Oncor is the largest electric utility in Texas, covering Dallas–Fort Worth and far beyond. It does not sell electricity plans.
Oncor delivers electricity across more of Texas than any other utility. Here is what that means for your service, your bill, and who to call when the lights go out.
Utility territories follow service addresses rather than city or ZIP boundaries. Confirm the utility for your specific address before you rely on it.
Oncor Electric Delivery is the transmission and distribution utility — the TDU — for a larger share of Texas than any other company. It owns and operates the physical network that carries electricity across roughly 98 counties and more than 400 communities: high-voltage transmission lines, local distribution wires, substations, and the meter attached to your building.
It does not generate electricity and it does not sell electricity plans. Oncor is assigned to your address, earns regulated delivery charges for moving the power, and does the same work whichever retail provider bills you.
Across more than 143,000 miles of transmission and distribution line — the largest such network in the state — whoever you buy your plan from.
Poles, wires, substations, transformers and the meter on your building belong to Oncor, which builds, inspects and repairs all of it.
Oncor records the usage your retail provider bills you for. If a meter reading looks wrong, the utility inspects it.
Storms across North and West Texas are Oncor's responsibility. Its crews handle downed lines and restoration — a retail provider has no crews and cannot restore service.
Two companies are involved in your electricity service, and mixing them up is the most common source of confusion on a North Texas bill. Oncor delivers the electricity. Your retail electricity provider (REP) sells you the plan.
You chose the provider. You did not choose Oncor — it came with the address, and it stays put however many times you switch.
| Oncor (utility) | Your provider (REP) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who are they? | Oncor, your utility | The retail provider you signed up with |
| What do they do? | Delivers electricity to your meter | Sells you the electricity plan |
| Did you choose them? | No — set by your address | Yes |
| Who owns the wires and meter? | Oncor | No one — the REP owns no equipment |
| Who restores your power? | Oncor | Cannot restore power |
| Who sets your rate? | No — its delivery charges are regulated | Yes |
| Who do you call about a bill? | Not Oncor | Your retail provider |
Power out, downed line, damaged meter, or a problem with the wires: Oncor. Rate, contract, deposit, bill, or enrollment question: your retail provider.
Oncor's territory is the largest in Texas and the least compact. It runs from the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex north to the Red River, south through Waco and Killeen toward Central Texas, east to Tyler, and west across the Permian Basin to Midland and Odessa — roughly 98 counties in all.
That sprawl is exactly why the boundaries catch people out. Oncor covers most of North Texas, but 'most' is doing real work in that sentence.
Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Plano, Irving, Grand Prairie, Killeen, Waco, Temple, Round Rock, Tyler, Wichita Falls, Sherman, Midland and Odessa all sit in Oncor territory.
Municipal utilities inside the footprint: several North Texas cities run their own electric utility and are not Oncor customers at all. Garland and Denton are the best-known examples — a Garland address is served by Garland Power & Light, not Oncor, and has no retail choice.
Electric cooperatives: large parts of the land between Oncor's towns belong to member-owned cooperatives such as CoServ, Farmers Electric Cooperative, Grayson-Collin Electric Cooperative and Trinity Valley Electric Cooperative. These are not Oncor territory and generally sit outside retail choice.
Split ZIP codes: a single ZIP can span two territories, and on the edges of the metroplex neighbours across a street are occasionally served by different companies. City and ZIP get you close; a bill or an ESI ID makes you certain.
For the statewide picture of which utility covers which region, see our guide to Texas electric utilities.
Report outages to Oncor, not to your retail electricity provider. Providers sell plans and handle billing; they have no crews, no trucks, and no ability to restore your power. Every outage, downed line and piece of damaged equipment belongs to the utility.
Never approach or drive over a downed line, and assume it is live. Move well clear, call 911 if anyone is in danger, then report it to Oncor.
| What you need | Oncor Electric Delivery |
|---|---|
| Report an outage | 888-313-4747 |
| Report a downed line | Call 911 first if anyone is in danger, then Oncor |
| Customer service and meter issues | 888-313-6862 |
| Rate, bill or contract question | Not the utility — contact your retail electricity provider |
Check whether the outage is only your property. If your neighbours have power, the problem may be your own breaker or equipment on your side of the meter, which is the property owner's responsibility rather than the utility's. If the whole street is dark, it is a distribution outage and the utility already needs to hear about it.
Part of every North Texas electricity bill pays Oncor to deliver the power rather than your provider to supply it. These delivery charges are regulated, they apply to every plan in the territory, and they are the same whichever retail provider you choose.
They come in two parts: a fixed monthly charge that applies whatever you use, and a per-kWh charge that rises with your usage.
Estimated delivery cost = monthly base charge + (per-kWh delivery charge × kWh used)
| Monthly usage | Base charge | Per-kWh delivery | Estimated delivery cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 kWh | $4.23 | 5.1234¢ | $29.85 |
| 1,000 kWh | $4.23 | 5.1234¢ | $55.46 |
| 2,000 kWh | $4.23 | 5.1234¢ | $106.70 |
Providers present delivery charges in one of two ways, and the difference matters when you compare plans. Some itemize them as a separate TDU delivery charge line, so you can see exactly what goes to Oncor. Others fold them into a single all-in cents-per-kWh rate. Neither is cheaper by itself — but two plans are only comparable once you know which style you are looking at.
Delivery is a floor under every plan available at your address, so it is not what separates a good plan from a bad one. For a deeper look at how these charges move and why a "fixed" rate can still change, see our guide to TDU delivery charges in Texas.
No. This is the question that stops people from shopping, so it is worth being blunt about: switching your retail electricity provider changes nothing physical about your service.
Oncor remains your utility. The same wires deliver your power, the same meter records it, the same crews respond when it fails, and the same regulated delivery charges apply. Nobody visits your home, nothing is disconnected, and there is no interruption during the switch.
Your energy charge, your contract length, your plan structure, any bill credits or fees, and who sends your bill. In other words, the parts of the bill a competitive market is meant to compete over — not the delivery infrastructure underneath it.
If you are considering a change, our guide to how to switch electricity providers walks through the process and the timing.
Because Oncor's delivery charges apply identically to every plan at your address, they are not the variable worth shopping. What varies between plans is how each provider prices energy on top of delivery, and how clearly it tells you so in advance.
Start with the Electricity Facts Label. Every plan is required to have one, and it breaks out the energy charge, the TDU delivery charges, base or minimum-usage fees, bill credits, contract length, and the early termination fee.
Then check the price at your usage. The EFL shows an average price at 500, 1,000 and 2,000 kWh, and plans routinely swap places between those levels. North Texas summers and the occasional hard winter freeze make usage here swing widely between seasons, so the gap between a plan's price at 500 kWh and at 2,000 kWh matters more than it might elsewhere.
To compare plans available in this territory, start with our Dallas electricity rates page, or see how to choose a Texas electricity plan for the full comparison method.
Dozens of retail electricity providers compete across Oncor's territory — it is the largest competitive market in the state, so shopping here generally means the widest choice in Texas. Oncor delivers the power for all of them equally, and neither endorses nor has any relationship with the providers serving its territory.
The providers below are a selection of established names operating in the area, not a ranking.
| Provider | What They’re Known For |
|---|---|
 | Large, long-established Texas retail provider with a wide range of residential plans. |
 | Long-established provider with deep roots in the North Texas market. |
 | Retail provider known for 100% renewable plans and bill-credit options. |
 | Retail provider focused on 100% renewable energy plans. |
 | Texas-focused provider with a straightforward shopping experience. |
 | Established Texas provider known for straightforward service. |
Availability and plan terms vary by address and change over time. Compare current offers for a specific address on our Dallas electricity rates page.
Your utility follows the address, not you. Moving within Oncor's territory keeps Oncor as your utility, and you can take an existing plan with you or shop for a new one.
Moving out of it is where it changes. Because Oncor's footprint is dotted with municipal utilities and cooperatives, a short move can land you somewhere with no retail choice at all — in which case there is no provider to shop for.
Confirm the utility for that exact address rather than the city or ZIP, since both can straddle a boundary. An existing electricity bill for the property, or its ESI ID, settles it. Then start service in your name before your move-in date so the power is on when you arrive.
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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