The Champion Energy Champ Saver 12 is a very popular plan on Vaultelectricity.com. The plan not only has a low rate but it has the simplest, most straight forward pricing structure you are likely to find among Texas electricity plans. This means, unlike many other plans, the customer is likely to realize an average price per kWh (kilowatt hour) very close to the rates Champion publishes at all usage levels. This is because the plan has no tiers and no credits or fees that kick in at certain usage levels. The rate at 500 kWh is about the same as the rates for 1,000 kWh and 2,000 kWh.
The pricing of this plan has only 2 components.
- Delivery Charge from the TDU
- Champion Energy Charges
The first charge is a Pass Through Delivery Charge that all providers charge (although it is not always explicitly listed out in the Electricity Facts Label). See “What is a TDU?” below for a more detailed explanation of what a TDU is. In the Houston area, the Delivery Charge consists of a flat fee per month of $5.47 and an additional 3.8711¢ per kWh. In other parts of the state these rates are slightly different.
The second part of the pricing is Champion’s per kWh energy charge. In the Houston area this charge is 5.8¢ per kWh. (Note: This pricing is as of the time of this writing. Enter your zip code above to see all plans and up to the minute prices in your area.) This energy charge is the same regardless of how much electricity you use. This is what sets this plan apart from many other plans which have different energy charges for different levels of usage. The result is consistent pricing regardless of your usage levels.
Important: This example is from 8/6/2018 and is for the Houston area. Please enter your zip code at the top of the page for current plans and prices in your area.
What Will My Actual Bill Be?
Here are some examples of what your bill would be at different usage levels. All Texas electricity providers list average rates at 3 different usage levels (500 kWh, 1,000 kWh, and 2,000 kWh). So, we will use those levels for our analysis.
What your actual bill would be (Houston Area).
500 kWh – This would be the typical average usage level for an apartment in the Houston area.
1000 kWh – This would be the typical average usage level for a small house in the Houston area.
2000 kWh – This would be the typical average usage level for a large house in the Houston area.
The reason the average price per kWh is different for the different usage levels is because of the $5.47 flat fee pass through Delivery Charge. That fixed amount effects the average rate more at lower usage levels than the higher usage levels.
The chart below shows how the average rate changes based on how much electricity you actually use. You can see that at 500 kWh the plan starts off at a fairly good rate but gets progressively cheaper – bottoming out at about 9.9¢/kWh at higher usage levels.
What is a TDU?
The Delivery charge is the pass through charge from the TDU (Transmission Distribution Utility). This is the company that actually maintains all the power lines and delivers electricity in your area. It’s different from the Retail Electricity Provider (REP). The REP is the electric company that sells you the electricity. In this case Champion Energy is the REP. In the Houston area the TDU is Centerpoint. In the Dallas/Fort Worth area the TDU is Oncor.
What else do I need to know?
This plan has a cancelation fee of $150 which is pretty standard for a 12 month contract in Texas.
What your actual bill would be (Dallas/Fort Worth Area).
500 kWh – This would be the typical average usage level for an apartment in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
1000 kWh – This would be the typical average usage level for a small house in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
2000 kWh – This would be the typical average usage level for a large house in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
