![]() Retail electric providers say that minimum usage fees allow them to recover the fixed costs relating to providing service to their customers (such as maintaining their customer service call center, or for printing and posting paper bills). Why do retail electric providers charge minimum usage fees? Unfortunately, this bill has since been "left pending in committee". Sylvester Turner proposed a bill (HB 2254) to discourage this practice of charging minimum usage fees by requiring more reporting by the PUC on the details of minimum usage fees and usage credits. While this isn't labelled a minimum usage fee, it works in the exact same way.Īre minimum usage fees legal? Minimum usage fees do not violate any rules set by the Public Utilities Commission, but they must be clearly indicated in the Electricity Facts Label. Some retail electric providers don't charge a minimum usage fee, but charge a monthly base charge that may be reduced or waived when customers consume over a certain amount of kWh in a month. Most providers tend to charge around $7 - $10 per billing cycle for minimum usage fees, though according to a 2013 survey of the Oncor service territory, the minimum usage fee can be as high as $20.ĭid You Know? Many retailers that don't charge minimum usage fees provide usage credits to customers who consume over a certain threshold of kWh in a month, which essentially achieves the same result of penalizing small power consumers. With most REP plans, the typical monthly usage required (to avoid a minimum usage fee) is between 1000 - 2000 kWh per month, though some retailers will waive a minimum usage charge after 500 kWh consumed. As a Houston Chronicle investigation revealed in 2015, 70% of electric plans in the Houston area contain provisions that penalize customers with low monthly consumption. This charge has become increasingly popular among retail electric providers in recent years.
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