What is a good electricity rate in Texas?

By the BillAnswers team · Updated November 3, 2026 · How we check facts

Texas homes paid an average of 15.91 cents per kWh in August 2026, against 18.16 cents for the U.S. (EIA). A good rate for you is the lowest all-in price at your own monthly usage, read from each plan's Electricity Facts Label (EFL), not the single number in an ad.

The short answer

The average Texas residential price was 15.91 cents per kWh in August 2026, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The U.S. average for the same month was 18.16 cents. That is a useful yardstick, but it is not a price anyone can sign up for. The number that decides your bill is a plan's all-in price at the amount of electricity you actually use, and every plan in the Texas competitive market has to publish that price on its Electricity Facts Label (EFL).

Nobody sets an official "good" or "high" rate in Texas. The PUCT regulates delivery charges but does not set the final price that retail electric providers charge. So the honest test is a comparison: the same usage, the same kind of plan, and the EFL numbers side by side.

Today's prices by delivery utility

Median average price of fixed-rate, 12-month plans (not prepaid, not time of use), in cents per kWh, from the official Power to Choose plan list (PUCT), downloaded November 3, 2026. Your delivery utility is printed on your bill.

What the government numbers say

EIA labels its monthly figures preliminary. A single summer month can run higher or lower than the rest of the year, so the year-to-date and full-year figures are the better guide to what is typical. In 2024 the average Texas home used 1,096 kWh a month and paid an average bill of $163.72 (EIA Table 5A, the last year of that table).

Why the EFL price at your usage matters more

Texas rules require every EFL to show the plan's total average price at three usage levels for homes: 500, 1,000 and 2,000 kWh a month, rounded to a tenth of a cent (16 TAC 25.475(g)(2)(C)). For a fixed rate plan, that average reflects all recurring charges, leaving out sales taxes and the gross receipts tax reimbursement (16 TAC 25.475(g)(2)(A)).

Ads usually quote the 1,000 kWh column. If your home uses 600 kWh in spring and 2,200 kWh in August, that one number tells you little. Some plans also have a bill credit that applies only inside a usage window, or a minimum usage fee if you use less than a set amount (Power to Choose FAQ). Both can make a plan look cheap in one column and expensive at your usage.

1. Find your kWh for a recent month on your bill. Check a summer and a winter month too.
2. Open the EFL for each plan you are comparing and note the average price in the column nearest your usage.
3. If your usage falls between columns, or the plan has a credit or minimum usage fee, copy its charges into the true-cost calculator.
4. Compare plans at your usage. Then hold the result up against the EIA averages above as a rough check.

Your bill itself shows how you did: every bill must state "The average price you paid for electric service this month" (16 TAC 25.479(c)(1)(I)). Compare that line with the EFL price you signed up for.

Delivery charges are part of every bill

Whichever provider you choose, the local wires company (the transmission and distribution utility, or TDU) delivers the power and charges for it. These are the residential delivery charges the utilities reported to the PUCT as of November 1, 2026:

At 1,000 kWh, delivery alone works out to 7.27 cents per kWh in Oncor's area and 7.02 cents in CenterPoint's (our arithmetic from the figures above). Any all-in price you see on an EFL already includes that slice. If a plan is advertised at a number below those delivery figures, the advertised number either leaves out delivery or depends on a credit, so open the EFL before you decide.

A few rules keep delivery charges honest:

• A provider may not bill more for a delivery charge than the utility's tariff amount (16 TAC 25.479(c)(2)).
• A fixed rate price may change during the contract only for actual changes in delivery charges, ERCOT or Texas RE fees, or new laws (16 TAC 25.475(b)(5)).
• Switching providers does not change your wires company and will not interrupt your service (Power to Choose).

The utilities file these summaries monthly, so check the PUCT page for the current figures before comparing.

Using the averages without being misled

The EIA figure is what Texas homes paid on average; an EFL is a price quote for one plan before taxes. Treat the EIA number as a rough sanity check, and let the EFL at your usage make the decision. When a bill comes in higher than expected, see why your electric bill is high, and for a line-by-line walk through the label itself, read how to read an Electricity Facts Label.

Last updated: November 3, 2026