As a customer in the deregulated Texas electricity market, you probably consider two main factors when choosing your retail electricity provider (REP): High-quality service and reasonable electricity pricing that fits your personal electricity habits. You can discover the quality of a REP's service by reading reviews and asking friends or family — but with over 130 of them in the state, each offering several plans, finding cheap electricity rates in Texas takes more work.
Luckily, you're not the only one who finds the prospect of all that "shopping around" daunting. There are many resources and methods dedicated to finding electricity pricing that fits your budget and lifestyle. In this guide, we'll teach you how to get cheaper electricity rates in your area, how to interpret electricity charges in Texas, and some other factors you should consider when choosing a retail electricity provider.
How Is Energy Priced in Texas?
Before you can find a cheap electric rate, you'll need to know how electricity charges are calculated. Similarly to most regulated markets, electricity pricing in Texas is measured by the average price per unit of electricity used. This is commonly expressed in kilowatt-hours (kWh), which is the amount of electricity used by a 1,000-watt appliance when it's used for an hour. When you see pricing advertised by REPs, you'll notice that it's framed as the average cost per kWh.
You'll also notice that many plans come in two varieties that depend on price per kWh: fixed-rate plans and variable-price plans. Fixed-rate plans have a static cost per kWh, regardless of peak usage times in your area. Variable-price plans, on the other hand, have charges per kWh that fluctuate depending on peak usage times of other customers in your area. While these aren't the only plan types that affect the cost of electricity pricing, they do require the most consideration and can often lead to the cheapest electricity rates. Here’s some more information on the differences between fixed-rate plans vs. variable-price plans.
How to Find Cheap Electricity Rates
Looking up individual retail electricity providers and their pricing per kWh online is time-consuming and searching "cheapest electricity rates in Texas" can provide misleading results. However, there are extra considerations and independent resources that can help you cut through the marketing and advertising so that you can find cheap electric rates in Texas.
Compare Pricing at Different kWh Levels
As previously mentioned, a kilowatt-hour is how much electricity a 1,000-watt appliance uses in an hour. Some retail electricity providers only advertise how they charge customers if they use only 1,000-kilowatt hours in a month. However, the pricing per kWh for 1,000 hours, doesn't always have an equal correlation to pricing for 500 or 2,000 hours. What's more, the U.S. Energy Information Administration found that the average American home used only 899 kWh a month in 2022.
While Electricity Facts Labels (EFLs) provided by REPs are only required to provide pricing at 500, 1,000, and 2,000 kWh levels, reviewing all these charges should factor into what makes a cheap electric rate actually low cost.
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Compare Appropriate Plan Types
Before finding a retail electricity plan, it can help to decide what plan type is right for your home and then research pricing just for those plans. Do you drive an electric vehicle (EV)? Then you may want to compare cheap electricity rates that support EV charging. Do you travel for work most of the week so that you're only home on weekends? Free 3-Day Weekend plans that offer time-of-use pricing for electricity usage on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays may be the best choice for you. Are you frequently consuming less electricity than the average customer in your area? Do you typically consume the same amount of electricity every month? If you meet the energy usage criteria, you may want to consider a fixed-rate plan that includes usage credits.
Finding cheap electric rates in Texas means finding the lowest average cost per kWh, as well as the lowest pricing for the plan that best suits you.
Compare Pricing for Different Contract Lengths
Some REPs provide different pricing per kWh depending on how long your contract with them lasts. Regular, long-term customers are great for any business, and the longer you choose to remain their customer, the more likely your provider is to reward you with cheaper pricing. As with choosing a plan type, determining a contract length that makes the most sense for you can help when you're researching cheap electricity rates in Texas.
Ask Family and Friends in Texas
Personal recommendations carry their own unique weight when compared to EFLs and customer reviews. The latter isn't always simple to understand or transparent (respectively), but the opinion of someone you trust and respect and who has customer experience can be invaluable. You may even know someone who has enrolled with multiple REPs and seen the changing deregulated electricity landscape. While personal recommendations should be combined with other research, they can still help you choose from among the lowest prices on the market.
Use Power to Choose
Power to Choose is a simple and straightforward website run by the Public Utility Commission of Texas. Just type in your zip code and discover average energy pricing from every retail electricity provider that operates in your area. Filter results by plan type, customer reviews, green residential plans, and more.
In addition to helping you find cheap electricity rates in Texas, Power to Choose is known for its transparency. The site lists things that some REPs only mention in their EFL. These include real, uncurated customer reviews, cancellation fees, a six-month history of customer complaints, and pricing for 500 or 2,000 kWh usage. There's plenty for customers to consider beyond how to get cheaper electricity rates when enrolling in plans, and Power to Choose covers most of them.
Gexa's Cheap Electricity Rates in Texas
Depending on where you live, you may find that Gexa Energy has the lowest priced retail electricity plans than any other provider. But even if they aren't, you get so much more when you select Gexa. You'll find customized plans to fit your lifestyle — whether you have simple electricity needs or require more customizable options for things like solar systems or electric vehicles. You'll also get dedicated customer service and support and innovative ways to help you save on your energy charges each month.
Learn more about renewable energy tax credits.
FAQs
Are electric rates cheaper at night?
Only if you have a variable-price electricity plan that includes lower charges during nighttime hours. Carefully read the EFLs of any plans you're interested in to learn how pricing works during nighttime hours.
When are the cheaper rates for electricity?
That greatly depends on the terms of your plan. In some instances, your pricing will remain consistent no matter the time of day or day of the week. Research variable-price plans in your area to find more affordable pricing during the hours that you use electricity the most.
Are electricity rates cheaper on the weekends?
Some plans, like Gexa's Free 3 Day Weekend plan, offer lower pricing Friday through Sunday. However, not all REPs offer plans like these, in which case you'll pay the same rate every day of the week.
