One-year plans keep momentum from summer price spike
Electric price trends for the week of June 29 - July 5
This week, 139 plans from 45 providers were analyzed in the CenterPoint Energy Electric Price Index.
- Six-month fixed-rate plans: Last week's price increase was short lived, with the average monthly price of six-month plans falling by 40 cents to $103. When compared to prices from July 2011, six-month plans are, on average, $4 more expensive per month today.
- One-year fixed-rate plans: The average monthly cost of one-year plans increased by 70 cents, a trend also observed in the Dallas/Oncor service area and other Texas TDU territories. One-year plans are priced at an average monthly cost of $99, which is $2 cheaper than at this time in 2011.
- Two-year fixed-rate plans: The price of two-year plans dropped 50 cents since last week's spike. They carry an average monthly price of $104 and are $1 cheaper than those offered in July 2011.
- Green Premium: While the average monthly price of standard non-renewable one-year plans grew by 70 cents this week, the average monthly price for one-year plans generated from 100 percent renewable energy (also known as the "green premium") decreased by $1. The chart below shows ONLY one-year standard fixed-rate and one-year 100 percent renewable fixed-rate plan trends between July 5, 2011 and July 5, 2012.
- One-year standard/non-renewable plan prices and 100 percent renewable plan prices tend to be parallel for most of the past 12 months, with the notable exception of January and February of 2012. With standard/non-renewable plan prices increasing during the past two weeks and "green" plan prices decreasing this week, we see a slight erosion in the premium consumers pay for renewable plans.