HOUSTON—Energy companies are always trumpeting their rates and plans in ads.

But if it’s so easy to cut your electric bill, why does Penny Buenger spend her days in darkness?

“You do what you have to do,” Buenger said. “In summertime, we live in a cave (laughs). We do!”

Buenger keeps the sun out, and the thermostat is stuck at 79. 

But now she’s facing a tough choice.

She locked in a good electric rate two years ago and signed a fixed contract, but it’s about to expire.  Electric rates have gone up since then, so the bill she’ll soon be getting is going to jump.

“My time is coming up, so I’m really concerned what is going to happen to me now. I don’t know if I’m going to get some kind of double whammy at the end,” Buenger said.

Houston is the energy capital of the world, and it’s a deregulated electricity market that uses competition to keep prices down.

But if your bill was $200 in Houston this summer, you’d have paid just $92 in Austin. Their rates are a lot lower.  Austin’s electricity is still regulated.

That’s why the AARP is questioning the wisdom of deregulation.  They held a town hall meeting in Pasadena to talk about it.

“We have the highest electricity rates in the nation, and we want to do something about it,” Esther Darnel of AARP Texas said.

“It’s like trying to navigate waters with a whole bunch of sharks in it. It’s very confusing for consumers right now,” Tim Morstad of AARP Texas said.

After all, what’s the point of competition if every electric company in town offers high prices?

The power companies say something is about to happen that just might bring consumers some relief.

“Competitive markets are not the cause of high prices, and in fact, what consumers are able to do today is get out there and shop, which is not something that they would have had,” Reliant Energy’s Pat Hammond said.

Hammond said rates have been high this summer mainly because of the price of natural gas. 

It spiked – big time – in July, and since it’s the fuel for half of our power, rates skyrocketed.

But now the price of natural gas is falling sharply, so electric rates might retreat.

“And as we begin to see those prices moderate, we’re going to pass those savings on to customers as well,” Hammond said.

In Buenger’s case, she’ll only get those better rates if she shops around for an electric provider and switches plans when she finds something she can live with.

“It’s a big old hot mess,” she said.

But even if you picked a new rate plan or provider tonight, it could still take weeks – or maybe even a month or two – before you saw any changes on your electric bill.

That’s because the electric companies have to wait until your next meter read before they can put you on that new plan.

“I don’t see them being fearful at this point and saying, ‘Oh my goodness, we’d better offer these people a really good package.’  I don’t think they’re scared,” Buenger said.

But the power companies say as soon as natural gas rates drop, they’ll be fighting for your business again.