Texas Electricity Facts Labels: Compare at Your Usage

Start with the kWh on your last bill

Before you pick the Texas electricity plan with the lowest advertised rate, check how much power you used in a mild month. If the plan’s price at 1,000 kWh includes a bill credit and your bill shows 750 kWh, you could owe more dollars for that smaller amount of electricity. The Electricity Facts Label, or EFL, tells you where the credit starts.

This guide applies to residential addresses in Texas with retail electric choice. Start with your service address and the delivery utility shown on your bill. If you’re moving, use the PUCT’s Electric Service Area Boundaries Viewer to look up the address, then confirm the delivery utility and availability of retail choice before comparing plans. Compare labels for the same delivery area so that differences in delivery charges don’t skew the result.

Read down from the three prices to the charges underneath

The Public Utility Commission of Texas requires residential labels to show average prices at 500, 1,000 and 2,000 kWh. The columns give you three points of comparison. Each figure spreads recurring charges over the stated usage and excludes state and local sales taxes and reimbursement for the state miscellaneous gross receipts tax. For a variable-price product, the examples describe the first billing cycle.

Below the price row, look for the retail provider’s energy charge and any base charge. Then find the delivery charges. The label may use TDU, short for transmission and distribution utility. Delivery can include a flat monthly amount and a per-kWh amount. If the label says delivery is passed through as billed, use that utility’s current charges when working out a new estimate. The average prices printed on an older label can reflect delivery charges from its issue date.

An Express Energy Flash 24 label dated July 2, 2025, for the Oncor service area shows the pattern. Its average prices are 20.6¢ at 500 kWh, 10.2¢ at 1,000 and 15.0¢ at 2,000. The price details list a $100 credit for billing cycles at or above 1,000 kWh, alongside delivery charges passed through as billed. Those figures describe that dated label. For a plan you can sign up for, pull the version tied to your offer.

To turn a printed average into a rough dollar figure, multiply it by the usage at the top of that same column and divide by 100. The Oncor label’s 10.2¢ at 1,000 kWh gives about $102. The PUCT rule rounds the displayed price to a tenth of a cent, so use the itemized charges for a closer estimate. Adding the delivery fee to that $102 would count delivery twice.

Price the month just below the credit

Suppose two offers cover the same address. In this invented example, both have a $5 monthly charge. After combining energy and per-kWh delivery, the credit plan costs 21¢ per kWh and subtracts $100 at 1,000 kWh or above. The other plan charges 15¢ per kWh with no usage credit. The table excludes taxes and assumes no other fees.

At 999 kWh the credit plan totals $214.79. At 1,000 kWh, that last kilowatt-hour adds 21 cents and triggers the $100 credit, bringing the bill to $115. That jump is why drawing a straight line between the label’s 500 and 1,000 kWh prices can give you the wrong estimate.

The plan without a credit is $45 cheaper at 750 kWh, while the credit plan is $40 cheaper at 1,000 kWh. At 2,000 kWh the advantage changes hands again. The $100 credit stays the same while the six-cent gap in per-kWh charges applies to every kilowatt-hour.

Replay your billing cycles before signing

Pull the kWh from each of your last 12 bills if you have them. Keep the cycles separate. A household using 750 kWh one cycle and 1,250 the next averages 1,000 kWh, but the credit in this example applies only once. Price both offers against each cycle, then add the dollar amounts. Check the most expensive month as well as the total if you need to budget for seasonal swings.

If your usage sits close to a threshold, include a month on either side when you compare. A short billing cycle can put fewer kWh on the bill even if your daily use stays steady. For a new home without a full year of bills, use a range of monthly estimates and check what each plan would cost when you miss the credit. Look for minimum-use fees and any upper limit on a credit before reusing the example’s formula.

For a straightforward plan, use the US calculator below with the combined per-kWh charge, fixed charges and any separately entered taxes or fees. It models one usage rate at a time. Apply a qualifying bill credit separately and check how the offer treats taxes. Time-of-use pricing, tiers, demand charges and solar credits need their own calculations.

The PUCT’s Power to Choose shopping guidance points customers to past bills and recommends reading both the label and the Terms of Service. Match the plan name, term and delivery area across those documents. Look for the cancellation fee before counting any savings from switching. If the website shows a headline rate without the corresponding label, ask the provider for the EFL for your service address and the exact offer before enrolling.