Rhythm Energy Review

Quick Facts

Is Rhythm Energy good? Rhythm Energy is a Goldman Sachs-backed, 100% renewable provider with genuinely transparent pricing and one of the best apps in Texas electricity. Five years old, growing fast, and recently acquired Inspire Clean Energy for national expansion.

• Parent Company: Goldman Sachs (West Street Capital Partners VII)
• Years in Texas: 5 (selling plans since February 2021)
• Best For: Solar panel owners, app-first customers, and anyone who wants 100% green energy without a premium
• Avoid If: You want 24/7 phone support or a company with decades of Texas track record
• Deposit Required: Conditional (credit-based, with multiple waiver options)

Company Overview

Rhythm does one thing the rest of the industry doesn’t: every single plan is 100% renewable. Not as an add-on. Not as a premium tier. Every plan, standard.

Founded in 2020 by PJ Popovic—former VP and General Manager of Direct Energy’s U.S. retail division—Rhythm started selling plans in February 2021. The company is backed by Goldman Sachs through its West Street Capital Partners VII fund, which has had at least one board seat since inception. That’s not scrappy startup money. That’s institutional capital with a long time horizon.

In June 2025, Rhythm acquired Inspire Clean Energy, expanding into the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Midwest. That deal made them one of the largest independent green energy retailers in the country. For Texas customers, the acquisition signals a company that’s growing, not shrinking.

The risk isn’t financial instability—Goldman Sachs doesn’t let portfolio companies run out of cash quietly. The risk is that Rhythm is still young. Five years of Texas summers is a real track record, but it’s not the 24-year track record TXU has. If that distinction matters to you, it’s worth considering.

What You’ll Actually Pay (April 2026)

We pulled current rates from the ComparePower API for CenterPoint service territory:

Rate range: 10.8¢ to 19.4¢ per kWh at 1,000 kWh usage. Four plans total, all 100% green. No variable-rate or month-to-month plans currently available through ComparePower.

ETF math: $10-$20 per remaining month of your contract. A 12-month plan with 12 months left means $120-$240. But Rhythm offers a 30-day test drive—you can cancel within your first 30 days with no early termination fee at all.

The 100% Renewable Commitment

Every Rhythm plan is backed by 100% renewable energy. This isn’t a marketing gimmick bolted onto one premium tier—it’s the company’s entire business model.

Worth understanding what this means in practice: Rhythm purchases renewable energy certificates (RECs) to match your usage with Texas wind and solar generation. The electrons hitting your meter are still from the shared ERCOT grid. But the financial incentive structure pushes more renewable generation onto that grid. It’s the same mechanism Green Mountain Energy uses, and it’s the standard approach in deregulated markets.

The difference is price. Green Mountain charges a noticeable premium for their green plans. Rhythm’s rates are competitive with conventional providers. Getting 100% renewable at 10.8¢/kWh is genuinely good value.

PowerShift: Demand Response That Pays You Back

Rhythm’s PowerShift program is where the company gets interesting. Connect a compatible Amazon or Honeywell smart thermostat, and Rhythm makes small temperature adjustments during grid strain events. In exchange, you get monthly bill credits.

PowerShift Payback Plus 12: Rhythm ships you a free Amazon Smart Thermostat and gives you $15/month in bill credits. That’s $180/year back on your bill for letting them adjust your thermostat a couple of degrees during peak demand.

PowerShift Payback 12: Already own a compatible thermostat? Connect it and get $5/month in bill credits.

The fine print worth reading:

• You must be on AutoPay and Paperless billing
• Your thermostat can’t go inactive for more than 48 consecutive hours per billing cycle
• Maximum 3 overrides per billing cycle (you can always adjust your thermostat back)
• Cancel early and you may owe a Device Cost Recovery Fee for the thermostat

This is a legitimate program. Grid strain is a real problem in Texas, and demand response is how you solve it without building more power plants. Rhythm is paying customers to be part of that solution.

Solar Buyback Program

If you have rooftop solar panels under 20 kW capacity, Rhythm’s solar buyback program lets you earn bill credits for excess energy you send back to the grid.

How it works: Time-of-use pricing means you earn more for energy exported during on-peak and ultra on-peak hours (summer evenings, winter mornings). Credits roll over monthly with no cap and no credit sweep—your balance carries forward indefinitely.

Key details:

• $19.95 monthly base charge
• Credits apply to energy charges only, not delivery fees
• Credits are bill-only (no cash payouts) and tied to your meter
• Net producers for 6 consecutive months become ineligible
• Separate support line for solar customers: 1-888-987-0432

The competitive picture: Rhythm’s solar buyback rates beat TXU and Reliant by meaningful margins. Most big providers treat solar buyback as a regulatory checkbox—minimum compliance rates that barely justify the paperwork. Rhythm designed their program to actually benefit solar homeowners.

Where Rhythm Operates

Rhythm serves deregulated areas of Texas across all four major TDU territories:

• CenterPoint: Houston, Galveston, surrounding areas
• Oncor: Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Plano, Waco, Wichita Falls
• AEP Texas: Corpus Christi, McAllen, Abilene, Odessa
• TNMP: Select areas across Texas

Austin and San Antonio? Municipal utilities. No one on this site can sell there.

Deposit Requirements

Rhythm runs a credit check on every enrollment. Pass it? No deposit. Fail it? Several options:

Standard deposit: Amount varies. Fully refunded after 12 consecutive on-time payments, with interest at the PUCT-approved rate.

Deposit Alternative Fee: A non-refundable fee that replaces the deposit entirely. Cheaper upfront, but you don’t get it back.

Waiver options:

• Letter of credit from your previous provider showing no more than 1 late payment in 12 months
• Age 65+ with valid state ID, driver’s license, or passport
• Domestic violence victims with Texas Council on Family Violence certification
• Medically indigent with certification letter

No prepaid option exists. If your credit situation is rough and none of these waivers apply, look at Payless Power or Pronto Power for true pay-as-you-go options.

What Our Research Found (April 2026)

We analyzed PUCT complaint data, BBB records, Trustpilot, Google Reviews, and third-party review sites. Here’s what the numbers show:

The Good:

• PUCT complaint rate 58% below industry average: 0.50 per 10,000 customers vs. 1.20 industry average [PUCT complaint data, trailing 12 months]
• 72 total complaints over 12 months—low for a provider of this size
• Zero service quality complaints filed with PUCT
• 4.3 stars on Trustpilot, 4.6-4.7 stars on Google Reviews
• Net Promoter Score of 78 [company-reported]—that’s strong customer loyalty
• Named Retail Energy Provider of the Year (2023)

The Concerns:

• Not BBB accredited and no BBB rating issued
• Billing clarity score of 53/100—customers report confusing average billing and balloon payments at contract end
• PUCT gave them a 2-star complaint rating (their methodology weights differently than raw complaint counts)
• Some customers report difficulty with rate increases at contract renewal
• 38 of 72 PUCT complaints were billing-related

Bottom Line: The raw complaint numbers are good—significantly below average. But if billing clarity and straightforward statements matter to you, know that’s Rhythm’s documented weak spot. The gap between their transparent pricing promise and their actual billing experience is real.

Customer Service: The Real Story

Rhythm built their company for people who manage their lives through apps. If that’s you, they deliver. If you want to call someone at 2 AM when your power is out, they won’t answer.

Contact channels:

• Phone: 1-888-774-9846 (customer support), 1-888-408-2836 (sales)
• Email: support@gotrhythm.com (response within 1 business day)
• Chat: Available during business hours
• App: Account management, bill pay, usage tracking

Business hours:

• Monday-Friday: 8 AM - 8 PM CST
• Saturday-Sunday: 9 AM - 3 PM CST

What works well:

• App quality is best-in-class among Texas electricity providers
• Weekly Smart Alerts and usage projections help you avoid bill surprises
• Solar customers get a dedicated support line and team that understands net metering
• 30-day test drive removes the risk of trying them out

What doesn’t:

• No 24/7 phone support. Period.
• No physical locations. Ever.
• Complex billing disputes require patience with digital channels
• Billing statements can be confusing despite the transparent pricing promise

Extra programs worth knowing:

• Rhythm Rewards: Earn points redeemable for bill credits
• Refer-A-Friend: Both parties get $100 in rewards points (must be on 12+ month non-solar plan, credited after 60 days)
• ETF Reimbursement: Switching to Rhythm? They’ll credit up to $150 toward your previous provider’s early termination fee (documentation required, one per customer, excludes Solar Buyback plans)

The Goldman Sachs Question

Can you trust a 5-year-old electricity company? When Goldman Sachs is writing the checks, the question shifts from “will they survive?” to “will they stay customer-friendly as they scale?”

The case for Rhythm:

• Goldman Sachs backing means real financial stability—not venture capital that can dry up
• PUCT financial requirements met (or they’d lose their license)
• Leadership with decades of industry experience, not first-time founders
• 5 years of Texas summers without issues, including rapid growth
• National expansion via Inspire acquisition shows momentum, not distress

The case for caution:

• Five years is still young. TXU has been around for 24 years.
• Rapid growth sometimes means customer service quality slips
• Billing clarity scores suggest the back-end operations haven’t caught up with the marketing promises
• No BBB accreditation and no BBB rating after 5 years of operation

Our take: Rhythm is financially solid. Goldman Sachs doesn’t let its portfolio companies quietly collapse. The real question is whether their customer experience—especially billing clarity—can keep up with their growth. The complaint numbers say yes. The billing clarity score says “room to improve.”