An Electricity Fact Label (EFL) is a government-mandated sheet that allows consumers to make apples-to-apples comparisons of energy plans. You’ll find it next to all electricity plans on Texas supplier sites.
The EFL provides you with:
• The average electricity rate you can expect to pay based on your monthly usage after taking into account all the variables in the rate structure, such as the energy rate, transmission rate, and monthly base charge.
• The term of the contract (for example, 12 months, 24 months, 36 months).
• Penalty fees for early contract termination and other fee information.
Note that suppliers sometimes manipulate their rate structures in EFL’s so that their rates appear to be low, when in fact they may be exorbitant (see the “5-cent” plan as one of our GIMMICK WARNING examples). The rates promoted on the State of Texas website especially include gimmicks. However, the EFL is often a useful guide in determining the rate you’ll actually pay.
In the sample EFL below, you’ll see that TriEagle Energy’s EFL is very simple and straight-forward with no gimmicks. TriEagle charges only a low base fee of $4.95 plus the energy rate in the plan. Your average rate is based on whether you use 500, 1,000 or 2,000 kWh’s in a billing cycle. For example, in an average month, apartments may use an average of less than 1,000, mid-sized house 1,000 to 2,000, and larger houses 2000+ kWh’s.
