I regularly change electricity providers every 3-6 months depending on the best price at the time. If you have the time to devote to doing that you can save quite a bit. Electricity all comes from the same place (Centerpoint) which is why you call them instead of your electricity provider whenever you have an outage. All the provider does is read your meter and bill you.
That being said, if you do have to deal with customer service therein lies the differences. Fortunately, I have not had any issues with billing or service with any of the providers I have used. I always go for the cheapest rate at the longest term I can get. That typically ends up being 5-7 cents per kwh for a 3-6 month term. The cheapest will vary depending on when I renew a contract. I've used Reliant, 4change, Amigo, Champion, Direct Energy, StarTex, Gexa, Pennywise and Discount Power in the last and my electricity always worked.
Right now the best deal I can see is through Gexa for a 7 month term at 5.3c per kwh if you use a minimum of 2000 kwh. If you can keep it beween 1000-2000, however, they will give you a credit and it ends up being 1c per kwh which is insane. No monthly service fee (watch out for those) and no gotchas that I can see. Good luck!
