Houston Electricity Rates

Houston is one of the many cities in Texas to benefit from a deregulated energy market. Since 2002, the year the majority of Texas electricity markets became deregulated, the state has seen a steady increase in the number of Retail Energy Providers (REPs) supplying energy services. The increase in competition is good news for Houstonians looking to lower their generation rate on the electric bill. Given the size of Houston, energy plays a vital role in keeping the economy running.

Houston is the most populous state in Texas and fourth in the United States, with an estimated population of over 2.2 million people. The city’s economy is based around energy, manufacturing, aeronautics, transportation, and headquarters the most Fortune 500 companies right after New York City.

The state of Texas consumes more energy than any other state. However, the state also leads the nation in the net generation of electricity and produces twice as much as its closest competitor, Florida. The vast supply of energy produced in Texas helps push down energy costs. Texans enjoy lower energy prices than the U.S. average.

Electricity	Texas	U.S. Average	Time Period
Residential	11.98 cents/kWh	13.14 cents/kWh	May 2020
Commercial	7.66 cents/kWh	10.44 cents/kWh	May 2020
Industrial	4.75 cents/kWh	6.48 cents/kWh	May 2020

CenterPoint is the Utility Company that operates in Houston

Houston falls under the CenterPoint service area. CenterPoint is the utility company responsible for delivering the electricity to the point of service, whether it’s a home or business. The main job of the utility company is to maintain the infrastructure needed to safely deliver the power to where it needs to go. Given the logistics involved, a CenterPoint customer will not be able to choose another utility company to deliver power.

CenterPoint Represents the Regulated Portion of the Electric Bill

A Houston resident looking to switch to a competitive Retail Energy Provider (REP) will continue to be billed by CenterPoint for the Transmission and Distribution Utility (TDU) delivery charges on the electric bill. The TDU delivery charges are regulated and overseen by the Public Utility Commission of Texas.

Contact CenterPoint for any Power Outages

Houstonians experiencing any power outages or disruption of service should contact CenterPoint to get the power restored. Retail Energy Providers (REPs) are not responsible for any power outages as they do not control the power grid that delivers the power to their customers.

CenterPoint’s contact information to report a power outage: 1-800-332-7143

Retail Energy Providers Based in Houston

Houston is known as the energy capital of the world, and for good reasons. Houston is home to over 500 energy companies along with many energy providers that provide power not only in Texas but to electricity markets all over the country. If you’re looking at shopping for a competitive Retail Energy Provider, you need to look no further than your own backyard.

Below is a list of Retail Energy Providers that are based in Houston:

The Role of a Retail Energy Provider

The job of a Retail Energy Provider is to provide competitive prices when it comes to the costs of generating electricity. While CenterPoint is responsible for delivering the power to your home or business, a Retail Energy Provider generates the power or buys the power from a third-party generation company that a customer is estimated to use during the term of a contract.

The generation costs charged to the customer by the Retail Energy Provider will show up on the electric bill under the supply charges. The supply charges represent the deregulated portion of the electric bill. The customer can use their current supply charge as a Price to Compare when shopping for a new energy provider.

Thanks to energy choice, customers can now select a Retail Energy Provider based on their individual preferences. Whether you are shopping for the lowest rate possible or you wish to select a green energy plan, there is an energy supplier that is right for you!

What Happens at the end of my Energy Contract?

The most common contract term lengths are 12, 24, and 36 months. It’s not unusual for a customer to lock in a long-term fixed-rate and forget about having to worry about what they are being charged on the electric bill each month. But what happens to your supply rate when the energy contract expires?

Once a customer’s energy contract expires, it is common for the energy supplier to charge a month-to-month variable rate. This means the supply rate can change at the sole discretion of the supplier! As you may have guessed or even experienced, variable rates can easily double or even triple!

We highly recommend that you pay close attention to the expiration of your energy contract. Contact one of our advisors and we’ll be happy to help you shop around for a new rate before you get hit with a costly electric bill.