Choosing an electricity provider in Texas

Who can choose

Texas opened its retail electricity market in 2002, but only where the grid operator is ERCOT and the delivery utility was opened to competition. There, the delivery utility (a transmission and distribution utility, or TDU) owns the poles, wires and meters, and every home chooses a retail electric provider (REP) to buy electricity from. The six TDUs are Oncor, CenterPoint Energy, AEP Texas Central, AEP Texas North, TNMP and Lubbock Power & Light, the city-owned utility that now delivers power for retail providers in Lubbock.

Everywhere else, the local utility still sells electricity at regulated or board-set prices: city utilities such as CPS Energy in San Antonio and Austin Energy, most electric cooperatives such as Pedernales, and the investor-owned utilities outside ERCOT, El Paso Electric, Entergy Texas, SWEPCO and Xcel Energy in the Panhandle. Homes there cannot shop.

Statewide, 55.5%¹ of residential customers bought from a retail provider in 2025; in the competitive areas, every home does.

What retail provider customers actually paid

EIA's annual census is the one public source of what each provider's customers paid over a whole year. Across all retail providers, residential customers paid 17.23¢ per kWh in 2025, delivery charges included. The averages of individual providers differ a lot: among the 38 with 10,000 or more residential customers they ranged from 8.03¢ per kWh (Southern Federal Power, LLC) to 20.86¢ per kWh (Young Energy, LLC). The two largest, Reliant Energy Retail Services and TXU Energy Retail Co, LLC, averaged 18.38¢ per kWh and 19.36¢ per kWh; Champion Energy Services averaged 10.16¢ per kWh¹.

Champion Energy Services10.16¢

US Retailers, LLC15.77¢

TriEagle Energy, L.P.16.24¢

Constellation NewEnergy, Inc16.62¢

Amigo Energy16.69¢

Just Energy16.92¢

Retail Energy Solutions, LLC17.08¢

Value Based Brands LLC17.15¢

Direct Energy Services17.30¢

Gexa Energy, LP17.42¢

Stream SPE, LTD17.67¢

Reliant Energy Retail Services18.38¢

Green Mountain Energy Company18.49¢

TXU Energy Retail Co, LLC19.36¢

Ambit Energy Holdings, LLC19.74¢

Source: EIA-861 annual electric power industry report, 2025 final. The 15 largest providers by residential customers (EIA-861 2025, Part D). Each figure is the provider's total residential revenue divided by kWh, delivery included, across all its plans in the year: a past average, not an offer or a plan price.

Show the numbers

Retail provider	¢/kWh (2025 average)	Residential customers
Champion Energy Services	10.16¢	218,102
US Retailers, LLC	15.77¢	416,504
TriEagle Energy, L.P.	16.24¢	119,408
Constellation NewEnergy, Inc	16.62¢	127,616
Amigo Energy	16.69¢	152,002
Just Energy	16.92¢	437,966
Retail Energy Solutions, LLC	17.08¢	134,980
Value Based Brands LLC	17.15¢	245,378
Direct Energy Services	17.30¢	259,458
Gexa Energy, LP	17.42¢	310,726
Stream SPE, LTD	17.67¢	142,525
Reliant Energy Retail Services	18.38¢	1,545,510
Green Mountain Energy Company	18.49¢	273,660
TXU Energy Retail Co, LLC	19.36¢	1,442,516
Ambit Energy Holdings, LLC	19.74¢	364,649

These are averages across all of a provider's plans, customers and delivery areas over 2025, including customers on expired contracts who roll onto month-to-month prices. They describe what happened, not what any provider offers today, and a provider's mix of areas (delivery charges differ by TDU) and customers affects its average.

Choice against the areas without it

In 2025, residential customers of the Texas utilities outside the competitive market, the cooperatives, city utilities and non-ERCOT investor-owned utilities, paid 13.11¢ per kWh on average, against 17.23¢ per kWh¹ for retail provider customers. The two groups live in different places, with different delivery costs and different weather, so the gap is a fact about the two markets in 2025, not a measure of what any household would save by moving.

Utility full-service customers (default service): supply and delivery13.11¢

Texas retail electric providers: supply and delivery17.23¢

Source: EIA-861 annual electric power industry report, 2025 final. Average revenue per kWh by service part, EIA-861 2025. Supply-only and delivery-only averages each cover only part of a bill and different groups of customers; adding them gives only a rough estimate of what a shopping customer paid in total.

Show the numbers

Part of the market	¢/kWh
Utility full-service customers (default service): supply and delivery	13.11¢
Texas retail electric providers: supply and delivery	17.23¢

Delivery charges come through your provider

Retail providers pass the TDU's delivery charges through to customers, either as a separate line or built into the plan price. In 2025, residential delivery revenue per kWh ranged from 5.41¢ per kWh at CenterPoint to 7.09¢ per kWh¹ at TNMP. Delivery charges are set by the Public Utility Commission of Texas and change when a TDU's rate case or adjustment is approved; they are the same whichever provider you choose.

CenterPoint Energy5.41¢

Oncor5.64¢

AEP Texas North5.86¢

AEP Texas Central5.91¢

Lubbock Power & Light6.31¢

TNMP7.09¢

Source: EIA-861 annual electric power industry report, 2025 final. What each transmission and distribution utility billed (through retail providers) for delivering power to residential customers, divided by their kWh (EIA-861 2025, delivery companies). Delivery only: the retail provider adds the energy charge.

Show the numbers

Delivery utility	¢/kWh	Residential customers
Oncor	5.64¢	3,545,814
CenterPoint Energy	5.41¢	2,529,039
AEP Texas Central	5.91¢	793,896
TNMP	7.09¢	237,930
AEP Texas North	5.86¢	158,488
Lubbock Power & Light	6.31¢	94,738

How to compare plans

Every plan has an Electricity Facts Label (EFL), required by the commission's rules (16 TAC §25.475). It shows the average price per kWh at 500, 1,000 and 2,000 kWh of monthly use, including the TDU's charges, plus the contract length, cancellation fee and whether the price is fixed, variable or indexed. Three points matter most:

1. Compare at your own use. Plans with bill credits or minimum-use fees can look cheap at exactly 1,000 kWh and expensive a little above or below it. The average Texas home used 1,110 kWh² a month in 2025, more in summer.
2. Check the contract end. When a fixed-price contract ends, the provider moves you to another price unless you choose a new plan.
3. Use the official site. Power to Choose lists plans by ZIP code with links to each EFL. Brokers and comparison sites rank plans by their own criteria and are often paid by providers.

Texas prices in context

Over the last 12 months (September 2025 to August 2026), Texas homes paid 15.98¢ per kWh on average across all utilities and providers, 11.4% below the US average³. Because Texas homes use a lot of electricity, the average bill was $170.95² a month in 2025. The Texas state page covers the state's prices, utilities and history; the regulated vs deregulated guide compares the two systems.