Live Texas power prices for your home — see when it's cheap to run and when to ease off. New: estimate your usage & find ways to lower your bill →
Texas plans hide the real price behind jargon. Here's what the confusing parts actually mean.
Who actually sells you power? Texas is deregulated, so three players touch your bill. Generators make the power and sell it into the grid. Your TDU — the wires company (Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP, TNMP) — owns the poles and meters and delivers it; you can't choose them, and their charges are state-regulated and the same no matter who you sign with. Your REP (retail electric provider) is the company you actually pick and that bills you — a reseller that buys wholesale power, sets your rate and plan, adds its own fees, and collects the delivery charge on the TDU's behalf. Most of the "extra charges" on your bill come from this last layer plus that pass-through delivery.
Electricity Facts Label (EFL) — the one-page sheet every plan must give you. The number that matters is the "average price per kWh" shown at 500, 1000, and 2000 kWh. If you use about 1000, read that line — not the big headline rate.
Delivery / TDU charges — what your wires company charges to deliver power: a small fixed monthly fee plus a per-kWh rate. It's state-regulated, the same for everyone in your area, and no plan can lower it — and it's often a quarter to nearly half of the whole bill.
Base fee & minimum-usage fee — charges your REP adds on top of the energy rate. A base fee is a flat monthly charge (often $5–$10) you pay even at zero usage; a minimum-usage fee hits when you use below a set threshold. A plan can advertise a low rate and quietly make it back here — which is why the headline ¢/kWh isn't the real price.
Bill-credit plans — "get $X off if you use over 1000 kWh." Miss the band by a little and you lose the credit and pay more. Only worth it if your usage reliably lands in the window.
Fixed vs. variable vs. indexed — fixed locks your rate for the term (predictable). Variable can move month to month. Indexed follows the wholesale market — that's the Griddy trap that blew up in 2021. For most homes, fixed is the safe pick.
Teaser rate — a low rate for the first month or two that jumps afterward. Check the rate for the whole term, not the intro.
Early termination fee — what it costs to leave before the contract ends. Know it before you sign.
What your monthly total really is: your REP's base fee + (your kWh × the energy rate) + the TDU's fixed fee + (your kWh × the TDU delivery rate) + taxes and state fees. An advertised "7.5¢ energy" rate ignores most of that — always judge a plan by the EFL's all-in "average price per kWh" at your usage.
Red flags before you sign: a headline rate far below the "average price" line · a big base or minimum-usage fee · a credit you must hit a usage band to earn · a "rate" that's only good for 1–2 months.
Usually it's one of these:
Weather + AC. A hot Texas month can double your kWh — air conditioning is most of a summer bill.
The wrong plan. A teaser or bill-credit plan you've drifted out of, or an expired contract that rolled you onto an expensive month-to-month rate.
Fees stacked on top. Your REP's base or minimum-usage fees, the TDU delivery charge (often 25–40% of the bill), and taxes all pile on top of the energy rate — remember the company that bills you is a reseller, not the wires company.
Usage creep. Extra guests, a failing AC or fridge, or old appliances quietly running up kWh.
Rates shift and contracts expire, so the plan that fit last year may not now. The state's official, free comparison site lists every provider with no paid placement: PowerToChoose.org, run by the Public Utility Commission of Texas. Match the plan to how much you actually use — pull a summer bill's kWh and read the "average price" at that level, not the headline rate.
Texas demand and prices peak on hot afternoons, roughly 2–8pm. When the light above is red — or ERCOT calls for conservation — easing off then helps the grid and your bill: pre-cool the house earlier, hold the dryer / dishwasher / oven until later, nudge the thermostat up a couple degrees, and delay EV charging to overnight.
No tracking. No account. No data leaves your browser.
This shows the live wholesale price of electricity for your part of the Texas grid — a good read on when the grid is cheap, normal, or strained.
Green — power's cheap right now. Good time to run.
Amber — climbing. Worth keeping an eye on.
Red — expensive / grid strained. A good time to ease off big appliances.
Who delivers your power? (it's on your bill — look for the "delivery" or "TDU" charges, not the company that bills you)
Pick the area that fits you:
Advanced — exact settlement point:
A couple of utilities (Oncor, TNMP) cross zone lines, so this is a close match, not gospel — you can change it anytime, and the exact point your facility settles on is printed on your bill.