The Electricity Facts Label, explained

The top of the label shows an average price per kilowatt-hour at three usage levels: 500, 1,000 and 2,000 kWh a month. Those three numbers, not the advertised headline, are the plan's actual price structure.

Read them together rather than one at a time. If the three figures are close, the plan is mostly a straight energy rate. If the 500 kWh figure is much higher than the others, there is a fixed monthly charge or a minimum-usage fee doing the work. If the 2,000 kWh figure is much lower, look for a bill credit.

The average price includes the delivery charges your utility sets as well as the energy charge your retailer sets, which is why it is a fair comparison between two plans in the same delivery area and not a fair comparison across two different ones.

Below the prices, the label states the rate type (fixed, variable or indexed), the contract term in months, the early termination fee, and whether the price can change during the term and under what conditions.

"Fixed" on this chart still permits certain pass-through changes — most commonly changes to delivery charges set by your utility and approved by the regulator, and changes required by law. The label says so explicitly, in the row about whether your price can change.

The label states the renewable percentage of the product. It is the retailer's own figure, and it is what this site displays.

Two other documents come with every plan: the Terms of Service, which is the actual contract, and Your Rights as a Customer, which sets out the protections that apply regardless of what any retailer prefers. All three are linked on every plan on this site, and a plan that will not show you all three is a plan to walk away from.