How the Texas electricity market works
Most of Texas splits a job that one company does in most of the country across four different kinds of organisation. Knowing which is which explains almost every confusing thing about a Texas electricity bill.
The four roles
Generators build and run the power plants and wind and solar farms. You do not choose them and they do not bill you.
The grid operator keeps supply and demand balanced across the system, second by second. In most of Texas that is ERCOT, which is why the state's grid is discussed as its own thing rather than as part of a national one.
Delivery utilities own the poles, wires and meters and physically deliver power to your address. You do not choose yours — it is set by where you live — and you cannot switch away from it.
Retail electric providers buy energy and sell it to you. This is the only one you choose, and it is the entire subject of this site.
Who regulates what
The Public Utility Commission of Texas certifies retail providers, registers brokers, approves the delivery rates your utility charges, and sets the customer protection rules that produce the Electricity Facts Label and Your Rights as a Customer.
Where retail electricity choice exists, retail prices are not set by the regulator. They are set by competition — which is why an advertised rate is a marketing decision rather than a published tariff, and why comparing them properly matters.
Where the market does not reach
Not all of Texas has retail choice. Austin, San Antonio and Denton own their electric utilities outright, so residents there buy electricity from the city rather than choosing a provider.
El Paso is a different case. El Paso Electric is an investor-owned, vertically integrated utility. Unlike the delivery utilities and retailers described above, it generates, delivers and sells electricity to its own customers instead of splitting those jobs. It also operates entirely outside ERCOT and the competitive retail market, and the Public Utility Commission of Texas sets El Paso Electric's Texas retail rates directly, in rate proceedings, rather than leaving them to competition.
Garland and Brownsville are different again — retail choice there depends on the address, not the city. Garland Power & Light is the sole electricity provider for about 85% of Garland residents; the rest of the city can choose a competitive retailer instead. Brownsville is split between AEP Texas, a competitive delivery utility, and the city-owned Brownsville Public Utilities Board, so whether a Brownsville address can shop depends on which of the two serves it.
City ownership does not automatically rule out choice, though. Lubbock Power & Light is city-owned and opened to competing retailers in 2024, so Lubbock residents choose a provider the same way Dallas or Houston residents do.
Outside the cities, much of rural Texas is served by electric cooperatives, which are member-owned and generally do not participate in retail choice either.
So "can I shop" is a question about your specific address, not about your city. That is why every quote on this site starts with a ZIP code, and why a city name alone is never enough.
The one role in this market you choose
Of the organizations this guide describes, only the retailer is yours to pick.
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