The Electricity Facts Label (EFL) is the nutrition label of every Texas electricity plan. Learn how to read it so a low advertised rate never turns into a surprise bill — then enter your ZIP to see real plans for your address.
Takes a minute. No account, no obligation. Need help? Call or text us.In Texas, every retail electricity provider has to give you an Electricity Facts Label, or EFL, for each plan it sells. Think of it as the nutrition label on a box of food: the marketing on the front of the box can say whatever it wants, but the label on the back has to tell the truth in a fixed, standardized format. Because the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) requires the same format from everyone, you can lay two EFLs side by side and compare apples to apples instead of comparing one company's marketing slogan to another's.
The EFL is usually one page. It packs in the average price you will actually pay, the fees buried underneath the headline rate, the length of the contract, what it costs to leave early, and how much of the power is renewable. Reading it for two minutes before you sign is the single best way to avoid a bill that is much higher than the rate you thought you were getting.
Never choose a plan from an advertised "cents per kWh" headline alone. Pull the EFL, find the average price at the usage level that matches your home, and compare that number against other plans. The headline rate and the real average price are often very different things.
The most important box on the EFL shows the plan's average price per kWh at three usage levels: 500, 1,000, and 2,000 kilowatt-hours per month. The reason there are three numbers, instead of one, is that your true per-kWh price changes depending on how much electricity you use. Fixed monthly fees and bill credits get spread across more or fewer kilowatt-hours, so the "average price" moves as your usage moves.
Here is an illustration of how a single plan can show three very different average prices. These figures are an example to show the pattern, not a quote for any specific plan — always read the numbers on the actual EFL.
| Monthly usage | Average price per kWh | What that usage looks like |
|---|---|---|
| 500 kWh | Higher | Small apartment, light user |
| 1,000 kWh | Middle (the benchmark) | Typical Texas home |
| 2,000 kWh | Often lower | Larger home, heavy summer AC |
Why it moves: a flat monthly fee is a big share of a small 500 kWh bill but a small share of a large 2,000 kWh bill, so the per-kWh average usually falls as usage rises. Bill credits can change the picture too — see below.
The takeaway: find your own usage on a recent bill, then compare plans at that usage level. A plan that looks cheap at 2,000 kWh can be expensive for a small apartment that only uses 500 kWh, and vice versa.
Your bill is built from two very different kinds of charges, and the EFL lists both:
This is what your retail provider charges for the electricity itself, set by the plan you choose. It is the part the provider actually competes on, and the part you are shopping for when you compare plans.
The Transmission and Distribution Utility (TDU) owns the poles, wires, and meter and delivers power to your home. Its charges — a fixed monthly fee plus a per-kWh delivery rate — are set by the TDU, not your provider, and are roughly the same no matter which retailer you pick. A trustworthy EFL folds these into the average price so the number you compare is the all-in price.
Be cautious of any advertised rate that quietly leaves the TDU delivery charges out. The average price on the EFL is meant to include them, which is exactly why the EFL average is the honest number to compare and the front-of-the-ad rate often is not.
Several common EFL line items can quietly raise or lower what you really pay:
Bill credits are the most common reason a real bill blows past the advertised rate. If a plan gives you a credit only when you use 1,000 kWh or more, then using 999 kWh means you lose the entire credit. A mild month where you fall just short of the threshold can make your effective price per kWh jump well above what the EFL's 1,000 kWh average implied. Check exactly where the credit kicks in, and ask yourself how often your real usage will land below it.
When you compare Texas plans, the 1,000 kWh average price is the most widely used benchmark, because a typical Texas home lands near that usage. It gives you a fair, common point of comparison across providers. But the benchmark is only a starting point — if your home consistently uses far more or far less than 1,000 kWh, compare at the level that matches you instead.
Here is how to read a low advertised rate critically, using nothing but the EFL:
Do those five things and the EFL stops being fine print and becomes the tool that protects you. The plan with the lowest headline rate is frequently not the cheapest plan once you read the label.
Enter your ZIP to compare Texas plans — then read each EFL before you enroll.
It is a standardized, one-page disclosure that every Texas retail electricity provider must give you for each plan. It shows the average price at 500, 1,000, and 2,000 kWh, the fees, the contract term, the early-termination fee, and the renewable content, so you can compare plans on the same terms.
Because your real price per kWh changes with how much electricity you use. Fixed monthly fees and bill credits get spread over more or fewer kilowatt-hours, so the average price at 500 kWh, 1,000 kWh, and 2,000 kWh is usually different for the very same plan. Compare at the usage level that matches your home.
Most often it is a bill credit you just missed. If a plan only gives the credit at 1,000 kWh or more and you use 999, you lose it entirely and your effective rate jumps. Minimum-usage fees, base monthly fees, and TDU delivery charges left out of an ad can also push your real cost above the headline rate.
It is the common point everyone uses to compare Texas plans, because a typical home uses around 1,000 kWh a month. It is a useful starting comparison, but if your usage is much higher or lower, compare plans at your own usage level instead.