How to switch electricity providers in Texas without a fee

By the BillAnswers team · Updated October 19, 2026 · How we check facts

A Texas provider cannot charge you a fee to switch to it, and a fixed-rate contract's termination fee cannot apply in the 14 days before the contract's expiration date. After you sign up, you have 3 federal business days from receiving the terms of service to cancel the switch at no cost, and your power is not interrupted.

The 14-day no-fee window

If your fixed-rate contract has an early termination fee, that fee cannot apply to a switch in the last 14 days before the contract's expiration date. The rule says the expiration notice must state that "no termination penalty must apply" to residential customers 14 days before the date given as the expiration date (16 TAC 25.475(e)(2)(C)(ii)). The PUCT puts it simply: you can switch without an early termination charge if the switch is no earlier than 14 days before the expiration date.

If your contract ends at the "first meter read on or after" a date, count the 14 days back from that "on or after" date (16 TAC 25.475(e)(2)(C)(iii)). If your original contract had no termination fee, there is nothing to wait for. Month-to-month contracts cannot carry a termination fee at all, and for homes a variable-price plan can only be month-to-month (16 TAC 25.475(b)(7) and (b)(11)).

How to find your expiration date

• Your bill. Every residential bill must show the fixed-rate expiration date in bold, underlined type (16 TAC 25.479(c)(6)).
• Expiration notices. For residential contracts entered into on or after September 1, 2021, the provider must send at least three written notices during the last third of the contract. For contracts of 12 months or longer, the first can come up to three months before the end date. The final notice must arrive at least 30 days before expiration for contracts longer than 4 months, or at least 15 days before for contracts of 4 months or less (16 TAC 25.475(e)(1)(A)).
• What the notice looks like. It goes by mail to your billing address unless you chose electronic delivery, and the envelope or email subject must read "Contract Expiration Notice. See Enclosed."
• If the notice never came. A provider that fails to give proper notice must keep serving you under your fixed-rate terms until it does (16 TAC 25.475(e)(1)(C)).

What happens if you do nothing

When a fixed contract ends and you have not picked a new plan, you are moved to the provider's default renewal product. That product must be month-to-month, and you may cancel it at any time without a fee. Its price may change from one billing cycle to the next (16 TAC 25.475(e)(2)(A)). Your final notice must include the Electricity Facts Label (EFL) for that default plan. Power to Choose warns that the month-to-month default price "will likely be much higher," so the 14-day window is the time to act.

Your 3-day right to cancel

After you sign up to switch, the new provider sends you its terms of service. You can cancel without "penalty or fee of any kind" for three federal business days after you receive them (16 TAC 25.474(j)). If you enrolled online, the confirmation email must let you cancel by toll-free phone, email, website, fax or regular mail. The provider may send the switch before the three days end, but if you cancel in time it must stop the switch or return you to your old provider at no cost (16 TAC 25.474(k)). This right covers switches, not move-ins at a new address.

Which fees are allowed

One more exit: if your provider changes your contract terms (other than price changes the EFL allows), it must give 14 days' written notice, and you can leave without a termination penalty within 14 days of that notice (16 TAC 25.475(d)).

Will the lights go off?

No. Power to Choose says switching "will not interrupt your electricity service," and the reliability of your service is not affected by the provider you choose. Your wires company (such as Oncor or CenterPoint) stays the same, still reads your meter and still handles outages. A door-to-door seller may not tell you that you must switch to keep your power on (16 TAC 25.474(f)(1)(D)).

Step by step

1. Find the expiration date on your bill or notice and count back 14 days to your first no-fee day.
2. Compare plans by their Electricity Facts Labels, not the headline rate. Put each plan's charges into the true-cost calculator at your own monthly usage.
3. Sign up with the new provider and ask for a start date inside your window (a "self-selected switch"). If you do not have a smart meter, ask whether an off-cycle read fee applies.
4. Before you confirm, check the disclosures: price in cents per kWh, term, early termination fee, any deposit and any switching fee must all be shown. You can also choose to receive information in English or Spanish.
5. Read the terms of service when they arrive. You have three federal business days to cancel.
6. Watch for ERCOT's mailed switch confirmation (the rule requires it in English and Spanish). You do not need to call your old provider.
7. Check your final bill from the old provider for any fee you did not expect.

If something goes wrong, or you were switched without your permission, call the PUCT customer hotline at 1-888-782-8477 (1-888-PUC-TIPS). For tips on using the state's plan list, see Power to Choose explained.

Last updated: October 19, 2026