In the unlikely event the retail energy company that supplies your energy goes out of business, your account may fall into the provider of last resort (POLR) process, which is administered by the Public Utility Commission of Texas and ERCOT. Here is how that works:
Your provider notifies you and Real Simple Energy they are shutting their doors and your account will be transferred to a POLR.
Within days of this first notice, the POLR provider usually sets customers up on an indexed, or month-to-month, rate that is higher than what you have been paying. (In the past this rate has been around $0.18-$0.20/kWh.)
As soon as your account begins with the POLR, Real Simple Energy works to secure you a new 6 or 12 month contract with a new provider at the best rate in the market. This will be a rate much closer to what you were paying with your old provider but will likely be a little higher since market conditions are different. Our customers are generally on the POLR provider for 1-2 weeks before we can make this switch.
For the average customer, the added cost from the higher POLR rate is about $75.
Math: 750 kwhs avg usage over 2 weeks multiplied by a rate difference of ~$0.10/kWh (the difference between a customer that had been paying $0.10/kWh all-in and is paying $0.20/kWh with the POLR.
Throughout this entire process, Real Simple Energy handles everything automatically. Since we are only paid by our customers our incentives are aligned with yours - get you on with a new provider and great rate ASAP to save you the most money possible.
Questions email support@realsimpleenergy.com