How the ranking works

Short version: we price every plan on twelve months of usage and add the bills up. The plan with the lowest total wins.

1. Where the prices come from

Every plan comes from PowerToChoose, the official plan list run by the Public Utility Commission of Texas. We download the full list every day. Each plan reports its average price at 500, 1,000 and 2,000 kWh a month, and those prices already include the delivery charges of your utility (TDU).

2. Your usage over a year

If you give us a monthly average, we spread it over a typical Texas year. Air conditioning makes August use roughly twice what April does:

With 1,000 kWh as your average, April comes out near 700 kWh and August near 1,500 kWh.

3. Bill credits, modeled honestly

Many plans give a fixed credit (say $125) in any month you use 1,000 kWh or more. Their 1,000 kWh price looks low because it includes the credit. Below the threshold the credit is gone and the bill jumps.

We read the credit condition from the plan's "Fees/Credits" text, rebuild the bill without the credit from the three published prices, and then add the credit back only in the months where your usage qualifies. Plans whose credit text we cannot read are interpolated between the three prices and flagged so you can check the EFL.

Plans shorter than 12 months

A 6- or 9-month plan only keeps its price for its term. So for the yearly figure we start in the current month, use the plan's price for its term, and for the remaining months assume you switch to a typical 12-month (or longer) fixed plan in the same utility — the median monthly bill of those plans. We also show what the year would cost if you forget and roll onto a month-to-month rate: the provider's own variable price if it lists one, otherwise 30% above that typical plan, and never less than it.

Same listing twice? Power to Choose sometimes lists one plan in English and Spanish, occasionally with different prices. We show it once and keep the listing whose prices match its Electricity Facts Label. Ties in estimated cost are ordered by longer term, then better PUCT complaint score.

4. What we hide by default

• Variable-rate plans — the price can change any month, so a 12-month estimate is not meaningful.
• Prepaid plans — they work differently (pay first, daily balance).
• Plans shorter than 6 months — the low price ends long before the year does, so a 12-month estimate would flatter them.
• Time-of-use plans — the cost depends on when you use power, which a monthly total cannot show.

You can include any of them with the filters on the results page.

5. What the estimate does not include

Sales tax, city franchise fees and the PUC assessment vary by address and are left out, so your real bill will be a few percent higher for every plan alike. Rates on PowerToChoose can change daily; the EFL on the provider's site is the binding document.

6. Ranking is not for sale

Some sign-up links may earn us a commission. That never changes the order: plans are sorted by estimated cost and nothing else. Advertiser disclosure →

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