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Reliant Truly Free Weekends
Reliant Truly Free Weekends is part of a trio of free electricity plans that Reliant launched to target different times of the week.
If you’re reading this, you probably heard or saw an ad from Reliant Energy promoting its latest plan and wondering if it is right for your home.
We did a deep dive into the details and have some tips to help you make an informed energy decision for your household.
Is Reliant Energy Truly Free Weekends right for me?
In most cases, we steer our readers clear of “free-time” electricity plans because they usually cost more yearly than standard fixed-rate plans.
But with electricity prices at high levels, Reliant Truly Free Weekends might save you some money if you can take advantage of the free time.
If you do laundry on the weekends and don’t use much electricity during the week, this plan is designed to help you cut your electricity costs.
Important: Reliant includes the free weekend usage discount in the advertised rate for this plan. You will NOT see an additional discount on your electricity usage and MUST shift at least 32% of your usage to the weekend to get the advertised rate.
Reliant Truly Free Weekends could cost you significantly more throughout the year if you cannot shift at least a third of your usage to the weekends.
Free electricity could be a game changer for you, but you need to shop with your home’s electricity usage to make sure you pick the right plan for your home.
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 Reliant Truly Free Weekends pricing with fixed-rate plans, so you know which will help you 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 ⤵️
Quickly determine if Reliant Truly Free Weekends is right for your home with your kilowatt-hour usage👇
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.
What is the Reliant Truly Free Weekends plan?
Reliant Truly Free Weekends is also known as 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 the times when you are getting a discount.
Reliant powers this plan with 100% renewable solar energy. Your usage is offset by renewable energy credits (RECs) that Reliant purchases.
With Truly Free Weekends, Reliant offers free electricity on the weekends. You can use as much electricity as you want, without worrying about a high electric bill at the end of the month.
Crank up your air conditioning and settle into bingeing that series you’ve been saving up.
How does Reliant Truly Free Weekends work?
Reliant Truly Free Weekends is a time-of-use plan, meaning you get discounted electricity during certain times throughout the year.
It was created to give you free electricity on the weekend to keep your electricity bills in control throughout the year.
Weekend discount
From 8 pm on Friday until 12 am on Monday, Reliant discounts your electricity.
Important: This discount only applies to the energy charge on your bill.
The plan does not discount the other part of your bill, including Transmission and Distribution (TDU) base and energy charges.
How much does Reliant Truly Free Weekends cost?
At the time of writing, Reliant listed Truly Free Weekends at 26.1 cents per kWh at 1000 kWh monthly usage in the Oncor service area, which includes the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
Important: Reliant includes the discounts in the advertised 26.1 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 Reliant Truly Free Weekends, 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 average usage of 1,132 kWh per month, the average Texas electricity bill would be right around $144.90 each month.
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.
Truly Free Weekends
Compared to the Texas average from last year, Reliant Truly Free Weekends is more expensive at 26.1 cents per kWh at 1000 kWh usage.
At 1,132 kWh usage, you would be looking at an electricity bill for approximately $309.33 on the Truly Free Weekends plan.
That’s 113% more than the average Texan paid on electricity bills last year.
Granted, that $309.33 bill assumes that you shift at least 32% of your monthly electricity usage to the weekend.
Your electricity bill could be significantly more expensive than the Texas average if you signed up for Reliant Truly Free Weekends, especially if your usage doesn’t match the free time discounts.
Other fees
You’ll find a TDU delivery charge alongside your energy charge on your bill.
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.
Reliant Truly Free Weekends also has an early termination fee of $150 if you end the plan before your contract expires.
Before signing up, make sure you 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, Reliant lists additional fees for returned payments, disconnection notices, disconnection recovery, and late payments.
If you regularly need to pay your bills late, you might 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 weekends free with Reliant Truly Free Weekends.
While Reliant does discount your energy charge to zero cents these days, unfortunately, you won’t be getting electricity for free.
TDU charges from Oncor are currently 3.89 cents per kWh, so you’ll see a charge for electricity on your bill. Oncor also charges $3.42 each month regardless of the electricity you use.
Regardless of Reliant’s discount, your utility will charge you for electricity.
Reliant Truly Free Weekends alternatives
Best Free Nights & Weekends Energy Plans
Call us at 855-441-3030 Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., or Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.