Houston TX Electricity Plans: Real Cost at 500 and 2,000 kWh
If you live in Greater Houston and you are comparing electricity plans, the number that actually matters is not the bold “9¢” on a marketing banner. It is the all-in average price on your Electricity Facts Label (EFL) at the usage level you really hit each month—especially 500 kWh and 2,000 kWh. Those two anchors catch opposite households: a small apartment that barely runs the AC, and a larger home that fights Gulf Coast heat all summer. Same city, same wires company, wildly different math.
Why Houston shoppers should start at 500 and 2,000 kWh
Texas regulators require every residential plan to disclose an average price per kilowatt-hour (kWh) at three monthly usage points: 500, 1,000, and 2,000 kWh. The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) created the EFL so customers can make an ¹ of retail offers instead of guessing from ads.
That structure exists because plans are not simple unit prices. Many add monthly base charges, minimum-use fees, or bill credits tied to crossing a usage threshold. Power to Choose notes that ², and some companies ³ instead of penalizing low use. A plan that looks cheap at 1,000 kWh can be expensive at 500 kWh—or the reverse.
Before calling any provider, the PUCT’s ⁴ guide recommends knowing your current all-in ¢/kWh at 1,000 kWh, then confirming whether a quoted rate includes energy, transmission and distribution, and recurring fees. Extend that habit to 500 and 2,000 kWh if your usage swings seasonally—common in Houston when March bills and August bills look like they belong to different houses.
Electric deregulation in Texas dates to ². Houston-area customers in deregulated parts of the ERCOT region can ⁵ and should treat the 500 / 2,000 kWh rows as the honest scoreboard.
Houston’s split bill: supplier vs. delivery
Most Harris County addresses sit in Texas’s competitive retail market. If you are in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) region and not served by a municipal utility or electric cooperative, you choose a Retail Electric Provider while the local wires company still delivers power. The PUCT’s official comparison site is ⁶, which links to the ⁷ shopping portal.
Power to Choose explains that ²—regardless of which REP you pick. Reliability does not change when you switch suppliers; the same regulated wires company still responds to outages.
In the Houston metro, that TDU is CenterPoint Energy—the investor-owned utility whose delivery tariff applies when you see “CenterPoint” on your bill’s TDU line. The PUCT publishes TDU delivery charges separately from REP energy charges. As of ⁸, CenterPoint’s residential delivery includes:
- A customer charge of $2.11 per month
- A metering charge of $2.79 per month
- A volumetric charge of 5.1461¢ per kWh
Those delivery lines show up on every bill. Your REP sets the generation supply rate and any plan-specific fees, but it cannot negotiate CenterPoint’s regulated delivery tariff.
When you open an EFL, the average prices at 500, 1,000, and 2,000 kWh already fold REP and TDU components together (plus recurring plan fees), which is why they are the fastest way to compare total cost—not just the energy rate line.
What CenterPoint delivery alone costs at 500 vs. 2,000 kWh
Even before you pay for energy supply, delivery costs scale differently at low and high usage because of fixed monthly charges. Using the PUCT’s published ⁸:
| Monthly usage | CenterPoint average delivery bill |
|---|---|
| 500 kWh | $30.63 |
| 1,000 kWh | $56.36 |
| 2,000 kWh | $107.82 |
At 500 kWh, delivery alone implies an effective rate of about 6.1¢ per kWh ($30.63 ÷ 500). At 2,000 kWh, the effective delivery rate falls to about 5.4¢ per kWh ($107.82 ÷ 2,000). The $4.90 in combined customer and metering charges hits harder when you only buy 500 kWh.
That math explains a pattern Houston renters see every winter: the “price per kWh” on the bill looks high in low-use months even when the REP’s energy rate did not change. Comparing plans at 500 kWh on the EFL captures that penalty; comparing only at 1,000 kWh misses it.
PUCT’s ⁹ materials separate REP charges (energy from your chosen supplier) from TDU delivery charges (moving power to your meter). Both stack into the total due, along with pass-through riders and taxes listed on the bill key.
Reading the EFL: the three usage anchors
The EFL is the standardized “nutrition label” for power plans. The PUCT requires each REP to provide one for every offer so customers can compare contract terms, fees, renewable content, and pricing on equal footing (¹).
On Power to Choose and provider sites, the headline you want is average price (¢/kWh) at:
- 500 kWh — stress-tests base fees and minimum-use penalties
- 1,000 kWh — the mid-point many ads quote
- 2,000 kWh — closer to summer AC load in larger homes
The glossary on Power to Choose also flags ³, where EFL averages assume a split between discounted and premium hours. If you do not shift laundry and charging to off-peak times, your real average can diverge from the label—sometimes upward.
Minimum-use and bill-credit traps
Plans may charge a fee if usage falls below a threshold—often marketed as a “minimum usage” charge. The Power to Choose FAQ states these triggers commonly appear ². A 500 kWh month is not just low; it may cross a fee cliff.
Bill credits work the other way: a plan might subtract a lump sum if you exceed 1,000 or 1,200 kWh. That can make the 2,000 kWh average look brilliant while the 500 kWh average looks awful. There is nothing wrong with credits if your usage consistently qualifies—but a plan optimized for 2,000 kWh is the wrong fit for a studio that runs 450 kWh in spring.
Always read the EFL fee table, not just the three averages. The ⁴ checklist includes whether the quoted rate covers “everything, including the electricity cost, the transmission and distribution charges, as well as any monthly customer charges or other recurring fees.”
Texas price context: benchmarks, not your exact plan
Market prices move. Use statewide data as context, not as a substitute for reading today’s EFL.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Texas’s residential average at 14.94¢/kWh in 2024, with the all-sectors average at 9.79¢/kWh (¹⁰, ¹¹). More recent monthly data show Texas residential at 16.39¢/kWh in March 2026 (¹²).
Rough translation for budgeting (energy plus delivery embedded in market averages, before taxes):
- At 2,000 kWh, 15¢/kWh all-in is about $300 in energy-related charges.
- At 500 kWh, the same nominal average can feel higher per kWh once fixed fees land.
Your EFL averages may sit above or below EIA statewide figures depending on contract type, renewable content, and when you signed. The point of the 500 / 2,000 comparison is relative: Plan A vs. Plan B at your usage, not vs. a national blog quote.
Consumer Reports notes that only ¹³, with Texas among the broadest open markets. The same article warns shoppers to be ¹³ while acknowledging savings are possible with careful comparison—advice that applies directly to Houston’s crowded REP field.
Plan types that behave differently at low vs. high usage
Fixed-rate plans lock the energy charge for the contract term. TDU fees still adjust when regulators approve new tariffs (⁸). Fixed plans are easier to compare at 500 and 2,000 kWh because the EFL math is stable until the TDU or plan fees change.
Variable and indexed plans can move month to month. Power to Choose’s ⁴ list prompts you to learn how and when rates change. A low 2,000 kWh average on a variable plan today is not a promise for August.
Tiered or credit-heavy plans game the EFL anchors on purpose. Always scroll all three usage rows. If the spread between 500 kWh and 2,000 kWh averages exceeds 4–5¢, assume a base fee, credit, or minimum-use rule is doing the work—then decide if your year-round usage matches.
Renewable content affects the energy portion, not delivery. The EFL discloses renewable percentage (³). Green plans can win at 2,000 kWh and lose at 500 kWh if they carry higher base charges.
Switching providers without surprises
Texas switching is designed to be seamless on the wires side. According to Power to Choose, ². The switch completes within about seven business days with no intentional outage.
What can hurt is breaking a contract early. Review your Terms of Service for early termination fees before chasing a better 2,000 kWh average. Slamming—switching without consent—is illegal; the FAQ directs victims to the ².
A practical Houston shopping workflow
- Pull twelve months of usage from your REP portal. Label your lowest month (often March or April) and highest (often July or August). If lows sit near 500 kWh and highs near 2,000 kWh, you need a plan that works at both—not one optimized for a single midpoint.
- Filter on Power to Choose by ZIP and TDU (CenterPoint in Houston). Sort by EFL average at your dominant usage, then check the other anchor.
- Read fees, not just ¢/kWh. Confirm whether a low 500 kWh average hides a minimum-use fee (²).
- Match contract length to tenure. Breaking a contract early can trigger penalties (²). A great 2,000 kWh rate on a 36-month term is a bad deal if you are moving in nine months.
- Verify the TDU pass-through. When CenterPoint adjusts delivery rates, REPs update EFL calculations. Check the effective date on the ⁸ when renewing.
- Escalate billing disputes with your REP first, then the ⁶ if needed.
Small businesses and regulated-market readers
Commercial meters in Houston follow the same TDU geography but different rate classes. The PUCT TDU table lists average delivery bills for other customer classes on the same page as residential CenterPoint figures (⁸). Small offices with light load can resemble residential 500 kWh patterns; heavier usage should compare demand charges separately—not assume residential EFL math transfers cleanly.
If you operate in Ohio, Maryland, or other choice states, the habit remains: compare all-in cost at the usage you actually hit, and treat official comparison portals as the starting point. Consumer Reports recommends researching options where choice exists and staying alert to ¹³.
Bottom line
Houston electricity plans cannot be ranked by a single teaser rate. CenterPoint’s regulated delivery already amounts to about $31 at 500 kWh and about $108 at 2,000 kWh before supply charges (⁸). REP offers layer on top—and the EFL’s 500 kWh and 2,000 kWh averages reveal who charges what at each extreme.
Shop both anchors against your real usage history, not a billboard. If your household lives around 500 kWh in mild months and 2,000 kWh when the AC runs flat out, the plan that is cheapest at both rows on the EFL is the one that will keep money in your pocket year-round—not the one shouting the lowest rate at 1,000 kWh alone.