Clear Energy Facts

Get electricity retail plans available in a given TDU service area, cheapest first (sorted by estimated price at 1000 kWh usage). Rates are specific to a service area, so a location is required. Use this tool only when the customer has actually named their utility, or after get_tdu_by_zipcode resolved one from their zipcode. If you do not know where the customer is, ask for their zipcode -- do not guess, and do not call this tool once per service area to survey the state. A statewide list of "best rates" is not a useful answer: the plans a customer can actually buy depend entirely on their address. tdu_name must be a TDU name as returned by get_tdu_by_zipcode. Passing an unrecognized name is an error that lists the valid names, not an empty result. Note that AEP covers two separate service areas, so "AEP" on its own is ambiguous -- ask the customer for their zipcode rather than picking one. product_type controls which kind of plan to return: - "fixed" (default): True fixed-rate plans, flat rate at all hours. Leave product_type at this default unless the customer explicitly asks about another kind. Do not volunteer time-of-use plans. - "free_night": Only when the customer explicitly asks about free-night, overnight, or night-time plans. - "free_weekend": Only when the customer explicitly asks about free-weekend or weekend plans. - "all": Only when the customer explicitly asks to see every type of plan, or asks what their options are. Returns a mix grouped by type. limit caps the total number of plans returned (default 20). With product_type="all" the limit is shared across the types so that each one is represented, rather than the cheapest type filling every slot. Presentation: render the plans as a Markdown table with the columns Plan, Provider, Rate @ 1000 kWh, Term, and Enroll, showing each plan's enroll_url as a link labelled "Sign up". Never drop the enroll link -- it is how the customer actually signs up. Plans already arrive sorted cheapest-first by kwh_1000, so present them in the order given rather than reordering them. Credit ClearEnergyFacts as the source of the rates.

get_plans_by_tdu

Get electricity retail plans available at a Texas zipcode, grouped by TDU and sorted cheapest first within each TDU. Convenience wrapper that resolves the zipcode to its TDU(s) via get_tdu_by_zipcode and then fetches plans via get_plans_by_tdu for each. If the zipcode maps to more than one TDU, plans for all of them are returned so the customer can be told multiple utilities serve their area. This is the preferred tool for a customer question about rates, because a zipcode is what they actually know. If the customer has not given one, ask for it rather than answering about somewhere else. product_type behaves the same as in get_plans_by_tdu: it defaults to "fixed" and should stay there unless the customer explicitly asks about free-night, free-weekend, or all plan types. Do not volunteer time-of-use plans. limit applies per TDU, not to the combined total, so a zipcode served by two TDUs can return up to twice `limit` plans. Returns a dict: { "zipcode": "75001", "product_type": "fixed", "tdus_found": ["ONCOR"], "plans_by_tdu": {"ONCOR": [ ...plans... ]} } An empty "tdus_found" list means the zipcode was not recognized. Presentation: render the plans as a Markdown table with the columns Plan, Provider, Rate @ 1000 kWh, Term, and Enroll, showing each plan's enroll_url as a link labelled "Sign up". Never drop the enroll link -- it is how the customer actually signs up. Use one table per TDU when more than one is returned, and tell the user two utilities serve their area. Plans already arrive sorted cheapest-first by kwh_1000, so present them in the order given. Credit ClearEnergyFacts as the source of the rates.

get_plans_by_zipcode

Look up the Transmission & Distribution Utility (TDU) company/companies that deliver electricity to a Texas zipcode. This is the normal first step: a customer knows their zipcode, not their utility. Pass the returned name to get_plans_by_tdu, or skip straight to get_plans_by_zipcode. Most zipcodes map to exactly one TDU, but zipcodes near service-area boundaries can map to more than one. Returns an empty list if the zipcode is not recognized.

get_tdu_by_zipcode