Dallas Pet Boarding

“The volatile natural gas market has affected us all, and we are giving our customers an option to lock in their electricity price for the entire year,” Jim Burke, chairman and chief executive of TXU Energy, said when the TXU Energy Freedom Plan was announced. “This will allow them to anticipate their electricity bills and budget accordingly throughout 2006.”

Last October, TXU Energy responded to customer frustration over pending price hikes by offering to lock in new January rates for the whole year.

The plan can be appealing to customers who want to protect themselves from price hikes. It also helps TXU Energy encourage customers to stay with it amid the fierce competition of deregulation.

But he and some of his neighbors can’t decide whether to take TXU Energy up on its offer to freeze their electricity rates for the entire year.

If prices go down, customers can exit the program without penalty and take advantage of the lower rates.

When it comes to his electric bill, Don Wilson is like most consumers: He wants the lowest rate he can get.

TXU Energy customers have until the end of March to sign up for the program.

“We don’t know whether it’s beneficial or not,” says Mr. Wilson, a retired Dallas banker. “What’s the tactic; why are they doing this?”

The offer came soon after TXU Energy proposed increasing prices 24 percent by January, citing higher prices for natural gas, which it uses to generate electricity. The Public Utility Commission of Texas approved that request.

If prices go up this year, customers in North Texas who take the deal won’t have to pay more.