CoServ still pays; meantime, waiting for deregulation

From 1996-2000, I lived in a Flower Mound neighborhood where CoServ was the electric provider. Since 2000, I've lived in TXU territory. Even though I haven't had CoServ is almost 7 years, I still technically own a CoServ membership, which means this week I got a dividend check in the mail. $13.01 won't make or break me, but I'll take it any day.

I've watched the stories that my TV station FOX 4 has done on The Price of Power, which has provided a great explainer on how TXU and some other power companies do business. Watch the November 10, 2006, story where my colleague Paul Adrian reads from the TXU quarterly financial report -- it's amazing how much money TXU makes, and how much I'm paying per month.

Despite my feeling that TXU charges way more than it should for power, I still haven't changed power companies. One reason is that the difference between TXU and its competitors isn't that much. The semi-regulated system that we've lived under the past couple of years hasn't created a whole lot of price competition. So I'm waiting until January 1, until we get real deregulation (or what passes for it here in Texas) to survey the electric landscape. Perhaps the prices will be more variable then.

Have you made the switch? What power company do you have? Too bad I can't get CoServ where I live now.