Direct Energy Twelve Hour Power | Is It Right For You?

Compare Power
Direct Energy Twelve Hour Power

Author:

Editor:

Any product or company names, marks, or logos shown on this page are the property of their respective owners. ComparePower is an unaffiliated, independent marketplace. Get unbiased, accurate information backed by our commitment to editorial integrity.

Direct Energy Twelve-Hour Power

Direct Energy, Twelve Hour Power, is one of two offers from Direct Energy advertising free electricity during certain times of the week.

If you’re reading this, you probably heard or saw an ad from Direct Energy promoting this plan and wonder if it suits your home.

We broke down the details and have some tips to help you make an informed energy decision for your household.

Is Direct Energy Twelve Hour Power right for me?

Most “free-time” electricity plans don’t make sense because they cost more yearly than standard fixed-rate plans.

With energy costs at high levels, Direct Energy Twelve Hour Power could save you money with a shift in your usage.

If you can hold off until 9 pm for things like laundry that consume high electricity, this plan is designed to save you money each week.

Important: Direct Energy includes the free nighttime usage discount in the advertised rate for this plan. You will NOT see an added discount on your electricity usage and MUST shift at least 45% of your usage to the night to get the advertised rate.

Free electricity could help with your bills, but you need to shop with your home’s electricity usage to make sure Direct Energy Twelve Hour Power is a good choice.

Before buying into the advertising hype, input your electricity usage here on ComparePower, and we’ll show you a detailed pricing breakdown for every plan.

Compare Direct Energy Twelve Hour Power pricing with fixed-rate plans, so you know which plan will help you to save the most on electricity throughout the year.

The number one rule in finding the right power plan is to understand your usage.

This 2-minute video that explains everything you need to know ⤵️

Note: The easiest way to get 12 months of usage history is to log into your provider dashboard. You can also create an account with Smart Meter Texas to get usage readings for your home in 15-minute intervals.

Quickly determine if Direct Energy Twelve Hour Power is right for your home with your kilowatt-hour usage ⤵️

Moving or Switching?

1 of 5

Are you moving in, or are you just looking to switch to a new electric company?

House or Apartment?

2 of 5

Is this for a House or an Apartment?

What’s your usage?

3 of 5

Choose your home type or enter your monthly usage to shop total monthly cost:

Small Home
500-1200 square feet,
~500kWh usage

Medium Home
1200-2000 square feet,
~1000kWh usage

Large Home
2000-3000 square feet,
~1500kWh usage

x-Large Home
3000+ square feet,
~2000kWh usage

Your own average
Enter your monthly kWh average

Enter your past usage history

Enter your own monthly usage history:

Some plans have different discounts, fees, and pricing tiers that may or may not apply each month depending on your usage.

ComparePower will calculate each month’s bill for every plan and show total cost for all bills combined.

Click on each month above to input as much usage data as you have. Then press the “next” button.

January
kWh

February
kWh

March
kWh

April
kWh

May
kWh

June
kWh

July
kWh

August
kWh

September
kWh

October
kWh

November
kWh

December
kWh

Things to consider...

Why is comparing monthly plan cost based on your usage so important?

Electricity companies advertise their best “price per kWh” rates based on an exact monthly usage (usually 1000 or 2000 kWh). But you don’t use exactly 1000 kWh or exactly 2000 kWh. No one does.

This advertised “price per kWh” doesn’t apply the same in different households that use different amounts of energy. It’s not the same as gasoline pricing where the “price per gallon” applies to every gallon.

Buy 1 gallon or 10, it’s all the same price per gallon.

This is simply not the case with electricity. Every plan has a different equation used to calculate your monthly bill. The math is complicated.

At ComparePower, that math has already been done for you for every plan. We show you total monthly energy costs for all the plans based on your expected monthly usage.

This way you can be confident you aren’t signing up for a low advertised rate but instead choose a rate based on costs for your usage. That’s real power.

How can I find out how much I expect to use?

Moving?

choose a usage based on home size, or
Not sure? Click here use our estimator tool

Switching?

look at your past bills and click here to enter your estimated monthly usage or
Have your usage history for past bills? Click here to leverage our most powerful tool and shop based on your usage history.

Terms / Contracts

4 of 5

What contact terms interest you?

Show All Fixed Term Only No Contract Only

IMPORTANT NOTE:

If you move out before your fixed-rate contract is up, don’t worry. You will NOT be charged an early termination fee if you cancel your service because you are moving. Texas law!

Things to consider...

Will I be charged a fee if I move out or cancel service before the end of my contract?

Texas law states that in the event of a move out, energy companies cannot charge a contract “early termination fee”.

This enables you to choose any term contract you like without fear of being charged a large fee if you have to move.

If you enter into a contract and switch providers (not move, but switch providers at the same address) more than 14 days early of your contract’s expiration, you will be charged an early termination fee.

So, don’t worry about your lease length or if you have to move. Just be sure to not switch providers before 14 days early of your contract expiration. You can determine you expiration date by calling your provider, or it may be printed on your bill.

How important is “Going Green”?

5 of 5

Green Energy is energy generated from renewable resource like wind and solar.

Show All Show 100% green plans ONLY

Things to consider...

What is “Going Green” with energy?

Green Energy, also called Renewable Energy or Renewable Energy Content, is energy generated by Wind, Hydroelectric Dams, Solar Panels, etc.

As opposed to Coal or Nuclear processes, these Green Resources are easily replenished and take less of a toll on Earth’s ecosystem.

How does my choice make an impact?

When you elect to purchase 100% Green Energy the amount of energy your home uses is added back into the Energy Grid by renewable resources only (Wind, Hyrdoelectric, Solar, etc.)

The electricity itself is the same, you are just ensuring that the method used to generate it takes less of a toll on our natural resources.

Estimator Tool

1. Size of home:

2. Number of residents:

3. Your energy habits:

Approximate monthly kWh usage:

690 kWh

Disclaimer: This tool is for approximation purposes only. Accuracy is not guaranteed or implied.

The approximated monthly usage is based on an average over 12 months. Air conditioning and heating costs can vary and often account for up to 50 percent of your home’s energy use during different seasons.

Factors such as size of your home, weather, construction, heating and cooling equipment type, insulation, and family living habits will influence your actual usage.

What is Direct Energy Twelve Hour Power?

Direct Energy Twelve Hour Power is a “time-of-use” plan. With time-of-use plans, you get a discount, or even free electricity, during certain times of the day or year.

These discounts can stack up to actual savings, but only if you can shift your usage to when you get a discount.

With Twelve Hour Power, Direct Energy offers free electricity during the night. From 9 pm until 8:59 am, the energy charge on your bill is discounted to zero.

You can use as much electricity as you want, without worrying about a high electric bill at the end of the month.

Direct Energy offers a 12-month and 24-month contract to get free electricity at night for an extended period.

With the 12-month contract, Direct Energy discounts your energy charge if you sign up for autopay.

How does Direct Energy Twelve Hour Power work?

Direct Twelve Hour Power is a time-of-use plan, meaning you get discount electricity during certain times throughout the year.

Twelve Hour Power was created to give you free electricity at night to help you budget for electricity and reduce your bills.

Night discount

Direct Energy discounts your electricity from 9 pm until 8:59 am daily.

Important: This discount only applies to the energy charge on your bill.

During the night, Direct Energy cuts the energy charge of your bill to zero, and the TDU charges are not passed on to you.

How much does Direct Energy Twelve Hour Power cost?

At the time of writing, Direct Energy listed Twelve Hour Power at 26.3 cents per kWh at 1000 kWh monthly usage in the Oncor service area, which includes the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

This price includes a 0.5 cent per kWh discount for signing up for autopay. Direct Energy advertises Free Power Twelve Hour Power at 26.5 cents per kWh at 1000 kWh monthly usage if you do not sign up for autopay.

A base fee of $9.95 is charged each month regardless of the amount of electricity you use.

Important: Direct Energy includes the discounts in the advertised 26.3 cents per kWh price for the Oncor area. You will NOT see an additional discount on your electricity usage.

No one uses 1000 kWh every month, and your usage will vary, affecting the rate you pay.

If you are considering signing up for Direct Energy Twelve Hour Power, make sure you shop with your home’s actual usage to see if you will benefit from the discount.

Average Texan

Are you similar to the average Texan? According to eia.gov, the average Texan paid 12.8 cents per kWh for electricity in 2021.

With an average usage of 1,132 kWh per month, the average Texas electricity bill would be around $144.90 monthly.

With the weather in Texas swinging each season, your usage and electricity bill can change as quickly as the weather.

Remember that these average numbers are taken from statewide data and that your usage could be drastically different based on the size and age of your home, your appliances, and your electricity usage habits.

Twelve Hour Power

Compared to the Texas average, Direct Energy Twelve Hour Power is more expensive at 26.3 cents per kWh advertised at 1000 kWh usage.

At 1,132 kWh of usage, your average monthly bill with Direct Energy Twelve Hour Power would be $298.91.

That’s almost 107% more than the average Texan paid last year for their electricity bills.

Your electricity bill could be even more expensive, especially if you can’t shift at least 45% of your electricity usage to the weekend.

Other fees

You’ll find a Base and TDU delivery charge alongside your energy charge on your bill.

Direct Energy collects a base charge of $9.95 regardless of your monthly electricity.

The TDU charge depends on which company services the area that you live in. The TDU charge for the Oncor area, covering the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, is currently 3.89 cents per kWh. Oncor also collects a base charge of $3.42 each month.

Direct Energy, Twelve Hour Power, also has an early termination fee of $150 for the 12-month contract and $295 for the 24-month contract.

Before signing up, shop with your home’s unique usage profile to avoid high bills and the need to end your contract early.

Digging into the Terms of Service, Direct Energy lists additional fees for late payments, returned payments, collection recovery, disconnect recovery, and any payments made with the help of customer support agents.

If you regularly need help with payments, consider a different electricity plan to avoid these fees.

Are you getting free electricity?

You might wonder if there is any catch for getting the nights free with Direct Energy Twelve Hour Power.

Most providers offer free electricity plans and pass on TDU charges to you for that time. You seem to be getting that electricity for free, but you still pay for your usage during the free periods.

Unlike other free nights and weekend plans, Direct Energy’s Twelve Hour Power stands out because the electricity is free at night.

Direct Energy discounts your energy charge to zero during the nights and does not pass on TDU charges.

Direct Energy does charge a base fee of $9.95 each month, so even if all your usage was during your free time, you would still have to pay a small amount.

Direct Energy, Twelve Hour Power, is one of the few free nights and weekends plans that offer up free electricity usage during the nights.

Direct Energy Twelve-Hour Power alternatives

Best Free Nights & Weekends Energy Plans

Free Nights & Weekends Electric Plans & Rates Imagine opening your electricity bill at the end of the month and seeing a lower number than you expected. Sounds great, right? This dream can become a reality with “Free Nights and Weekends” electricity plans in Texas! In this article, we’ll talk about these unique plans, how…

You have already submitted that form

Support You Can Count On

Do you have more questions or need help finding the right plan for your household? Our local experts are here to help.

With our personalized recommendations and transparent pricing, you can shop with confidence and take control of your energy costs.

We’re Here to Help!

Call 855-441-3030, Monday to Friday, from 8:30 am to 6:30 pm, or Saturday from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm.

Call Now