The Truth About Reliant Energy’s Cap & Save Plan
Lately you’ve seen Reliant advertising their new Cap & Save plan. It’s been everywhere lately, radio, billboards, television ads, etc. Reliant is throwing a lot of money into this plan because they want it to be a big seller. However, is the plan a good deal for customers?
What is Cap & Save?
Reliant’s Cap & Save plan is an Indexed Plan – what does that mean? An Indexed plan gets it’s name because the plan in question is tied, or indexed, to something specific. With electricity providers, the plan is almost always tied to natural gas prices, which is the appeal to customers. The basic premise that can be sold to shoppers is “This plan is tied into the price of Natural Gas, so when gas prices are low, your costs are low. When they’re high to us, then they’re high for you.” Sounds good, right?
How does Reliant calculate the price of electricity for the Cap & Save plan?
Here’s the information from Reliant’s most recent electricity facts label (Centerpoint region) for this plan on how they come up with their prices:
Base Charge: $0.00 per month
Indexed Energy Charge *: $0.093/kWh initially All kWh
CenterPoint Energy Delivery Charge **: Actual Charges from CenterPoint Energy
* Indexed Energy Charge = $0.093/kWh – Natural Gas Discount Factor (NGDF)
NGDF, applicable if Monthly Natural Gas Price/MMBtu is lower than the Initial Natural Gas Price/MMBtu
of $5.00, = ($5.00/MMBtu – Monthly Natural Gas Price/MMBtu
