Switch Texas Electric Provider: Fees, Timeline, and Rates
Shopping for electricity in Texas looks like shopping for a phone plan, except the poles stay the same and the company on your bill can change overnight. In most of the state you pick a retail electric provider (REP)—the company that sells you power and sends the invoice—while a separate wires company delivers it. That split is the whole game: fees, timing, and rates live almost entirely on the retail side of the relationship, and the official shopping hub for comparing offers is ¹, the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) site built for that job.
This guide walks through what actually changes when you switch, who can switch at all, how long it takes, which fees bite, how rate types differ, and how to compare plans without getting burned—plus what to do when a contract ends and how the same ideas apply outside competitive Texas.
What “switching” means when the wires stay put
In 1999 the Texas Legislature opened the door to retail competition so most customers could pick their own electric company; shopping for many Texans started in 2002, according to ². What changed was the seller of electricity. What did not change was delivery: the same local wires company still owns the poles, reads the meter, and restores outages, as ³ explains under deregulation.
That wires company is a transmission and distribution utility (TDU), sometimes called a TDSP. Retail electric providers market plans and bill customers; they do not operate the lines. ⁴ puts it plainly: REPs buy power and resell it; TDSPs deliver and meter it. Four TDSPs serve the competitive zones—Oncor, CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, Texas-New Mexico Power, and AEP Texas—and each bills the REP for delivery, which the REP then passes through on your bill.
Reliability does not depend on which REP you pick. ³ states that electricity continues to be delivered by the same regulated wires company regardless of retailer. For outages, you call the TDU number on your bill, not the marketing brand that sold you the plan. That single fact kills a durable myth: “better” retailers do not keep the lights on during a storm; the wires company does.
If you are starting service at a new address, the mechanics look similar to a switch: you enroll with a REP, ERCOT (the grid operator for most of Texas) processes the request, and delivery stays with the local TDU. The ⁵ defines your ESI ID as the 17- or 22-digit identifier for your premise—keep it handy when shopping or moving. ERCOT also sends the switch-confirmation mailer when you change retailers, which is why the grid operator shows up in a process that otherwise feels like a consumer signup.
Who can switch—and who is stuck with one utility
Not every Texan has retail choice. ³ is clear: some communities are served by municipally owned utilities or cooperatives that never opted into competition. Enter your ZIP on the Plans page (or call 1-866-PWR-4-TEX) to see whether offers appear. If the site returns no competitive plans, you are not failing at shopping—you are outside the choice footprint.
Austin and San Antonio are the textbook examples. ⁶, a City of Austin utility, sets its own residential structure—customer charge, tiered energy charges, power supply adjustment, community benefit charges, and a regulatory charge—rather than a menu of competing REPs. ⁷ likewise bills San Antonio customers under municipal rates with a service availability charge, energy charge, summer peak capacity charge above 600 kWh, plus fuel and regulatory adjustments. In those cities you are not “switching providers” in the competitive sense; you are a customer of the city utility’s tariff, and the levers are conservation, efficiency programs, and budget tools—not REP hopping.
Even inside competitive Texas, customer class matters. ⁵ treats small commercial as peak demand under 50 kW in a 12-month period. Larger commercial and industrial accounts often negotiate differently and may sit on dynamic wholesale-linked products—a distinction that showed up starkly after Winter Storm Uri, when ⁸ that most residential customers on fixed plans were partly shielded while commercial and industrial averages jumped far more because more of those customers were on dynamic pricing. Small-business owners near the 50 kW line should confirm classification before assuming residential-style EFL shopping is enough.
The switching timeline: days, not weeks, and no blackout
Once you pick a plan and enroll, you do not need to call your old REP to cancel. ³ says the new company contacts ERCOT; ERCOT mails a confirmation and notifies the old provider. You still owe any early-termination penalties if you break a live contract—that is separate from the switch process itself.
Clock the milestones:
- Enrollment. You sign up online or by phone and receive Terms of Service (your contract) and an Electricity Facts Label (EFL).
- Three federal business days to rescind. After you receive the Terms of Service, you may cancel the switch without fee or penalty within three federal business days, a right spelled out in ⁹ and repeated on ³. Use that window if the fine print does not match the ad.
- ERCOT confirmation mailer. ERCOT’s letter confirms the switch request and typically restates how to cancel.
- Switch completes within seven business days. ² states the new plan takes effect within seven business days, with no service interruption. Your first bill from the new REP arrives on the next billing cycle after the switch.
There is no PUC-mandated “switching fee” for a routine change timed to a regular meter read. ³ notes an exception: a special meter reading outside the regular schedule can trigger a fee. Plan around your normal read date when you can; if you need an off-cycle read, ask the cost before you request it.
If a REP exits the market, you are not left dark. Providers generally give about 30 days’ notice so you can shop; if a company fails suddenly, customers move to the Provider of Last Resort (POLR) until they choose another REP, and a subsequent switch still lands within about seven business days, per the ³. Treat POLR service as a bridge, not a destination—shop promptly for a standard fixed plan once you are stable.
Move-ins and move-outs follow the same spine with extra address paperwork. When you leave a premise mid-contract, the relocation rules described in the fees section can eliminate an early termination charge if you document the move. When you arrive somewhere new, start service with a chosen REP before you need lights, and bring the ESI ID if the property manager has it.
Fees that actually move the needle
Early termination fees (ETFs). These apply when you cancel a fixed-term contract early. The ¹⁰ says ETFs—if any—are disclosed in your Terms of Service and EFL. ¹¹ adds that contracts of three months or more may carry a penalty for early exit. Two important carve-outs:
- You can switch without an ETF starting 14 days before the expiration date shown in your contract-expiration notice, according to the ¹⁰ and ⁹.
- Moving can also wipe the ETF if you provide a forwarding address and, if required, reasonable proof you no longer occupy the contracted location—language baked into ⁹.
Do the napkin math before you break a contract early: ETF versus months of savings on the new rate. A $150 fee that buys a 3¢/kWh drop at 1,000 kWh/month pays back in five months; the same fee for a 0.5¢ “deal” does not.
Deposits. A REP may require a deposit as a credit condition. The ¹⁰ caps the residential deposit at up to one-fifth of estimated annual billing or the sum of estimated billings for the next two months. ¹¹ notes deposits may be lowered or waived based on payment or credit history, can appear on the first bill or be spread over months, and are refundable when you leave in good standing. Prepaid plans typically skip deposits but require advance payment and closer monitoring.
Minimum-usage and base charges. Many plans assess a fee if you use less than a threshold (often around 500 or 1,000 kWh), sometimes labeled a minimum usage charge, per the ³. A separate base charge can hit every month regardless of usage (⁵). Low-usage apartments and vacation homes get hurt by these more than big AC-heavy houses. Always read the EFL at the 500, 1,000, and 2,000 kWh average-price lines—the cheap teaser at 1,000 kWh can flip ugly at 500.
TDU delivery charges. These are regulated, not negotiated with your REP. As of the PUC’s residential TDU summary (rates as of July 1, 2026 on the ¹²), illustrative pieces include CenterPoint’s customer charge of $2.11, metering charge of $2.79, and volumetric delivery of about 5.15¢/kWh, versus Oncor’s $1.48 customer, $2.58 metering, and about 6.12¢/kWh volumetric—driving average delivery-only bills near $56 (CenterPoint) and $65 (Oncor) at 1,000 kWh before energy and taxes. ⁴ stresses that delivery rates are PUC-approved and billed to the REP, then bundled or line-itemed on your retail bill. Switching REPs does not change which TDU serves you or erase delivery costs.
Smart-meter (AMS) surcharge. The ¹⁰ explains that the Legislature directed recovery of advanced meter costs through a surcharge shared across each delivery company’s customers. Treat it as a delivery-side cost, not a “switch fee.”
Bill timing and disconnection. If you stay with ordinary post-paid service, due dates default to 16 days after bill issuance unless your REP offers a custom due date (¹⁰). Nonpayment can lead to disconnection after proper notice; the ³ describes a termination notice giving 10 days to pay or arrange payment. Prepaid products can disconnect with much less runway when the balance runs dry (¹¹). If money is tight, call before the due date—deferred payment plans and average billing are designed for that moment, not after the truck is scheduled.
How rates work: fixed, variable, indexed, and the state average
Fixed-rate plans lock the energy price per kWh for the contract term, with narrow exceptions. ¹¹ lists the usual exceptions: changes in TDU delivery fees, ERCOT or Texas Regional Entity administrative fees, or new governmental fees outside the REP’s control. Fixed is the budgeting workhorse. After Uri, ⁸ that most Texas residential customers on fixed plans were buffered from wholesale spikes that briefly hit ERCOT’s $9,000/MWh price cap for many hours in February 2021.
Variable-rate plans usually have no long-term contract or cancellation fee, but the cents-per-kWh figure can move monthly at the company’s discretion (¹¹). You can leave anytime—useful if the rate drifts up—but you also absorb spikes tied to weather or tight supply. Variable can make sense as a short bridge near a move date; it is a weak default for a family that hates bill surprises.
Indexed (market) plans also float, but the formula ties to a published index rather than pure REP discretion (¹¹). Ask how the formula works and how you will be notified of changes before you enroll.
Time-of-use and prepaid. Time-of-use plans discount nights or weekends; the average price on the EFL assumes a usage mix that may not match your life (⁵). If you cannot shift laundry, cooking, and charging into discounted hours, the “average” on the label will understate your bill. Prepaid plans avoid deposits and monthly bills but generally price higher and demand active balance monitoring (¹¹).
What “average” rates look like statewide. EIA does not publish your personal plan price; it publishes average revenue per kWh as a proxy. For May 2026, Texas residential average revenue was 16.44¢/kWh, compared with 15.53¢/kWh in May 2025, in ¹³. Nationally, residential average revenue was 18.44¢/kWh in May 2026, up 6.2% year over year, per EIA’s ¹⁴. Those statewide figures blend competitive and non-competitive areas, fixed and variable products, and every TDU territory—so use them as a reality check, not a shopping target. A competitive fixed offer that lands well below the statewide average after delivery and fees is usually doing real work; a “low” teaser that only works at one usage band is not.
Municipal benchmarks can look different by design. ⁷ recently projected about 13.4¢/kWh for residential customers for July 2026 (12-month average about 12.8¢/kWh). ⁶ example bill for 860 kWh inside the city totals about $116.45 under its tiered tariff—useful context if you are comparing life in a choice city versus a muni city, not a like-for-like plan swap.
How to compare plans without getting burned
Start with your current all-in average price at 1,000 kWh (excluding taxes and one-off fees), as ¹⁵ recommends. Then force every offer through the same questions: Is the quoted rate fixed, variable, or indexed? Does it include TDU delivery and recurring company charges? How long is the term? Is there a deposit? What happens at expiration? What is the ETF? What if you miss a payment?
Use the Electricity Facts Label as the common language. The ⁵ defines the EFL as the PUC-required sheet with standardized pricing, fees, term, and renewable percentage so shoppers can compare apples to apples. Read the Terms of Service next—that is the binding contract. ¹ itself is the official, unbiased listing site; every certified REP can post offers there for free.
Watch for structural traps that survive even “standardized” labels: usage tiers that spike after a threshold, bill credits that vanish if you miss autopay, and renewable claims that mix Texas natural gas “green” designations with true wind or solar—distinctions ¹¹ tells shoppers to unpack on the EFL. Rank plans by the average price at your kWh, then break ties with contract length, ETF size, and whether you need Spanish-language materials or paper bills.
Protect against slamming (unauthorized switches) and cramming (unauthorized bill add-ons). Both are illegal; keep account numbers private unless you intend to enroll, read every bill, and call the PUC Consumer Hotline at 1-888-PUC-TIPS if something looks wrong (³ and ¹⁰).
Contract expiration, holdover rates, and when to shop again
REPs must send written contract-expiration notice to residential customers. The ¹⁰ requires notice at least 30 days before expiration. ³ elaborates that for contracts with three or more months remaining at notice time, written notice arrives at least 30 days (or one billing cycle) and no more than 60 days (or two billing cycles) before the end.
Do nothing and you typically roll to a month-to-month product—often variable and priced higher than competitive fixed offers. ¹¹ warns that the default month-to-month price “will likely be much higher,” and urges you to lock a new contract before the old one dies. Remember the 14-day penalty-free switch window before the stated expiration date (¹⁰): you do not have to wait for the calendar to flip to zero if you are ready to move.
Calendar a reminder about 45–60 days out, open Power to Choose, compare EFLs at your real usage (not only 1,000 kWh), and enroll so the seven-business-day switch lands inside the penalty-free window. If you might move mid-term, weigh ETF risk against the relocation exemption and ask whether the REP will transfer the plan to a new ESI ID in the same TDU territory. Auto-renewals and “loyalty” rollovers deserve the same skepticism as cold-call offers—read the rate you will actually pay after the anniversary.
Outside Texas: same shopping muscles, different rulebook
In regulated monopoly territories nationwide, you cannot switch retailers; you work the utility’s rate schedules, budget billing, and assistance programs—the Austin Energy / CPS Energy model. In states that allow retail supply choice, you still separate supply from delivery, insist on written terms, and treat teaser rates with suspicion. Disclosure tools vary: Texas’s EFL-plus-Power-to-Choose stack is unusually centralized. Elsewhere, look for the state public utilities commission shopping site or your utility’s default service price to know what you are beating.
Whatever the state, the decision order stays stable: confirm you actually have choice, measure your usage, compare all-in price at that usage, read termination and auto-renewal language, and time any switch so you are not paying an avoidable exit fee or languishing on a holdover rate. The Texas fee calendar (14-day window, three-day rescission, seven-day switch) does not automatically apply elsewhere—verify local rules before you act.
A practical decision checklist
- Confirm choice for your ZIP on ¹ (or accept that you are on a muni/co-op tariff).
- Pull 12 months of kWh if you can; otherwise use seasonal estimates, not a single mild month.
- Note your contract end date, ETF amount, and whether you are already inside the 14-day penalty-free window (¹⁰).
- Shortlist fixed plans unless you have a specific reason to ride variable or indexed products (¹¹).
- Compare EFLs at 500 / 1,000 / 2,000 kWh; reject plans that only look cheap at one band.
- Add delivery reality: your TDU’s charges follow you (⁴; ¹²).
- Enroll, read the Terms of Service within the three-business-day rescission period, and keep the ERCOT confirmation (³).
- Set a renewal reminder before the next expiration notice arrives.
Switching in Texas is deliberately fast—about a week, continuous power, paperwork handled through ERCOT—but the money is in the fine print you read before that week starts. Treat the EFL like a nutrition label, the Terms of Service like a lease, and the 14-day pre-expiration window like a free exit row. Do that, and fees, timeline, and rates stop feeling like a maze and start looking like a checklist you can finish in an evening.