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.)
Key Takeaways
- The largest Texas electricity company is TXU Energy.
- The second largest Texas electricity company is Reliant Energy.
Regardless of who you choose for your electricity provider, we recommend (1) fixed rate electricity plans and (2) shopping every time your contract expires to find the best rate. Sign up for electricity plan expiration reminders to you never miss an opportunity to shop!
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.
