Example Advertised Price at 14.5¢ - if you use exactly 1,000 kWh every monthAdvertised priceUse any more or less and your price goes up

Want to know a secret? The plans with the lowest advertised rates are not always the best overall deals.

That’s because they get to those really low rates through pricing adjustments, usually in the form of a bill credit at exactly 1,000 kilowatts.

That means that ‘really low price’ you saw only applies if you use exactly 1,000 kilowatts. Use 1 kilowatt less and your rate can sometimes double.

And since no one uses exactly 1,000 kilowatts every month, everyone ends up paying more than the advertised price. That said, plans with bill credits can still be a good deal in some circumstances, but only if your usage profile falls within the plan’s sweet spot, that area just past, but not too far past, the credit threshold.

You can avoid the 1,000-kilowatt trap by using SmarterChoice’s “True Price” column to find YOUR best deal.

You can avoid the 1,000-kilowatt trap by looking for the plan with the Best Year Round Value here at SmarterChoice.

Scroll down to see a list of the current plans available.   

In a contract?   Click here to use our Switch Calculator to see if you qualify for a switch