More and more Texans are shopping around for the cheapest electric rate and are leaving their old legacy energy provider, but a majority of Texas residents still buy electricity from the company that served them before they had a choice, passing up the savings available from competing energy suppliers. For customers still not shopping, SaveOnEnergy.com provides the simplest and easiest way to find the best electric rates out there.

ERCOT, the organization that runs the state’s electric gird, reported that customer switches to different electric companies were up "significantly" in June, an indication that customers reacted to higher June prices and shopped around for better deals. Customer switches reached 80,000 for the month, nearly double the total from May.

With prices now falling, it’s an even better time to shop, and this month’s numbers should exceed even June’s levels.

Additionally, ERCOT reported that 43% of residential customers have switched away from their old legacy provider, known as the Affiliated REP or AREP, as of June 30, 2008. That’s an increase from 39% a year ago. The AREPs are the companies like TXU, Reliant, CPL, WTU and First Choice Power that customers had been on before choice began, although sometimes under different names (like Houston Light & Power).

While the number of customers shopping for a better electric rate than that offered by their AREP is increasing, a majority of Texans are leaving money on the table by sticking with their AREP, even though they now have a choice for cheaper electric rates.

Two of the biggest reasons customers often cite for not switching, even when there are cheaper deals out there, is that shopping is confusing, and that they trust their AREP more than some of the new electric companies.

Fortunately, the online comparison website SaveOnEnergy.com has answered both of these concerns, and makes shopping for the best electric rate simple and pain free, while assuring customers that only high-quality, reputable energy providers are listed.

SaveOnEnergy.com culls through the hundreds of residential offers in the market to pick only the best deals, ranking companies on price, customer service, payment options, and bonus features like airline miles or rebates. SaveOnEnergy.com’s unique portal breaks down the offers into easy to understand comparisons, showing customers the rate as well as additional features of each offer, so customers can make a quick and easy comparison of the best offers.

Customers can also rest easy that the energy provider they choose through SaveOnEnergy.com will be reputable, financially secure, and won’t suddenly leave the market and strand customers. The energy suppliers vetted by SaveOnEnergy.com are every bit as reliable and dependable as the old AREPs, and in some cases, more so, with extended customer service hours and online service options. In fact, one of the old AREPs, First Choice Power, is considering selling its business, which means customers could be transferred to another provider.

In a quickly evolving Texas electric market, being with the AREP doesn’t give customers any additional security, and the electric companies on SaveOnEnergy.com are just as competent and stable and ready to provide dependable service at cheaper rates. With SaveOnEnergy.com vetting every aspect of their recommended energy suppliers, customers no longer have to pass up savings because they’re afraid of leaving their AREP.

Texans are seeing it across the state — falling energy prices , which means it’s a good time to shop for a new electricity rate for your home.

The statewide average for regular self-serve has fallen to $3.64/gallon, with prices in Houston falling 11¢ over the week to $3.60. It’s all because oil has dropped about $30 per barrel in the last month, and recently closed at under $114/barrel.

It also means Texas electric rates are sliding, and energy suppliers are offering their cheapest rates in months. Customers can find the cheapest electric rates at SaveOnEnergy.com , which makes electricity shopping a hassle-free breeze for residential customers, offering easy to understand comparisons of the best electric rates .

In the Dallas area, customers can lock-in a 12-month fixed price with MXenergy for just 14.2¢ per kilowatt-hour (kWh), which is anywhere from 10-20% lower than prevailing prices from June and July.

Dallas customers concerned that prices will keep falling have two good short-term options that will give customers price certainty for a short period of time, while serving as a bridge to the fall or winter when prices may be lower.

Cirro Energy’s "Smart Lock" six-month plan is only 14.1¢/kWh and is the cheapest Dallas area rate on SaveOnEnergy.com . Green Mountain Energy also offers a three-month plan for only 14.9¢ which gives customers the added benefit of pollution free power. Customers looking for a bonus with their electricity plan can choose Gexa Energy’s 12-month plan for only 15.3¢, which allows customers to earn either American Airlines or Continental Airlines frequent flyer miles simply for using electricity .

In Houston, Cirro’s "Smart Lock" six-month plan is the same price as in Dallas, just 14.1¢/kWh. The cheapest 12-month offer for Houston is 15.4¢/kWh, offered by both Cirro and MXenergy. That’s a big drop from 12-month price certainty plans that were in the 17-18¢ range just a month ago. Green Mountain’s three-month pollution free product is 15.9¢/kWh in Houston, while Gexa’s 12-month plan with bonus airline miles is 16.5¢.

Aside from giving customers a cheaper electric rate , the best part about SaveOnEnergy.com is that customers know they’ll be safe from losing their energy provider , which happened to about 40,000 customers who were buying from less stable firms earlier this summer.

But SaveOnEnergy.com only recommends financially robust electric companies with proven track records of excellent customer service and support. Customers can shop with peace of mind knowing they’re buying from fully vetted energy providers that aren’t going to leave them stranded.

Just last week, for example, Cirro Energy was bought by Dominion Retail , an electric company with operations in 12 states and 1.7 million customers, further strengthening Cirro’s position. All of the energy suppliers on SaveOnEnergy.com are similarly robust and reputable companies, and Texans can be sure they’re picking the right energy provider . Electric companies on SaveOnEnergy.com also ranked highly in a new customer satisfaction survey by J.D. Power, with Green Mountain and Gexa taking two of the top spots.

Nearly two weeks of consecutive 100-degree days have put even greater strain on Texans facing mounting electricity bills. While some parts of the state have gotten a small reprieve (with temperatures "only" in the 97-99 degree range), remember it’s only the first week of August, and folks are already making comparisons to the late summer scorcher of 2006, and the record-setting 1998.

That means there’s still time to shop around for a cheaper electric rate before the summer ends, and SaveOnEnergy.com is the easiest way to do it.

However, some Texas business owners are seeing bills more than double what they paid a year ago, despite using about the same amount of electricity, because their rate when up dramatically. It shows the need to do your homework when shopping for an energy provider, or better yet, have someone find the best rate for you.

As reported in the McAllen Monitor , Benny Rodriguez Jr., who runs Bob Stark’s Beef Shop, saw bills for the meat market more than double because his variable electric rate spiked on 10 days in May and June. He wasn’t alone. Across Texas, small businesses with certain electricity plans have seen rates jump from 9¢ to as high as 25¢, and it’s time to find a better deal.

Most of the businesses seeing the big jump were paying a variable rate, often times on a product indexed to the wholesale price of power in the state, called the Market Clearing Price for Energy (MCPE). Under the rules of the market, the MCPE can rise as high as $2.25 per kilowatt-hour, which is about 20 times what used to be the average rate paid by customers (11-12¢ per kilowatt-hour) earlier this year. In other words, businesses looking to avoid huge jumps in their electric bills want to insulate themselves from the MCPE by locking-in a fixed rate.

And fortunately, electric rates are actually falling right now, because world natural gas and oil markets have receded. Texas electric rates for commercial customers are about 20% cheaper than they were a month ago, making it a good time to lock-in a manageable rate.

But where can a Texas business owner go to find the best rate with so much clutter in the market? SaveOnEnergy.com offers businesses a one-stop shop for all their energy information and solutions. More importantly, SaveOnEnergy.com’s one-of-a-kind commercial retail exchange portal frees customers from time consuming efforts to locate and research competing electric companies and solicit bids for their energy usage. Instead, with one click of the mouse, SaveOnEnergy.com allows business owners to get quotes from eight energy suppliers competing head-to-head to win the customer’s business. SaveOnEnergy.com’s clearinghouse puts business owners in the driver’s seat, and also allows businesses to request customized and different types of products so they can compare different plans, and choose the best electricity rate for their business.

For the second straight week, falling natural gas prices are prompting Texas electric companies to lower their retail electric rates, as competition is forcing energy suppliers to match their competitors’ price cuts. It continues to be a good time to buy.

Now, August is normally the busiest time of the year for the sales and customer service departments at most Texas energy providers. It’s when customers start really shopping around for a cheaper electric rate after having received higher bills from summer air conditioning use. So getting the attention of an electric company to get a custom price quote or help you switch is normally a little bit tougher now than during any other time of the year.

But this year it’s even more difficult as energy providers have built up a backlog of customer requests for a couple of reasons. First, with record prices, energy suppliers are naturally getting more customer service calls from consumers angry about their bills. Second, higher bills have prompted customers, especially business owners looking for a custom price, to search out a cheaper rate, which has taxed the sales staff at many energy suppliers who are having to produce many more price quotes than they usually generate.

Now that Texas electric rates are falling, even more customers are shopping around and asking for quotes, and many energy providers are simply falling behind in answering all their customers’ requests. In order to keep prices down, electric companies aren’t top-heavy and don’t carry a lot of extra staff, meaning that when they are flooded with customer requests like they are now, it takes them longer to respond, and customers can become frustrated with that non-responsiveness.

How can Texas business customers get to the front of the line? By shopping for electricity through SaveOnEnergy.com, which offers businesses the opportunity to receive eight competing offers through one click of the mouse.

SaveOnEnergy.com is designed to pit eight electric companies in head-to-head competition for a customer’s business. Through SaveOnEnergy.com’s unique commercial retail exchange portal, business customers can instantly send their information and rate request to eight energy providers, who will then immediately respond directly to the customer.

Because electric companies know requests received through SaveOnEnergy.com also go to seven other suppliers, responding to quote requests from SaveOnEnergy.com become their first priority, and suppliers respond to customers as quickly as possible to avoid losing out on a deal. This makes getting a cheaper electric rate a faster and easier process for business customers, who don’t have to wait days or a week for their price quote and avoid having their request being buried or missed in the flood that energy suppliers are receiving daily.

SaveOnEnergy.com provides commercial customers with exclusive, one-click access to eight energy suppliers, and empowers them to cut through the backlog of quote requests to start saving money as soon as possible.