River Trails Homeowners Association

Has anyone dealt with the marketing group "Lower Utility Rates"?  I'm the ultimate pessimist when it comes to door to door salesmen, but would appreciate any feedback.  Thank you!

Ask them to leave their information, most won't.  Some will ask if they can see your last month utility bill.... Don't do it.  ID theft can be done with just the info on the bill.  If they do go to www.powertochoose.org to see the best rates in Texas and see if it is legitimate.  Had the Mt. Olivet pre paid funeral guy come by last week, told him when I die I would be buried in the backyard. 

Best advice is don't show any of your personal information (including bills, mail, etc) to anyone who comes to the door, even if they have legitimate identification & uniforms, etc.  You wouldn't give your SSN to someone over the phone even if the Caller ID looks legit, because you never know the other person or what they will do with your info after they walk away from your door.  Not to mention the safety angle, sometimes solicitors appear legit and use it as a rouse to get into your home and let's not mention what else they can possibly do.

If you place the phone call yourself, it's a little better, but be sure you get the numbers from your own sources, not from flyers, or even mail pieces.  Never provide your personal information over the internet or phone, even if it looks like it comes from one of your own banks, etc.  If they require additional information such as a password change, they will do it the next time you login yourself in your own time.  Never, never provide any personal information to anyone when THEY ask for it.  And invest $30-40 in a personal paper shredder & shred your bills you don't need to keep in a file.

On that note, hit that website, and view what plans are available.  For me, yes there are cheaper plans by a couple of pennies per KWH, but 2 years ago I signed up for TXU's Freedom Plan and pay approx $0.11/KWH and my bills are ok, I don't mind the extra 1-1.5 cents a KWH, I have heard horror stories about people who lose power and wait hours longer because they have to call the billing company-that they can't talk to TXU or Oncor directly.  I've been able to being a TXU customer, just much better service, especially with Texas storms.

The first year I moved in here (spring of 2006), I was paying peak summer bills (with AC) of just under 400, now only 1 bill in the summer exceeds 225.  You can reduce your electricity consumption by little things such as washing & drying clothes (mine is gas, but still the mechanism uses 120V) after sunset so your peak consumption doesn't max out, adjust your thermostat 1-2 degrees higher (it only took a month to get used to the adjustment for humidity reasons), and turn off unused appliances & electronics.  For example a PC computer running 24x7 uses 500-1000 watts of electricity, then your lights, etc.  The best thing to do is replace electric appliances and AC unit with more efficient, but for me money doesn't grow on trees, so I can't do that.