We’re number one! You hear it said all the time. But number one based on what? The question, “What is the number one electricity provider in Texas?” can be answered so many ways, including customer count, ratings and customer satisfaction.
In this article we dig into the data and perform online research to provide the top electricity provider in Texas in each category. (And if you’re looking for cheap electricity rates? We update our list of the cheapest electricity rates in Texas every month.)
Top TX Electricity Provider by Category
- Top TX Electricity Provider: Customer Count
- Top TX Electricity Provider: 5-Star Google Reviews
- Top TX Electricity Provider: Customer Service
- Top TX Electricity Provider: Satisfaction Guarantee
- Top TX Electricity Provider: Flexible Billing Options
- Top TX Electricity Provider: Customer Complaint Data
Top TX Electricity Provider: Customer Count
Number of customers is the ultimate measure of the number one electricity provider. But it’s also the hardest data to find.
Privately held companies don’t publish their customer counts. But publicly traded ones do. And based on our 20+ years of experience in the Texas electricity market, we already knew what companies to look at: TXU Energy and Reliant Energy.
Number One Electricity Provider in Texas: TXU Energy
The number one electricity provider in Texas based on customer count is TXU Energy.
TXU is one of the retail electricity providers (REPs) that was previously affiliated with the local utility company, also called an affiliated REP or A-REP. When deregulation started in 2001, consumers had to make a choice of supplier. And if consumers didn’t choose, they were assigned to their local A-REP.
TXU was the A-REP for the Oncor territory, including the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
But from that base, TXU Energy has grown through innovation, advertising and a focus on customer growth.
- Innovation: TXU Energy was one of the first companies to offer free nights and weekends plans. From that start, they’ve created multiple plans with free or discounted energy including Season Pass, Free Pass, Free Nights and Solar Days and other TXU Energy plans.
- Advertising: TXU also innovated in advertising, using a combination of mass media like TV, radio and billboards, plus streaming media and direct mail to promote their plans. The result is household name recognition of the TXU brand and their plans.
- Focus: As the biggest brand of publicly-traded Vistra Corporation, TXU has to put up positive growth numbers (and profitability numbers) each quarter. That leads to a huge focus on customer acquisition and retention.
TXU is owned by Vistra Corporation, a publicly traded company.
Vistra Corporation total residential customer count was 2,793,000 as of May 2024. That includes customers for TXU Energy, their flagship brand, Ambit Energy, plus customer count for their subsidiary Value Based Brands LLC, which operates 4Change Energy, Veteran Energy and Express Energy.
Number Two Electricity Provider in Texas: Reliant Energy
The number two electricity provider in Texas is Reliant Energy, based on customer count.
Reliant Energy is another REP previously affiliated with a utility company. They got a head start on customer count, as the A-REP for CenterPoint Energy including the Houston area. But similar to TXU, they’ve continued to grow though innovative products, focus and advertising to become a household name around the state.
Reliant is owned by NRG Energy, a publicly traded company.
NRG total customer count in Texas is 2,951,000 customers as of May 2024. Reliant Energy is the leading brand for NRG Energy, which also owns Green Mountain Energy, Stream, Xoom Energy and Direct Energy. NRG subsidiary US Retailers LLC owns Cirro Energy and Discount Power.
Now you’re wondering why we put TXU Energy first, since NRG has a larger customer count than Vistra. TXU Energy has historically been the largest REP, dating back to the beginning of deregulation. And while we don’t have data split out by brand for NRG or Vistra, we know that NRG’s customer growth has been focused on acquisition of new brands. Therefore, we’re giving TXU Energy the position of number one for customer count in Texas.
Every utility and electricity provider must report customer data to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. If you want to know customer count by REP as of 2023, you can check the Annual Electric Power Industry Report as issued by the EIA in August 2024.
Top TX Electricity Provider: 5-Star Google Reviews
The Texas REP with the highest number of 5-Star Google Reviews is Rhythm Energy. Rhythm Energy has an average 4.6 stars on Google.
And if it surprises you that people care enough to give a review of their electricity provider? Don’t be surprised.
Most REPs have automation in place to ask for customer Google reviews upon enrollment or after the first bill. They follow up with any negative reviews to seek a resolution and an updated review.
And, many review sites, including those focused on Texas electricity ratings, allow REPs to push negative reviews down on the page, so consumers mostly see positive comments.
That’s why we give less weight to online reviews, instead focusing on features like customer service, billing options and satisfaction guarantees. We get into those below.
Top TX Electricity Provider: Customer Service
Customer service is one of those things that’s hard to measure until you’re a customer. But based on past history, our pick for top electricity provider in Texas for customer service is Champion Energy.
Champion Energy was consistently at the top of the charts for the JD Power award for REP customer satisfaction, winning 7 out of 8 years before JD Power stopped measuring.
While many other providers use off-shore or “near shore” call centers, Champion continues to offer 24/7 customer service from their Houston-based call center.
Top TX Electricity Provider: Satisfaction Guarantee
A number of Texas REPs have jumped on the satisfaction guarantee band wagon. They know that most consumers won’t switch to a new plan or provider once they get past the first bill, i.e. first 30 days.
That’s why TXU Energy is our pick for number one Texas electricity provider for satisfaction guarantee.
TXU Energy was one of the first to offer a satisfaction guarantee. They’re so sure you’ll like their service that they offer a 60 day full satisfaction guarantee.
Don’t like your plan? You can change it. Don’t like them? You can leave. They’ll waive your Early Termination Fee (ETF) as long as you call them to break up.
Find out more about TX electricity companies with satisfaction guarantees in our article on that topic.
Top TX Electricity Provider: Flexible Billing Options
Rhythm Energy takes the award for the TX electricity provider with the most flexible billing options.
Like every provider, you can choose to pay by phone, in the mail or online. But you can pick your due date, something no other Texas REP offers. Rhythm is focused on using technology to benefit consumers.
Here’s what they say about the program: “Most electricity bills are sent after your utility’s meter read—whenever that may be— but we give you the freedom to choose your own due date. It’s all made possible with smart meters and daily-read technology. Opt-in and choose the recurring due date that works for you.“
Top TX Electricity Provider: Customer Complaint Data
Top electricity provider for customer complaints (as in, the fewest complaints) is harder to dig into.
The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) publishes customer complaint stats. However, a more useful measurement would be an index of complaints, measuring complaints against the total number of customers. And that’s why we don’t think complaint data (as presented by the PUCT) is useful in finding the best provider.
For example, 231 complaints for a company with 2.5 million customers vs. 16 complaints for a smaller company with 57,000 customers. On the basis of total number of complaints, 231 is a lot worse than 16.
But on a ratio basis? The smaller company has .00028 complaints per customer. The larger company has only .000092 complaints per customer.
Plus, the PUCT doesn’t make any distinction of whether a complaint is valid or not.
For example, someone may complain that they were disconnected. And the investigation shows they were disconnected for not paying their bill after being sent all the required notices. So it’s not really a valid complaint. But that’s a complaint that the PUCT still counts in their statistics.
The lack of an ratio or index for comparison, combined with unknown validity of the complaints, leads us not to consider this data when considering the top TX electricity providers.
For more help in choosing your electricity provider, check out our electricity plan reviews. In these reviews, we dig into the details of complicated plans to give you a full understanding of the offerings.
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