I think I’ll pass out. Do not pass go. Please pass the heartburn medicine…. You can see where this is headed.

TXU has introduced a new plan for the masses called TXU Free Pass. Here’s how TXU is marketing this plan: “Free Pass is a revolution in the retail electric market, as it automatically gives customers free electricity on the seven days they use it the most every month, all year long. This means customers will receive almost three months of free electricity each year on their highest-use days, when savings matter the most.”

Once again, FREE is a great marketing tactic, but Energy Choice Experts is here to help you understand how much the FREE electricity is going to cost you.

To analyze this plan, we downloaded a full year of daily meter readings from 10 random customers with high, medium and low usage profiles. We removed the 7 highest use days for each month and applied the pricing to the remainder of the days. Then we compared this cost to the cost of one of the current lowest cost plans for each month. Annual cost results are as follows:

Cost of TXU Free pass versus low cost plan

Low Cost Plans total $23,200 vs $31,200 for TXU Free Pass, a savings of $8000

So, TXU’s revolutionary plan would have cost every single customer more money. For 9 of our 10 customers the Low Cost Plan ranged 25%-28% lower than Free Pass, and one customer was only 17% lower. Out of the 120 months we reviewed, the Free Pass plan was lower than the Low Cost Plan in only two months. Just to break even on the Free Pass plan, our customers would have had to use 48%-54% of their monthly total in the “free” seven days that are removed from the bill.

If customers understood how much TXU was gouging them with this plan, they might start a revolution of their own.

So is this plan good for anyone? It certainly isn’t good for the masses, but we can think of two situations where this plan might be a good fit. Some Texans are fortunate and have a weekend place that they use 5-10 days a month. The other case is if you (and everyone else living with you) travels for business most weeks. In both of these cases, most or all of your electricity will be free on the days you are at the house or apartment. On the other days, your usage will be very low. If this applies to you, either this plan or a “Free Weekend” plan may be the lowest cost plan for you.

Energy Choice Experts is here to help take the hassle and confusion out of shopping for electric plans and save you time and money. We are completely unbiased, and we cut through all the marketing gimmicks to give you the lowest annual cost plan! Let us help you today.