electric provider question about rates

[orangecat]

so, my 3 year contract is up in August. I got a good rate at the time, 12.9, it was raised to 13.2 by the PUC last year.

looking at the rates, the sweet spot is 12 months, lowest is 9.1 which is great except I, probably like everyone else, would like to get away from renewing during the summer.

Questions.

1. will the rates stay this low? there are three companies with 9.1 right now.

2. How soon can I lock a rate? I've heard a couple of different things. Reliant tries to tell me they can do 45 days before expiration of current contract, others say 15 days.

3. Are rates really lower during the fall? iow, maybe I should go with a variable for two or three months and then lock in a longer term in Sept- Nov.?

btw, I've only done this two or three times now. I had Direct Energy, they were great about not raising the rate very high after a contract ended the first time, went from 9.8ish to 10.3, then the last time they went up to 13.0. That's when I went to startexpower, my current for the 3 year deal, at the time it was a very good rate.

 

[orangecat]

just thought of a strategy that might work; might not. Check this out.

There are four companies right now in my zip with promotional rates(no time committment) of 8.2 and under.

Strategy, rotate among the four companies, then rotate back through the companies, over and over, constantly getting the promotional rate, when the month is over, ask for a deal, they say 10.something, say that's too high and go to next company.

Is company gonna say "no, you're an electric hopper?". Unless you don't pay your bill, why would they turn down business. + it's not like you're doing it with just 2 companies, they could easily catch on if you did that.

hmmmmm. I may actually try this. For sure, I could go through the four companies one time.