How fixed-rate electricity plans work

The price a fixed-rate plan keeps the same covers all of the plan's recurring charges, not just the electricity itself. That is why a plan is quoted as one average price per kilowatt-hour rather than as a list of separate charges.

In the competitive part of Texas, you choose the retail electric provider that sells you electricity. A delivery utility owns the wires and serves your address whichever provider you pick.

If you use more electricity during a billing period, you pay for more kilowatt-hours even though the price in your contract has not changed. How much electricity a Texas home uses changes sharply from season to season, so the same plan can produce very different bills across the year.

Texas rules also allow the price itself to change during the term, for three reasons and no others: actual changes in your delivery utility's charges, changes in administrative fees charged by ERCOT or the Texas Regional Entity, and new or changed fees or costs imposed by law.

To find out whether a particular plan's price can change, read the row on its Electricity Facts Label headed "Can my price change during contract period?" Your retailer does not have to give you advance notice of a change the label permits, so check that row before you sign.

Every residential Electricity Facts Label states the plan's average price at three usage levels: 500, 1,000 and 2,000 kilowatt-hours a month. The same plan can show a different average price at each one, because a charge billed every month is spread across more kilowatt-hours in a month when you use more.

Always compare plans at the same usage level. This site compares plans at the usage level you choose, so pick the level closest to your own bills.

Texas requires an Electricity Facts Label for every retail electricity plan. The label covers the plan's price, its contract terms, the fees the retailer can charge, and how much of its electricity comes from renewable sources.

Start with the average price at each of the three usage levels. Then read the contract term, the early termination fee, and the row that says whether the price can change.

A retailer has to give you the label when you enroll, again whenever the label changes, and at any time you ask for it. This site lists a plan only when its label is published where you can open it, and each plan in your results links to its own label.

Check the contract term to see how long the plan runs. Check the early termination fee to see what ending the contract early may cost. Also check whether the plan has a minimum-usage charge, or another condition that changes what you pay depending on how much you use.

Your retailer has to send at least three notices before a fixed-rate contract expires. If you do nothing when the term ends, you are moved to a month-to-month product. You can cancel it at any time without a fee, and its price can change between billing cycles.

When you enroll, put the contract's end date in your calendar with a reminder, so you have time to compare plans before that date.