The one-page disclosure every Texas plan must publish — and how to read it at your usage level so the numbers can’t fool you.
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View All Plans →The Electricity Facts Label — the EFL — is a standardized one-page summary that every Texas retail provider must publish for every plan, in a format set by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT Rule §25.475). It’s the one apples-to-apples document for comparing plans, far more reliable than the rate on an ad.
The EFL doesn’t travel alone. Together with the Terms of Service and the Your Rights as a Customer document, it forms your actual electricity contract. The EFL handles the pricing and key facts; the other two cover the fine print and your protections.
If you’re still deciding which plan type to shortlist, our Texas electricity rates guide covers fixed, bill-credit, and no-deposit options; once you’ve read the EFL and picked one, switching providers takes about ten minutes.
An EFL packs a lot into one page, but you only need five passes to read it well — work top to bottom, always anchoring on your own usage.
The EFL lists an average price per kWh at 500, 1,000, and 2,000 kWh. These are all-in averages — what you’d pay per kWh if you used exactly that much — not your energy rate and not a range. Pull your real monthly usage off a past bill and read the column closest to it, not the advertised number.
Each average folds together the energy charge (the provider’s price per kWh) and a base charge (a flat monthly fee charged even at zero usage). The base charge is why a low-usage month costs more per kWh — the same flat fee spreads across fewer kilowatt-hours.
Your utility’s TDU delivery charges are folded into the same average and are identical across every provider in your area, so they can’t be shopped away — only the energy charge and base charge change from plan to plan.
A bill credit or minimum-usage fee can swing the three averages sharply in different directions. See Warning Signs in an EFL below for how to spot one before it costs you.
Note the contract length, the early termination fee you’d pay to leave early, the plan type (fixed, variable, or indexed), and the renewable content percentage. These don’t change your price directly, but they decide how locked-in and how green the plan is.
Here’s a real EFL with the five things above marked directly on it — the provider’s identifying details have been removed, but every number is exactly as printed on the original.
12345Example Electricity Facts Label — adapted and anonymized for educational purposes.
The 500 / 1,000 / 2,000 kWh row — read whichever column is closest to your real monthly usage.
The base charge, energy charge, and TDU delivery charges just below it add up to the average price above.
$100 back, but only once usage reaches 1,000 kWh — exactly the kind of threshold that can make the 500 kWh price look far worse.
Fixed-rate product, 12-month term, and the early termination fee, all in the disclosure chart.
This plan’s renewable percentage next to the statewide average, so you can see how it compares.
These three prices are averages calculated at exactly 500, 1,000, and 2,000 kWh of monthly usage — not the plan’s underlying energy charge, and not a guarantee at any usage level in between. Here’s how far apart they can land on the example EFL above:
| Monthly Usage | Average Price (¢/kWh) |
|---|---|
| 500 kWh | 22.1¢ |
| 1,000 kWh | 11.7¢ |
| 2,000 kWh | 16.6¢ |
That plan’s energy charge is a flat 16.2936¢/kWh, yet the average price swings from 22.1¢ at 500 kWh down to 11.7¢ at 1,000 kWh and back up to 16.6¢ at 2,000 kWh. The $100 monthly bill credit explains it. Usage below 1,000 kWh gets none of it, so the 500 kWh average carries the full rate on its own. At 1,000 kWh, the same $100 is spread across the smallest usage it can apply to, which is why the average drops so far below the underlying rate. By 2,000 kWh, that fixed $100 is diluted across twice the usage, so it discounts less per kWh and the average climbs back up. These figures come from the educational example EFL above, not a currently offered Power Texas plan — it’s the same usage cliff our bill credit plans guide breaks down.
Bill credits: apply only once usage crosses a set threshold, so they make one average look great and the others worse — read the credit’s fine print, not just the headline rate.
Minimum-usage fees: a flat penalty added when usage falls below a threshold, usually spiking the 500 kWh average specifically.
Tiered pricing: the per-kWh rate itself changes at certain usage levels, so the plan can be cheaper or pricier than it first appears depending on which side of the tier you land on.
Time-of-use or free nights and weekends: the advertised rate only applies during specific hours — usage outside that window is billed at a different, often higher, rate.
Large swings between the three averages: if the 500, 1,000, and 2,000 kWh prices differ by more than a cent or two, the plan is usage-sensitive — model it against your real usage before enrolling.
Enrolling gets you three documents that work together as your electricity contract.
Electricity Facts Label (EFL). The pricing sheet — average prices at 500/1,000/2,000 kWh, the energy and base charges, TDU delivery charges, contract length, early termination fee, plan type, and renewable content. Read this one first.
Terms of Service (TOS). The full contract conditions — billing, deposits, renewal, and cancellation. The EFL says what you pay; the TOS says how the agreement works.
Your Rights as a Customer (YRAC). Your protections under PUCT rules, including the right to dispute a bill, protection against improper disconnection, and a three-day window to cancel a new enrollment without penalty.
Don’t compare plans by the advertised rate alone. Pull up the EFLs for the plans you’re weighing, find the average price at the usage column closest to your real monthly use, and compare that number — and the plan structure behind it — side by side. A fixed-rate plan and a bill-credit plan can show the same 1,000 kWh average and still behave very differently the month your usage moves; our guide to choosing a plan covers that tradeoff in more depth.
Once the EFL points to a better plan, switching providers takes about ten minutes, with a 14-day window to leave your current contract fee-free.
Texas electricity plans can be difficult to compare. Power Texas brings rates, providers, plan details, and helpful information together so you can understand your options and choose an electricity plan with confidence.
Whether you want to shop on your own or have questions along the way, our goal is to make finding electricity simpler.
Learn more about Power Texas →
Power Texas may receive compensation from electricity providers when customers enroll through our marketplace. However, commissions, advertising relationships, and other commercial arrangements do not determine our editorial content or recommendations.
Our recommendations are based on our independent assessment of the Texas electricity market and the information we believe is most useful to consumers.
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