Energy shopping checklist: the documents and questions to prepare
Prepare your utility bill, usage history, contract disclosure, fee comparison, renewal reminder, and trusted enrollment route before switching.
Before shopping for electricity or natural gas, collect a current bill, twelve months of usage if available, your existing agreement, and the full proposed offer. Confirm that your account can choose a supplier, then compare identical usage with all applicable fees. Do not provide an account number to an unverified caller or salesperson merely to receive general information. A careful record is more useful than a list of supposedly best suppliers that may not serve your address.
Prepare an account information sheet
Record the distribution utility, service address, rate class, billed units, and billing dates. Keep the utility account number private and use it only through a trusted channel when genuinely required. A ZIP code can help locate a territory, but your actual utility and account eligibility determine the available arrangement. Electricity and gas choice should be confirmed separately.
Download usage rather than just payment history. Budget billing payments can smooth costs without describing the energy used each month. If you lack a full year, explain the gap and use clearly labeled scenarios. Do not make up missing consumption to create a confident annual total. A new household or recently occupied home may need a cautious estimate followed by a review after enough actual bills arrive.
Put the current contract beside the offer
Find the present supply rate, fees, end date, cancellation conditions, and renewal process. Then locate the same information in the proposed agreement. A sales page is a useful starting point but may not contain every binding term. Save the actual disclosure and contract with the date you obtained them so a later change does not erase your comparison basis.
| Document | What to extract | Question to resolve |
|---|---|---|
| Current bill | Usage and charge components | Which charges are supply or delivery? |
| Existing agreement | Term and exit costs | What would changing now cost? |
| New disclosure | Rates and fees | What conditions change the total? |
| Usage history | Seasonal pattern | Does the plan fit low and high months? |
| Renewal provisions | Next-term process | What happens without a response? |
For gas, identify therms versus volume units and the billed factor. For electricity, identify cents versus dollars and any time or usage bands. Equal-looking numbers are not comparable until both the unit and the included services match.
Complete a useful cost test
Run low, moderate, and high usage months. If the prices are simple flat rates, use the plan calculator. If the offer has threshold credits, minimum usage, multiple time bands, or demand charges, keep a detailed worksheet using the written rules. A calculator's convenient fields do not justify omitting a charge it cannot represent.
Illustrative example: saving one cent per kWh at 700 kWh is $7 for that month. If the new supplier adds a $9 monthly fee, the apparent saving becomes a $2 increase before other differences. If leaving the current plan costs $60, include that separately over a realistic horizon. A favorable opening rate can still be a poor fit when its term ends before your highest-use season.
Check timing and authorization
Ask when service begins, who submits the change, and whether there is a confirmation or verification step. Supplier switching and closing service for a move are different actions. Do not request a disconnection simply because you are changing a supply agreement unless the utility's verified process requires it. Keep confirmations and review the first bill after the change.
Use a website or phone number independently obtained from a trusted utility statement or official regulator resource. Do not rely solely on a link, QR code, or number in an unsolicited message. The FTC warns about utility impersonation and unusual payment demands. A rushed claim that immediate action is necessary to obtain a discount should not replace time to read the contract and establish who you are dealing with.
Plan for problems and payment needs
Keep a short contact log and save relevant bills. If something goes wrong, identify the specific charge or authorization in question and contact the utility or supplier through its official process. Ask which regulator or local authority handles escalation for your utility type. Do not assume a complaint automatically suspends the payment due date or a disconnection notice.
If affordability is the immediate problem, contact the utility about payment arrangements and ask your local LIHEAP agency about assistance. Eligibility, available benefits, timing, and documentation vary; an application is not a guarantee. The LIHEAP Clearinghouse provides official program information and a route to local resources. Do not pay an unknown intermediary promising a guaranteed grant or send sensitive documents to an unverified address.
Keep the checklist useful after enrollment
Mark the first expected billing cycle and the end of the initial term. Compare the first bill with the saved disclosure, including the supply rate and any supplier fee. A completed checklist is a record of what you verified, not permanent proof that every future charge will match. The site's checklist stores progress in this browser only and can be reset; it does not enroll you or transmit the checks to a provider.
FAQ
Does completing the checklist enroll me?
No. It is a local browser worksheet. It does not submit an application, change a supplier, or cancel an agreement.
Should I give a salesperson a photo of the whole bill?
Only share information when you have verified the recipient and understand why it is needed. Account details can be sensitive; general education does not require them.
What if I cannot verify one contract term?
Leave it unresolved and request a written explanation. Do not treat silence as a zero fee or a favorable condition.
Consumer routes
Sources
- EIA: supplier choice — eligibility check.
- FTC: utility impersonation — account and payment safety.
- LIHEAP Clearinghouse — local assistance resources.
