We take every plan listed on Power to Choose for your area and read its Electricity Facts Label: energy rates, base charges, bill credits, minimum usage fees, time-of-use hours and one-time fees. Then we price each plan for each month of the next year (or the contract, if shorter) at your usage, with usage rising in summer and falling in spring and fall the way Texas homes do. The Net kWh column is that all-in cost divided by the kWh used.

Power to Choose is the Public Utility Commission’s official list of plans, and it’s where our plan list comes from. It sorts plans by their prices at exactly 500, 1,000 or 2,000 kWh, which providers can design plans around. We read each plan’s Electricity Facts Label, price it for every month of a real year at your usage with your utility’s delivery charges, and point out the catches, so the order you see is what each plan would actually cost you.

The advertised prices are for using exactly 500, 1,000 or 2,000 kWh in a month. Many plans hit a low 1,000 kWh price with a bill credit that only applies when usage lands in a narrow range. A home that uses 1,800 kWh in August and 700 kWh in April misses that credit in many months and pays far more than the advertised rate. Pricing each month separately shows the real cost.

Advertised prices are averages at exactly 500, 1,000 or 2,000 kWh in a month. A bill can come in higher when your usage misses a plan’s bill credit, when a minimum usage fee applies in a low month, when the monthly base charge is spread over fewer kWh, or when your utility raises its delivery charges. Variable and indexed rates can also change from month to month. Each plan here is priced month by month at your usage with all of these included.

Your local utility (Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP Texas, TNMP or Lubbock Power & Light) owns the poles, wires and meter, and charges a monthly fee plus a price per kWh to deliver your power. Your provider passes those charges through on your bill. They’re the same whichever provider you choose, but they’re a large part of the bill, so every price here includes them. Click the utility’s name above the plan list to see its current charges and past changes. For outages and downed lines, call your utility, not your provider.

Every Texas electricity plan has an Electricity Facts Label: a standard sheet, in a format set by the Public Utility Commission, with the plan’s prices, fees, contract length and renewable content. It’s the plan’s official terms, which is why we read it for every plan and link to it (“Facts label”) on each one. Our prices are estimates built from it, so read it before you sign up.

Variable rates, usage credits, minimum usage fees, high cancellation fees, prepaid service, time-of-use pricing, and autopay or paperless billing requirements. Each is marked on the plan with an explanation, and you can hide plans that have any of them.

Sign up with the new provider, online or by phone, and it arranges the switch with your utility. Your power stays on: the wires, meter and utility stay the same, and only the company that bills you changes. The switch usually takes effect at your next meter reading; you can ask for an earlier date, which may cost a small utility fee. Your old provider sends a final bill. If you’re in a contract with your current provider, check its cancellation fee first.

Yes. When you switch providers, Texas rules give you three federal business days after you receive the contract documents to cancel without a fee. Contact the new provider directly to cancel.

Usually, if you leave a fixed-rate contract early. The Cancel fee column shows each plan’s fee: some charge a flat amount, others an amount for each month left, and plans with a high fee are flagged. Month-to-month plans usually have none. Texas rules don’t allow the fee when you move and give the provider proof, such as your forwarding address.

Your provider has to send you a notice before a fixed-rate contract ends. If you don’t choose a new plan, you’re moved to a month-to-month plan, often at a much higher rate. Compare plans here a few weeks before the end date, then renew or switch so the new plan starts when the old contract ends, with no cancellation fee.

Prices for new plans tend to climb heading into summer, when Texas uses the most power, and are often lower in spring and fall. A 12-month contract also sets your next renewal in the same season, so one that ends in spring or fall keeps you shopping when prices tend to be lower. Whenever you shop, a 12-month price here includes a full summer.

A fixed rate stays the same per kWh for the whole contract (delivery charges can still change). A variable rate can change any month at the provider’s choice, and an indexed rate follows a market price, which can spike during heat waves and freezes. Fixed is the safest choice for most homes. Variable and indexed plans are flagged here and hidden unless you choose to show them.

Sometimes. These plans charge nothing during the free hours but more the rest of the time, so they only save money if you use a large share of your power during the free hours, and summer air conditioning runs mostly in the paid afternoon hours. To know for sure, load your Smart Meter Texas data under Usage Entry Options: each time-of-use plan is then priced for when you really use power.

A provider may ask for a deposit based on your credit or payment history; some waive it if you have a letter of good payment history from your last electric company. Prepaid plans need no deposit or credit check, but you pay ahead, service can be cut off soon after the balance runs out, and their rates are often higher. Prepaid plans are flagged here and can be hidden.

Plans whose Electricity Facts Label says the provider buys excess power from home solar are marked “Buys back solar”, and the “Only plans that buy back solar” filter shows just those. Buyback terms vary a lot: some credit the full price you pay, others a lower or wholesale rate, and some cap the credit or require a separate sign-up, so ask the provider. Plans are priced here on the power you draw from the grid.

Yes. Enter your average month, your highest and lowest months, or each month from your bills. For the most accurate results, load your Smart Meter Texas 15-minute interval file; it’s read in your browser and never uploaded, and it lets time-of-use plans (free nights, free weekends) be priced for when you really use power.

Areas with retail electric choice, served by Oncor (Dallas–Fort Worth and much of North and West Texas), CenterPoint (Houston), AEP Texas Central (Corpus Christi and South Texas), AEP Texas North (Abilene and West Texas), TNMP and Lubbock Power & Light. Cities with a municipal utility or electric co-op, such as Austin and San Antonio, don’t have retail plans to choose from.

No. Texas Power Plan Finder isn’t affiliated with any electricity provider and earns nothing when you sign up, so plans are ranked only by estimated cost. Plan data is refreshed hourly.