Power to Choose Texas Electricity

Texas electricity shopping isn’t easy. While over 85% of Texans have the power to choose their energy provider, it’s a process that few look forward to. Complicated plans, rates that are higher than what you expected, savings that never appear. In this article we review the Power to Choose website and why a comparison shopping alternative is a better choice.

Key Takeaways

• Power to Choose is the state-sponsored shopping site for Texas electricity rates. Consumers can only view rates at 500, 1000 or 2000 kWh.
• ElectricityPlans.com is the best Power to Choose alternative. View rates based on your usage, so you know what you’ll spend. See estimated bills, compare plans side by side and see the details highlighted in easy-to-understand language.

What is Power to Choose?

Power to Choose is the state-operated electricity comparison page for the state of Texas. Run by the Public Utility Commission of Texas, it includes rates for every electricity provider.

However, the website is not without its drawbacks.

• Rates are displayed at set levels. Rates are displayed at 500, 1000 and 2000 kWh. But the average home uses 1300 kWh! And plenty of homes use more or less than that.
• Games and gimmicks are common. Since rates are displayed at set levels, electricity providers include tiered rates, base charges and bill credits to manipulate the rate display. That leaves consumers frustrated when the bill is more than they expect.
• Plan overload with no quality control. The Public Utility Commission has lots of disclaimers on their website. They don’t take any responsibility for fact checking or quality control on the rates that are published.

When you use the Power to Choose Texas site to compare power rates, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. And easy to make the wrong choice for your home.

That’s why we created ElectricityPlans.com in 2017. Since then we’ve helped thousands of consumers make sense of electricity rates.

Power to Choose Alternative

ElectricityPlans is a power to choose alternative that makes it easy to shop for the best electricity rate.

Why? We read the fine print and highlight the information you need to know. Plus you can shop based on your average monthly electricity usage. That lets you quickly find the right plan for your home.

Here are some of the tools for comparing energy plans and rates you’ll find on our site:

• Rates based on your usage. Enter your average monthly usage and see how much you will pay, instead of just the price at 500, 1000 or 2000 kWh
• Estimated bills. View not just the price per kWh, but an estimate of what you will pay with each plan.
• Narrow down the options. Use search tools to look for just the features you want, like fixed rate electricity plans or 100% green energy plans.
• Compare plans head-to-head. The Compare Plans tool let’s you see the details of up to three plans that you’re considering, side-by-side. Not ready to enroll? Get a results link emailed to you.
• Providers you know, plans you can trust. We work with a select group of providers, and review every plan before listing it. We read the fine print to create one-line summaries, then break down the math so you know what you’re actually getting.

Once you’ve selected your plan, you can enroll online or over the phone in minutes.

Here are the 10 cheapest rates right now in Centerpoint (Houston) and Oncor (Dallas). Enter your zip code to see more offers.

Power to Choose Energy Plans

Within the Power to Choose site, there are two basic types of electricity plans available.

• Fixed rate plans have a set energy rate per kWh that lasts the entire contract term.
• Variable rate plans have an energy rate per kWh that can vary from month to month.

Within this, there are five different versions of fixed rates:

• Prepaid plans let you pay upfront at the start of each billing cycle and allow unused funds to flow into the next month or cycle. These plans have no deposit and no credit check.
• Renewable energy plans give you 100% green energy from wind or solar power.
• Time-of-use plans offer lower rates (or free electricity) during off-peak hours, allowing you to schedule when and how you use electricity to lower your bill.
• Tiered rate plans offer different fixed rates for different time periods. For example, you may have one rate for your first 800 kWh, then a different rate for 801-1200 kWh etc. This can be an advantage if you really understand your electricity usage.
• Basic Fixed Rate plans offer one price per kWh for every unit of energy, regardless of time of day or level of usage. We consider these to be “true” fixed rate plans.

Based on our 20+ years of experience with electricity shopping, we recommend basic fixed rate plans for most consumers. These plans are easy to understand and give consistent savings each month.

Power to Choose for Business Electricity

Businesses in Texas have the power to choose their electricity provider. But there is no Power to Choose website for Texas business owners.

Business rates are more complicated than residential electricity rates. They often come with pages of fine print, can vary based on load factor or meter type, and can have different rate structures.

You can shop commercial electricity rates online with ElectricityPlans. We work with providers to display business electricity rates in Texas in a head-to-head comparison. And you can shop for your power contract up to 6 months in advance.

Have a more energy intensive business? If you spend over $2500 per month on power, you qualify for custom commercial rates.

Business owners in Texas can turn to ElectricityPlans as a power to choose alternative for commercial electricity rates.

FAQs About Texas Power to Choose