer filtration and chlorination cycle for the saltwater pool starts at 9PM
AC (during warmer weather) drops the temperature to 70-72 at 9PM and chills it to 68 at 5:30AM. Thermostat raises to 77F at 6AM.
It tends to be a fun game, too!
(I think this fits here)
"The Dallas-based transmission company is proposing the installation of 5,000 megawatts of batteries not just in its service area but across Texas’ entire grid. That is the equivalent of four nuclear power plants on a grid with a capacity of about 81,000 megawatts."
My friend forwarded this article:
http://www.dallasnews.com/business/energy/20141108-oncor-proposes-giant-leap-for-grid-batteries.ece
"The Dallas-based transmission company is proposing the installation of 5,000 megawatts of batteries not just in its service area but across Texas’ entire grid. That is the equivalent of four nuclear power plants on a grid with a capacity of about 81,000 megawatts."
My friend forwarded this article:
http://www.dallasnews.com/business/energy/20141108-oncor-proposes-giant-leap-for-grid-batteries.ece
It's not just about renewables, although it'd obviously make a huge difference. Improving the utilization rate (currenty 42%!) could significantly improve the economics of generation.
The following is a list of heat rates, up to 2012:
SAS Output
The difference in generation efficiency means there's are cost savings on fuel to be had, but longer term elimination of capacity and higher utilization rates means cheaper generation would be possible.
I also think this is forward thinking: there's a lot of talk about consumers having solar PV + battery back-up, but it's pretty obvious that the economics of that could never match larger scale "neighborhood" batteries.
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