How it works
Five steps, one of which takes your time. Here is the whole process, including the parts most brokers do not describe.
- Your effort
- Send one bill
- Offers back within
- Two to four business days
- Switch takes effect
- On your next meter read
- Who holds the contract
- You and the provider — never us
The process
- 1
You send a recent bill
A PDF or a photo. It carries your ESI ID, your usage history, your current rate and your contract end date. No discovery call is needed because the document answers the questions a discovery call would ask.
- 2
We read your current position
Rate type, term, end date, early termination exposure, and how much of the bill is supply at all. This is where we tell you if your existing contract is already competitive — which happens regularly and ends the process there.
- 3
You sign a Letter of Authorization
A short document letting us request your interval usage data from CenterPoint. It does not let us switch anything or sign anything. It exists because suppliers price real load data far better than they price estimates.
- 4
We take the account to market
Your usage goes to the 25+ providers we hold agreements with on the same day with the same data, so the offers that come back are genuinely comparable rather than a staggered series of sales calls.
- 5
We lay out offers and terms together
Rate, term, volume tolerance band, pass-through language, early termination fee and renewal behaviour — in plain language, side by side, with the trade-offs named. Including your existing supplier’s renewal offer when it competes.
- 6
You sign with the provider you choose
The contract is between you and the retail provider; we are never a party to it. We process the enrolment, confirm the start date, and check the first bill reflects what you signed.
What we are actually shopping
It is worth being precise, because this is the thing most energy sales conversations blur. A broker can move your supply rate. A broker cannot move CenterPoint's regulated delivery charges or the taxes, and neither can anyone else.
So when we talk about what a switch is worth, we talk about the supply component. We will tell you what share of your bill that is on your account specifically, because the answer determines what any percentage actually means in dollars.
For larger commercial accounts there is a third element — demand charges, billed on your highest fifteen-minute interval. Those are delivery-side and not shoppable either, but they are often influenceable through scheduling, and that advice earns us nothing and is worth more than the supply shop on some accounts.
What it costs you
Nothing, and here is the honest version of why.
You are never invoiced by us. We are paid a per-kWh fee built into the supply contract by the retail provider you choose. That model is what makes it possible to look at a single-meter storefront for free, and it creates a real conflict of interest that we would rather name than leave for you to discover.
The full explanation, including what we do about the conflict.
Process questions
How long does the whole process take?
What if I do not have a recent bill?
Do I have to switch if I ask you to look?
What is a Letter of Authorization?
Who signs the contract at the end?
Send one bill. Get a straight answer.
We read what you are on now, take it to the providers we hold agreements with, and tell you whether it is worth moving. If it is not, we say so.