Electricity for a new apartment
Apartments are the household type most often caught out by Texas electricity plan structures, and for a specific, fixable reason: they use less power than the plans are advertised against.
Why the advertised rate misleads a small home
Plans publish an average price at 500, 1,000 and 2,000 kWh a month, and the figure most retailers advertise is the 1,000 kWh one. A one- or two-bedroom apartment outside summer frequently sits well below that.
At lower usage, a fixed monthly base charge is spread over fewer kilowatt-hours, so its effect on your average price is larger. A plan that looks competitive at 1,000 kWh can be clearly worse at 600.
Read the 500 kWh column on the Electricity Facts Label. If it is dramatically higher than the 1,000 kWh column, that plan is not designed for your household.
Minimum-usage charges are the specific trap
A minimum-usage charge adds a flat fee — often around $9.95 — in any month you use less than a stated amount, very commonly 1,000 kWh. For an apartment that means paying it in most non-summer months.
On a small bill, that fee is a large percentage. It is disclosed on the Electricity Facts Label and it is easy to miss, which is why every plan on this site labels it and why there is a separate list of plans that carry none.
Match the term to the lease
A twelve-month lease and a thirty-six month electricity contract do not fit together. Moving out of the delivery area generally releases you from a Texas fixed-rate contract without a termination fee, but moving to another apartment across town may not — the conditions are in your terms of service.
If you expect to move again within a year or two, the contract length is a more important number than a fraction of a cent per kilowatt-hour.
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