My Energy Connection vs ChargeBug
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
My Energy Connection
Monitor your home's electricity consumption in real-time with a live speedometer. Track usage remotely via a graph and access historical data with cost estimates. Ideal for understanding energy patterns and managing costs, especially for Time of Use customers.
- Live energy speedometer
- Remote usage graph
- Historical usage data
- Cost estimates
- Time of Use insights
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A Live Look at Usage Follow as your electricity rises and falls on the live energy speedometer. Watch how it changes when major appliances turn on or off. Always Stay Connected Get peace of mind knowing that you can still see your usage while not at home. The energy speedometer is replaced with a graph of readings, updated every 15 minutes. Cost and Usage Data Find your historical usage data and related cost estimates under Usage. BONUS: If you're on Time of Use, you can see your peak period, time frame, and rate. Before downloading, please keep in mind: · You must be an Xcel Energy customer with a smart meter installed. · Your Wi-Fi network credentials will be required to connect your meter. · You’ll need to be connected to Wi-Fi, and your meter must be within network range. Accounts with multiple service addresses are not eligible. See more at https://my.xcelenergy.com/s/billing-payment/energy-insights
ChargeBug
This app provides real-time electric vehicle charging forecasts for Colorado. It helps drivers find available charging stations and plan their routes efficiently. Avoid waiting and charge up with confidence.
- EV charging forecasts
- Real-time availability
- Route planning assistance
- Colorado-specific data
- Station finder
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ChargeBug: A Colorado EV Charging Forecast
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: ChargeBug at 100% against My Energy Connection's 5%. ChargeBug also leads on rating (5.0 vs 1.5). My Energy Connection's advantage is ratings volume (81 vs 7) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 26.2). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
ChargeBug holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: My Energy Connection has 81 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 5% of My Energy Connection's written reviews are positive against 100% of ChargeBug's.
| Parameter | My Energy Connection | ChargeBug |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.5 (81 ratings) | 5.0 (7 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 4.9% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 81 — better | 7 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 26.2 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 80 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Xcel Energy Inc. | Ron Sinton |
Customer experience
My Energy Connection
ChargeBug
Bugs and requests
My Energy Connection
Reported bugs
23 issues- App throws errors
- Failure to connect
- Stuck on 'Meter joining Wi-Fi network' screen
- Quit working and cannot start again
- Cannot connect to smart meter
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- Cannot login
- Latest update broke real-time functionality
- Error code 11
- Error code 60
- Error code 65
- Error code 10 or 12 (phone not on same Wi-Fi)
- Port 8081 closed error
- App crashes
- Meter not detecting 2.4 GHz connection
- App disconnects and reconnects randomly
- App works for a few hours then unsubscribes user
- Cannot maintain connection to meter
- Unpublished bug with ampersand (&) in password or SSID
- App denies access after initial connection
- Endlessly says 'gathering data' for historical data
- App doesn't search for networks, requires manual entry
- Meter has to connect to personal network instead of guest network
- App doesn't work on 5G networks
Requested features
11 requests- Allow connection to 5GHz networks
- Improve compatibility with combined 2.4/5GHz networks
- Allow selection of property for multi-property accounts
- Improve app stability and reliability
- Fix real-time data functionality
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- Develop a better way to connect without sharing WiFi credentials
- Store relevant device name/IP info for faster reconnect
- Remove same WiFi network requirement for real-time use
- Ensure app works on tablets (iPads)
- Fix issues with special characters (&) in passwords/SSIDs
- Support for multiple meters (solar generation)
ChargeBug
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
My Energy Connection
No in-app purchases
ChargeBug
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is My Energy Connection free?
Is ChargeBug free?
Which has better reviews, My Energy Connection or ChargeBug?
Do My Energy Connection or ChargeBug have ads?
Other comparisons
