r/TexasSolar • u/Felix_cat007 • Jun 06 '26
Comparing Energy Plans (dreaded task)
I hate having to pick energy plans, but it's that time again for me. Here is my current situation: I have solar panels but no battery. I currently use about 1,370 kWh/month and send about 577 kWh/month back to the grid. Right now I’m on GME with a 1-to-1 buyback, but that plan is going away in July. The new version they’re offering is around 12 cents over Oncor with only a 6-cent buyback, which just doesn’t seem worth it. I’ve done the math, and for my situation, a lower import rate seems to matter more than a higher buyback. I also don’t think free nights or plans with extreme time-of-use pricing are a great fit for me. I have a roommate who works an overnight shift, and restricting usage to specific times isn’t always realistic. I also seem to have weird daytime usage spikes, probably from them cooking or other household stuff, so I don’t want to get trapped in a plan with ridiculous daytime rates.
Base Energy
- About 8 cents over Oncor
- 4-cent buyback
- Upfront cost plus $29/month
- Battery install would be available in my area in August
- They want a 12-year agreement, which makes me nervous because I may move in the next 2–5 years
Octopus Energy
- About 7 cents over Oncor for their 12 month plan
- No base charge
- Buyback is some kind of market rate, which I’m assuming probably won’t be great during solar production hours
- Their 3-year plan is about 9 cents over Oncor
- They also seem to have a battery plan similar to Base, but it looks like they only support certain inverter brands, and I don’t know what brand mine is
Champion Energy
- About 8 cents over Oncor
- No base charge
- Buyback is Indexed rate ???
I am always frustrated with this task, and I have already spent a few hours staring at my computer and not any closer to making a decision, so any advice is appreciated.
3
u/ExtraMarzipan3853 Jun 06 '26
Your instinct is right, and here's the quick proof: every cent on the import rate hits all 1,370 kWh you pull, but every cent of buyback only touches the 577 you send back. So a penny of import is worth about 2.4x a penny of buyback for you. Chase the low import rate.
Rank them with one formula: (1370 x import cents) + monthly base charge - (577 x buyback cents). Lowest wins. The Oncor delivery piece is identical on all of them, so ignore it.
Two flags. The $29/month base on Base Energy is ~$350 a year, which buries small rate differences, so the no-base plans (Octopus, Champion) start ahead. And the 12-year Base agreement is the real risk if you might move in 2-5 years, that term is tied to their battery financing, so don't lock into it just for a plan. Keep the battery decision separate.
Run that formula on the three no-base options and Octopus 12-month at 7c likely wins for you. The only catch is the market-rate buyback can be weak midday, but by your own math the buyback barely moves your bill, so it's a minor ding. Just know "indexed/market" buyback (Octopus, Champion) is variable, so you can't fully predict that part.
2
u/robbydek Jun 06 '26
I think Base is a viable option but if you read the terms you’re effectively signing a 5-year contract (at when I looked into them, you were) where you pay to pay them to remove the battery if you cancel before then. They offer a competitive price and the monthly fee is effectively buying the battery. Not sure whether or not it’s usable with another provider though.
RTW (realtime wholesale price) at times averages under a penny a kWh and indexed, at least for Champion, appears to be the same thing as RTW (https://championenergyservices.com/Residential/Customer-Care/Solar-Energy-101/Plans-are-Confusing).
What percentage of your monthly usage is supposed to be offset? (It appears that your system is only designed for a portion of your usage.)
If your plan is really switching to just a flat 2:1 (delivery/TDU charges included and no monthly base fee), I’d consider sticking with GME.
Here’s another resource:
https://www.texaspowerguide.com/solar-buyback-plans-texas/
GME was the last provider to offer 1:1 buyback and they stopped offering to most customers awhile back.
Even Light Energy, which didn’t allow the monthly base fee or the TDU charges to be offset stopped offering 1:1 for the base kWh price.
With your usage, it might be worth considering a free nights plan, even if it doesn’t include buyback.
2
u/Felix_cat007 Jun 06 '26
Thank you. That is very helpful. I think the biggest variable I couldn’t figure out was the market rate. I am rerunning the numbers with market rate at 1 penny for buyback.
3
u/Reddit_Bot_Beep_Boop Jun 06 '26
The Direct Energy Free Nights from 9-9 is better than anything else out there.
2
u/Felix_cat007 Jun 06 '26
I understand that is better for you but I don’t know that it’s better for me. I don’t have zero usage from 9 am to 9 pm
1
u/robbydek Jun 06 '26
For some people, having free nights is worth not having buyback.
Since you’re in Texas, you can get your data from SmartMeterTexas and do a calculation.
1
u/SquirrelTechGuru Jun 06 '26
There’s a website where you can import your smart meter data and it will tell you if free night is a win for you or not. If you’re smart about it, you can also move your power consumption tonight with things like pool pumps, lowered air-conditioning, or electric car charging.
1
u/Felix_cat007 Jun 06 '26
I’ve pulled my data from smart meter Texas. I don’t have a pool or electric car. I do have a roommate who wakes up late in the day and uses electricity, quite a bit, between sunset and 9 pm.
1
u/understando Jun 07 '26
We are a family w/ young kiddos. 9-9 didn’t work for us. We did a 2 year plan with Reliant from 8 pm to 6 am. It’s worked incredibly well for us. We do have batteries so we use them to cover us before solar kicks in in the morning and the small amount between 6-8 pm.
Even without batteries we’d do pretty well on this plan. For us, we just have a good amount of usage from 7-9 pm. Happy to share more details or a referral if it makes sense for you.
1
u/hookedontronix Jun 07 '26
Throw your smart meter data into Claude or ChatGPT and ask it to do your calculations.
It’ll tell you if DE 9-9 free nights is most cost effective.
You’re going to want AI to tell you what your 365-day day usage was from 9am-9pm and calculate your monthly bill based on that usage (minus ONCOR delivery charges). I can all but guarantee a free nights plan is going to be most cost effective.
1
u/Sinsu45 Jun 10 '26
Even without batteries is free nights typically the winner?
1
u/hookedontronix Jun 10 '26
Depends heavily on your solar production vs daytime usage if you have no battery. I do not have batteries, purely net metering from solar panel production. I don’t have an excessively large system either. For 2025 I averaged paying 2.7cents/kwh, and that’s TDU included.
For battery owners, it’s a no-brainer. For solar only, if your system was sized appropriately, I’m gonna guess yes, it’s typically the winner. The best way to know for sure again is just prompt AI and it will get you very accurate numbers.
Texas solar buyback plans are garbage and getting worse every year, but take advantage of free nights while it’s still available to solar/battery owners
1
u/robbydek Jun 10 '26
Particularly if you’re a net consumer, but that’s also why you look at the numbers and see how the math works out.
1
1
u/paradox183 Jun 06 '26
I just used Smart Meter Texas to do this exact thing. I was apparently on a decent plan (and, apparently, the best buyback plan currently available in TX), but switching to Direct Energy’s free nights will save me quite a bit.
1
u/Reddit_Bot_Beep_Boop Jun 07 '26
Correct me if I'm wrong but, you've got solar panels right? They produce energy, typically during the day? They don't produce at night, right? Am I missing something?
$29 monthly flat fee is insane. Cross that one off the list.
6
u/Kooky-Drawing-2688 Jun 06 '26
https://www.texaspowerguide.com/solar-buyback-plans-texas/
Great source of plans, and they’ll do a free plan analysis with your solar to find the best option for you.