Pennywise Power Review

Quick Facts

Is Pennywise Power still active? No. Pennywise Power is permanently closed and no longer enrolling new customers. All former Pennywise customers were transitioned to Discount Power in 2019. The pennywisepower.com website is offline.

• Parent Company: NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) via US Retailers LLC
• Status: Discontinued (brand absorbed into Discount Power)
• PUCT Certificate: #10177 (shared with Discount Power and Cirro Energy)
• Successor Brand: Discount Power
• Former Customers: Automatically migrated to Discount Power accounts

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What Happened to Pennywise Power

Pennywise Power is gone. The brand was absorbed into Discount Power in early 2019, and the website is now offline. If you’re looking for Pennywise, you’re looking for Discount Power.

Here’s the full story.

Reliant Energy created Pennywise Power from scratch in 2008 as a budget alternative to its own premium brand. The idea was simple: same NRG corporate infrastructure, stripped-down pricing, no rewards programs. Pennywise operated under its own PUCT license initially (filed under “Reliant Energy Services Texas, LLC”), then formally changed its registered name to “Pennywise Power, LLC” in 2010. The company later operated under US Retailers LLC alongside Cirro Energy.

In October 2018, NRG Energy acquired the customer books and brand assets of Discount Power, Power Express, and Volterra Energy from Volterra Energy Holdings LLC. That deal brought roughly 225,000 residential customer equivalents into the NRG family.

The brand consolidation happened in two steps:

1. November 2018: Discount Power customers were automatically transitioned to Pennywise Power. Bills switched to the Pennywise name. Contract terms, pricing, and service continued unchanged.
2. Early 2019: NRG rebranded the combined entity as Discount Power. Pennywise Power ceased to exist as a customer-facing brand. The Pennywise name was retired.

Power Express and Volterra customers were separately transitioned to Cirro Energy during the same period.

NRG kept the Discount Power name rather than the Pennywise name. Both brands occupied the same “budget fixed-rate” niche under the same legal entity (US Retailers LLC, PUCT #10177). Discount Power had stronger brand recognition in the Texas market, so Pennywise was the name that got cut.

If You Were a Pennywise Customer

Your account was migrated to Discount Power. Here’s what that means:

• Your contract terms were honored. NRG kept existing pricing and plan structures through the transition.
• You got a new account number. Old Pennywise account numbers were replaced with Discount Power account numbers.
• Autopay carried over. Automatic payment arrangements continued without interruption.
• No service interruption occurred. Same grid, same wires, same PUCT certificate. The electrons didn’t notice.

Some customers reported confusion during the transition—receiving bills under a different brand name without clear explanation. BBB feedback from the period reflects this. If you’re still dealing with a billing issue from the transition, contact Discount Power at 1-877-455-4674.

The Corporate Family

Pennywise Power, Discount Power, and Cirro Energy all operate (or operated) under the same legal entity: US Retailers LLC, PUCT Certificate #10177. Same parent company. Same corporate address at 910 Louisiana St, Houston, TX 77002.

NRG Energy’s Texas residential brands:

• Reliant Energy — premium brand with rewards program and polished app
• Green Mountain Energy — 100% renewable specialist
• Direct Energy — free-nights plans and prepaid options
• Cirro Energy — mid-tier with green energy included free (PUCT #10177)
• Discount Power — budget brand, lowest prices in the NRG family (PUCT #10177)
• Pennywise Power — discontinued, absorbed into Discount Power (PUCT #10177)

If you’re comparing any of these brands against each other, you’re comparing one company against itself. The rates and features differ, but the Fortune 500 backing is identical.

Where to Go Now

If you want what Pennywise used to offer—budget fixed-rate electricity from an NRG-backed brand—go to Discount Power. It’s the same legal entity, same PUCT certificate, same corporate infrastructure. Discount Power is the direct successor.

Discount Power is not in the ComparePower marketplace. To see plans, visit discountpowertx.com directly.

Other budget options on ComparePower:

• Frontier Utilities — consistently competitive on price
• Gexa Energy — Shell-backed budget brand
• 4Change Energy — Charitable giving angle at budget prices

The Bottom Line

Pennywise Power no longer exists. The brand was NRG Energy’s original budget play in Texas—created by Reliant in 2008, operated for about a decade, then folded into Discount Power when NRG consolidated its value brands in 2019.

If you’re researching Pennywise because you saw the name on a comparison site or an old bill, the answer is simple: Pennywise became Discount Power. Same company, same PUCT certificate (#10177), same NRG parent. The name changed. The electricity didn’t.