Midland TX Electricity Plans: Real Cost at 500 and 2000 kWh

If you live in or around Midland and you are shopping for an electricity plan, the single most important number on any offer is probably not the headline rate. It is the average price per kilowatt-hour (kWh) printed on the plan's Electricity Facts Label (EFL) at 500 kWh and 2,000 kWh of monthly use. Those two benchmarks exist because Texas regulators require every retail plan to disclose standardized pricing at specific usage levels so households can compare offers apples to apples—even though your actual bill will depend on your home, your habits, and the season.

This guide walks through how Midland-area electricity pricing works, why the same plan can look cheap at 2,000 kWh and expensive at 500 kWh, and how to estimate your real monthly cost before you sign a contract.

Why 500 kWh and 2,000 kWh are the comparison tiers that matter

Texas does not have one statewide "price of electricity" for competitive-market customers. Instead, you choose a Retail Electric Provider (REP) that sells you power, while a separate regulated utility delivers it over local wires. The Public Utility Commission of Texas requires each plan's ¹ to show contract terms, fees, renewable content, and average all-in prices at standardized usage points so you can compare plans side by side.

On ²—the PUC's official comparison site—you can filter results by estimated monthly use, including 500 kWh, 1,000 kWh, and 2,000 kWh. That matters because many marketed plans are structured around bill credits, minimum-use fees, or tiered energy rates. A plan that advertises a low average price at 2,000 kWh may carry a much higher effective rate at 500 kWh, and vice versa.

For context, the typical Texas home uses more electricity than 500 kWh in most months but less than 2,000 kWh. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average Texas residential customer used about 1,096 kWh per month in 2024 at an average price of 14.94 cents per kWh, producing an average bill of roughly $164 per month before taxes and local fees. That statewide average is a useful sanity check—not a promise of what you will pay in Midland.

How electricity choice works in Midland

Midland is in one of Texas's deregulated electricity regions, meaning most residents and many small businesses can choose among competing REPs rather than buying power from a single monopoly utility. The ³ explains that in 1999 the Texas Legislature opened most of the state to retail competition to encourage market choice; some areas served by municipal utilities or cooperatives were exempt and may not have full choice.

What did not change when Texas deregulated: the poles, wires, meters, and outage response. Those remain the job of your local Transmission and Distribution Utility (TDU), also called a TDSP. ⁴ notes that four TDSPs operate in Texas's deregulated zones: Oncor, CenterPoint Energy, AEP Texas, and Texas-New Mexico Power. The TDSP bills your REP for delivery; the REP passes those regulated charges through to you, usually bundled into the all-in rate shown on your bill and EFL.

When you shop for Midland service, start by entering your ZIP code—79701 and surrounding codes work on ⁵—so the site can show offers available in your TDU area. You are choosing the company that supplies and bills your electricity, not the company that maintains the physical grid.

Two line items, one bill: energy supply plus TDU delivery

Every residential bill in a competitive area combines:

1. Energy charges from your REP—the cost of the electricity you consumed, plus any plan-specific fees, credits, or riders allowed in your contract.
2. TDU delivery charges—regulated pass-through fees for using the local distribution system.

⁶ that for residential customers in its territory, delivery includes a fixed monthly charge of $4.23 plus a usage-based charge of approximately 5 cents per kWh (rates are set in Oncor's PUC-approved tariff and can change over time). Your REP may label this the "TDU Delivery Charge" on your bill. Oncor does not sell you electricity directly; it charges your REP, and your REP bills you.

Because delivery includes a flat monthly fee, your effective delivery cost per kWh is not constant. Spread $4.23 across fewer kWh and delivery becomes a larger share of each kilowatt-hour; spread it across more kWh and the per-kWh delivery rate falls. That math alone makes 500 kWh and 2,000 kWh useful comparison points: they show how fixed fees and usage interact.

Oncor also notes that delivery charges are revised periodically and that bills often feel highest in summer (air conditioning) or winter (electric heating)—not because the TDU is arbitrarily raising prices, but because total kWh consumption spikes even when the per-kWh delivery rate stays regulated.

Reading the Electricity Facts Label at 500 and 2,000 kWh

The ¹ defines the document as a standardized fact sheet with rates, fees, contract terms, and renewable-energy percentage. Power to Choose instructs shoppers to click FACT SHEET on any plan before enrolling and to read it carefully.

On each EFL you should find average prices in cents per kWh at 500, 1,000, and 2,000 kWh per month. Those averages are designed to include energy and pass-through TDU charges in one number, so you can compare Plan A vs. Plan B at the usage level closest to your household.

The ² recommends calculating your typical monthly use from past bills before you shop, because usage follows seasonal patterns—often higher in August and February. A plan optimized for 2,000 kWh summer cooling may punish you in a mild shoulder month at 500 kWh if the plan includes minimum-use fees or tier breakpoints.

When calling providers, the PUC's ⁷ list starts with: What will I pay per kWh based on 1,000 kWh of average monthly usage? and Does this rate include everything—energy, transmission and distribution, and recurring customer charges? Ask the same question at 500 kWh and 2,000 kWh if those better match your low and high months.

Minimum-use fees, bill credits, and tiered pricing

This is where advertised rates diverge most from real cost.

The ³ warns that many plans require a minimum amount of electricity each month. If you use less, you may be charged a minimum usage fee—sometimes not broken out clearly on the bill. Typical trigger points are less than 500 kWh or less than 1,000 kWh in a billing period.

The same FAQ notes that some companies offer credits or waivers when you use a certain amount of power. A plan might advertise a low average price at 2,000 kWh because a usage-based bill credit kicks in only at high consumption. At 500 kWh, that credit vanishes—and the effective rate jumps.

The user guide explicitly suggests filtering out plans with minimum usage fees/credits and tiered rates if you want simpler math. That filter is worth using for apartments, seasonal homes, or anyone whose usage regularly falls near 500 kWh.

Reporting on the market reinforces why the EFL tiers matter. ⁸ interviewed consumer advocates who said Power to Choose can surface plans with cheap-looking rates while fees or higher prices at other usage levels hide in contract fine print—exactly the scenario the 500/2,000 kWh disclosures are meant to expose.

Translating 500 kWh and 2,000 kWh into dollar estimates

No single table can tell you what every Midland plan costs today—REP offers change frequently. But you can build a realistic estimate by combining statewide benchmarks, TDU delivery math, and your plan's EFL averages.

Benchmark: Texas statewide averages (2024)

EIA data show Texas residential customers paid 14.94 cents/kWh on average in 2024. If that average applied uniformly:

Those figures come from ⁹ and ¹⁰. They are statewide blends of every plan and TDU—not a specific Midland offer.

Benchmark: TDU delivery component (illustrative)

Using Oncor's published residential delivery example—a $4.23 monthly charge plus about 5 cents per kWh—delivery alone would be roughly:

Source: ⁶. Your TDU area may differ if you are not on Oncor; delivery rates change when the PUC approves tariff updates.

What is left: the energy/supply portion

Subtract regulated delivery from your all-in EFL average to see what you are paying for the energy itself and any REP fees. Example: if your EFL shows 13.0 cents/kWh at 2,000 kWh, that is your bundled comparison number; the TDU share is embedded in it.

The gap between a plan's 500 kWh and 2,000 kWh EFL averages tells you how aggressively the plan is structured around usage tiers. A wide spread between those rows deserves scrutiny—pull the EFL fee table and look for bill credits, minimum fees, or block rates.

Seasonal usage patterns in West Texas

Midland's desert climate pushes summer air-conditioning load and can create secondary winter heating demand when cold snaps hit. You do not need a custom weather model to shop smart: use your own meter history.

Power to Choose recommends estimating average monthly use from past electric bills and remembering that consumption rises in hot months like August and can also spike in February. If your summer bills reflect 1,800–2,200 kWh but your mild-weather months fall near 600–800 kWh, compare plans at both 500 kWh and 2,000 kWh and favor plans with a narrow spread unless you are confident you will always land near the higher tier.

Smart Meter Texas, referenced in ⁴, lets Texas customers view historical interval usage—valuable before you renew or switch.

Step-by-step: comparing Midland plans for your real usage

1. Gather 12 months of kWh history from bills or Smart Meter Texas.
2. Open ² and enter your Midland ZIP code.
3. Set estimated use to 500 kWh and note the top plans' Price/kWh column; repeat at 2,000 kWh.
4. Filter out tiered/minimum-use plans if you want predictable pricing (²).
5. Open each finalist's FACT SHEET (EFL) and compare average prices at your closest usage tier.
6. Read Terms of Service for contract length, early-termination fees, and renewal rules—the FAQ notes you may be switched to a month-to-month variable plan if you do not act before contract expiration.
7. Call the REP with the ⁷ script if anything on the EFL is unclear.

Power to Choose also lets you filter by contract length, fixed vs. variable pricing, renewable percentage, and complaint score—use those after you have narrowed on true cost at your kWh level.

Fixed, variable, and indexed plans: cost risk at any usage tier

The ¹ defines three common product types:

• Fixed-rate plans lock in your energy price for the contract term, with limited exceptions (such as TDU fee changes or certain regulatory charges). Budgeting is easier; you may miss out if market prices fall.
• Variable-rate plans can change monthly with market conditions—no cancellation fee, but price spike risk during heat waves, cold snaps, or grid emergencies.
• Indexed plans tie price to a public index; swings can be large month to month.

¹¹ that Texas's deregulated design allows some customers on variable or wholesale-linked products to see enormous bills when market prices spike—while customers on traditional fixed-rate plans were shielded from wholesale volatility during Winter Storm Uri. Usage tier still matters on fixed plans (500 vs. 2,000 kWh averages), but product type determines whether your rate can explode independently of tiers.

For most households—especially those comparing 500 kWh scenarios where minimum fees already bite—a fixed-rate plan with a flat EFL curve (similar averages at 500, 1,000, and 2,000 kWh) is the easiest to reason about.

Switching providers: timing, rights, and pitfalls

The ³ outlines switching mechanics: after you enroll, ERCOT sends a confirmation mailer; you have three business days to cancel without penalty, and the switch completes within about seven business days with no intentional service gap. There is generally no switching fee unless you request a special meter read.

Know your rights: REPs must provide an EFL, Terms of Service, and Your Rights as a Customer disclosure. Slamming (switching without consent) and cramming (unauthorized charges) are illegal; complaints go to the PUC at 1-888-PUC-TIPS.

Before breaking an existing contract, check your Terms of Service for early-termination fees—they can erase savings from a slightly cheaper 2,000 kWh rate.

Small-business and second-meter considerations

The ¹ separates small commercial accounts (peak demand under 50 kW) from larger commercial and industrial classes. Many Midland small offices and retail shops shop in the same competitive portal as homes but may face different minimum-demand charges. If you are comparing a business meter, use the business flow on Power to Choose and read the EFL at usage levels that match your operational load—not a residential 500 kWh assumption.

Bottom line for Midland shoppers

• Midland is a competitive Texas market: you choose a REP; a regulated TDU delivers power and collects pass-through delivery fees.
• Always compare EFL average prices at 500 kWh and 2,000 kWh, not just the marketing snapshot on a billboard or aggregator site.
• Expect delivery fees to hurt more per kWh at 500 kWh because of fixed TDU charges.
• Watch for minimum-use fees below 500 or 1,000 kWh and bill credits that only appear at high usage.
• Use 2024 Texas averages—14.94 cents/kWh and about 1,096 kWh/month—as context, not as your quoted plan price.
• Prefer fixed-rate plans with a flat tier profile unless you actively manage usage around time-of-use discounts.

Electricity in Midland is shoppable, but the market rewards careful readers. The 500 kWh and 2,000 kWh lines on your EFL are the fastest way to see whether a plan fits your real life—or only fits a marketing example.