Fixed, variable, time-of-use and prepaid electricity plans in Texas

Texas providers offer several kinds of electricity plans. The type matters as much as the price, because it decides how predictable your bill will be. Here is how each works, in plain terms, with the rules from the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT).

Fixed-rate plans

Under PUCT rules, a fixed rate product has a term of at least three months, and its price is the same in every billing period of the term. The price can vary only for limited reasons outside the provider's control: actual changes in utility delivery (TDU) charges, ERCOT or Texas Regional Entity administrative fees, or new laws and regulatory fees.

• Pros: predictable price per kWh; easy to compare; you are protected if wholesale prices spike.
• Cons: an early-termination fee usually applies if you leave before the last 14 days of the term; if market prices fall, you don't benefit until renewal.

Fixed does not mean the bill is fixed. Your bill still rises with usage in summer. And some fixed-rate plans include bill credits that make the effective price jump around; see bill credits and the 999 kWh cliff.

Variable-rate plans

A variable price product lets the provider change the price by a method it sets. Under PUCT rules, a residential variable plan can only be month-to-month, and a month-to-month contract cannot carry a termination fee.

• Pros: no long commitment and no cancellation fee.
• Cons: the price can change every billing cycle, sometimes sharply.

If your fixed contract ends and you do nothing, you usually land on a month-to-month default product. See what happens when your contract ends.

Indexed plans (no longer offered to homes)

Indexed plans are no longer offered to homes. An indexed product changes price by a published formula tied to public indices. Since February 1, 2022, PUCT rules (16 TAC §25.475(c)(3)(F)) bar providers from offering indexed products to residential customers, and wholesale-indexed plans, which passed through real-time ERCOT prices, have been barred since September 1, 2021. If you see "indexed" in older material, it does not apply to plans on offer today.

Time-of-use plans

Time-of-use plans charge different rates depending on when you use power, for example "free nights", "free weekends" or seasonal peak pricing. The EFL shows the on-peak and off-peak hours and average prices.

• Pros: can work well if you can genuinely shift a lot of usage, such as charging an electric vehicle overnight.
• Cons: daytime rates are often higher, and summer afternoons, when Texas AC runs hardest, are usually in the expensive window. The cost depends on your hour-by-hour pattern, which a monthly total doesn't capture.

Prepaid plans

Prepaid (pay-in-advance) plans let you pay before you use power. Under PUCT rules a provider cannot require a security deposit for prepaid service, and the starting balance it asks a residential customer for is capped at $75. The EFL states whether a product is prepaid.

• Pros: no deposit; easy to start; close tracking of spending.
• Cons: when your balance drops to a low threshold (no more than $10 under the rules), the provider may start disconnection after a short warning, so you need to keep the account topped up. Fees and prices can differ from standard plans.

Very short terms

Many plans run only one to five months. A low price for three months tells you little about a year: when the term ends you will usually move to a renewal or month-to-month rate.

What the market looks like

As of October 2026, our data from the PUCT's Power to Choose export lists 1,107 active plan listings across the competitive areas. Some plans are listed twice (once in English, once in Spanish); after counting each plan once (same utility, provider, plan name and term) there are 952 distinct offers:

Categories overlap (a short-term variable plan counts in both rows). Counts are distinct offers.

Why we hide some plans by default

Our ranking estimates each plan's cost over 12 months of your usage, using the prices on its Electricity Facts Label. That works when the price structure stays the same all year. It does not work well for:

• variable plans, where the price can change next month;
• time-of-use plans, where cost depends on the hour, not just the month;
• prepaid plans, which have a different fee and payment structure;
• terms under 6 months, where most of the year would be at an unknown renewal price.

So by default we rank fixed-rate plans of 6 months or more. A plan of 6 to 11 months is priced at its own rate for its term and, for the rest of the year, at a typical 12-month-or-longer fixed plan in the same area, as if you shopped again. You can turn each hidden type back on in the filters on any results page, for example Oncor plans or CenterPoint plans. Read more in how it works.

Costs we show are estimates. Always read the EFL for the plan you choose.