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How We Rank Electricity Plans

Our ranking system is designed to be transparent, deterministic, and focused entirely on estimated monthly cost at your usage level — not commissions, sponsored placement, or provider relationships.

🎯 Our Core Principle

"Cost decides first. Risk decides ties."

Primary Ranking: Lowest Real Cost

Plans are first ranked by your estimated monthly bill at your selected usage level. The plan that costs you the least ranks #1.

This includes all components of your bill:

  • Energy charges (per kWh)
  • Base charges (fixed monthly fees)
  • TDSP delivery charges
  • Bill credits (when you qualify)
  • Minimum usage fees (when applicable)

Tie-Breaker Logic: When Costs Are Equal

When two or more plans have the same estimated cost (within $1), we apply tie-breakers in order. These prioritize lower risk of billing surprises — not commissions, brand recognition, or marketing.

1

Usage Sensitivity (Most Important)

We rank higher plans that are less sensitive to usage changes.

Preferred (ranks higher):

  • ✓ No bill credits
  • ✓ No tiered energy pricing
  • ✓ Flat, predictable pricing

Less preferred (ranks lower):

  • • Usage-based credits (e.g., "$50 credit if you use 1000+ kWh")
  • • Tiered pricing (different rates at different usage levels)
  • • Free nights/weekends structures

Why?Plans with credits and tiers can cause "bill cliff" surprises when your usage changes month-to-month.

2

Pricing Complexity

If usage sensitivity is equal, we rank higher plans with fewer conditional rules.

  • Fewer footnotes and exceptions
  • Simpler pricing structure
  • Easier to understand EFL

Why? Complex plans with many conditions are harder to predict and more likely to cause confusion.

3

Contract Risk

If still tied, we rank higher plans with lower switching friction:

  • Lower early termination fee (ETF)
  • Shorter contract term

Why? Lower ETFs and shorter terms give you more flexibility if your situation changes or better plans become available.

4

Base Charge

If still tied, we rank higher plans with lower base charges.

Why? High base charges penalize you in low-usage months (vacation, mild weather). Lower base charges mean your bill scales more directly with actual usage.

5

Renewable Content (Optional)

Only if all above factors are equal, we give a small preference to plans with higher renewable energy content.

Important:Renewable preference never overrides cost or risk factors. It's only a final tie-breaker when everything else is equal.

What We Never Use for Ranking

Our ranking system explicitly excludes these factors:

  • Commission rates
  • Provider brand or size
  • Alphabetical order
  • Sponsored placement
  • Manual overrides
  • Marketing relationships

Deterministic Ranking Guarantee

Our ranking is deterministic: the same inputs always produce the same order. If you enter the same usage and ZIP code, you'll see plans ranked identically every time.

This means no randomization, no A/B testing of rankings, and no hidden factors that could change results unpredictably.

Summary

Our ranking can be explained in one sentence:

"Plans are ranked by lowest real cost; when costs are equal, we prefer simpler plans with fewer usage conditions to reduce billing surprises."

Plans are ranked by estimated monthly bill based on your selected usage inputs and available plan data. The lowest estimated bill is not necessarily the best plan for every customer — review contract terms, cancellation fees, usage patterns, and provider details before enrolling.

Questions about our ranking methodology? Ask us anything. We're committed to transparency.

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