Houston Electricity Rates, Explained
Just want the cheapest plan? This guide explains how Houston electricity rates actually work. To rank today’s live plans by your real usage, use the Houston rate comparison tool →
Last updated: October 18, 2026 · 9 min read
Houston sits in one of the most competitive electricity markets in the country, with 60 to 100+ plans active at any given time from dozens of retail providers. Yet most Houston residents pick a plan by glancing at the advertised rate — usually the price at exactly 1,000 kWh — and that number almost never reflects what a Houston household actually pays in July.
The short answer
Houston is served by CenterPoint Energy for delivery — you cannot change that. What you can change is your retail electric provider (REP). As of May 2026, competitive fixed-rate plans run roughly 9.5–13.5 cents per kWh at the 1,000 kWh advertised level, but Houston's summer usage typically runs 1,500–2,200 kWh, which shifts your effective rate significantly. Search by your ZIP code to see what the plan actually costs at your real usage level.
Who Delivers Electricity in Houston — and Who Sells It?
Two separate companies are involved in every Houston electricity bill, and understanding the split saves you from calling the wrong number when something goes wrong.
CenterPoint Energy is the transmission and distribution utility (TDU) for the Houston area. CenterPoint owns approximately 52,000 miles of power lines across Southeast Texas, maintains your meter, and is the only company to call during an outage. You cannot choose or switch your TDU — it is determined by your address, full stop. CenterPoint's service territory covers the city of Houston and most surrounding communities including Katy, Sugar Land, Pearland, Pasadena, The Woodlands, League City, and Galveston Island.
Your retail electric provider (REP) is the company that buys electricity wholesale from ERCOT, packages it into a plan, and sends you a bill. REPs like TXU Energy, Reliant, Direct Energy, Gexa, Frontier, and dozens of others compete for your business. Every REP uses the same CenterPoint wires — switching your REP causes zero service interruption and takes one to three business days to process.
What CenterPoint TDU Charges Actually Cost You
Every Houston electricity bill has two major components: the energy charge (set by your REP and the plan you chose) and the TDU delivery charge (set by the PUCT and applied uniformly across all CenterPoint customers). The delivery charge is not negotiable and does not vary by provider.
CenterPoint's residential TDSP charges, per 2025 PUCT tariff filings, include a fixed monthly customer charge plus a per-kWh distribution charge. At 1,000 kWh/month, combined delivery charges typically total $13–$18. At 1,800 kWh — a realistic Houston August — the delivery component rises to $20–$28. This is why two plans with the same advertised rate can produce different real bills: their base charges and how they interact with TDU pass-through vary.
A Texas example
Maria in Houston's Westchase neighborhood (77042) averages 1,650 kWh in summer and 950 kWh in winter. She picked a plan advertised at 10.2¢/kWh, assuming her monthly bill would run about $102. Her July bill came to $178.40 — because at 1,650 kWh, her plan's effective rate (including a $9.95 base charge and CenterPoint delivery) was actually 10.8¢/kWh, and she used 65% more electricity than the advertised benchmark assumed.
Houston Electricity Rates by ZIP Code
All Houston-area ZIPs sit inside CenterPoint territory, so TDU delivery charges are uniform across the metro. Rate differences by ZIP are driven by which plans REPs choose to file in which zip codes — not by any geographic pricing difference. In practice, most major providers file plans across all Houston ZIPs, but some boutique or regional plans may be exclusive to certain areas.
| ZIP / Area | Neighborhood | TDU | Typical Plan Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 77002 | Downtown Houston | CenterPoint | 60–90 plans |
| 77019 | River Oaks / Upper Kirby | CenterPoint | 60–90 plans |
| 77084 | West Houston / Bear Creek | CenterPoint | 60–90 plans |
| 77449 | Katy (CenterPoint portion) | CenterPoint | 60–90 plans |
| 77546 | Friendswood / Pearland edge | CenterPoint | 55–85 plans |
| 77373 | Spring | CenterPoint | 55–85 plans |
The plan count above reflects typical activity on the Power to Choose registry. Enter your specific ZIP code in the search tool on the homepage to see live, ranked plans for your address — sorted by the true cost at your actual usage level, not the 1,000 kWh benchmark.
Why Houston Bills Spike in August
Houston's climate is the main driver. Average summer temperatures exceed 94°F for weeks at a time, and humidity means air conditioning runs longer to achieve comfort. According to EIA's Texas state energy profile, Texas residential electricity usage peaks nationally in July and August, with the Houston metro consistently ranking among the highest-usage metro areas in the country.
A 3-bedroom Houston home that uses 900 kWh in February can easily hit 1,800–2,100 kWh in August. That usage range crosses the key EFL price thresholds — most plans publish rates at 500, 1,000, and 2,000 kWh, and the rate often shifts at each level. The linear interpolation this site performs across those three points gives you the true effective rate at your actual usage, not just the three published benchmarks.
Watch out
Bill-credit plans are common in the Houston market. A plan might advertise "8.9¢/kWh at 1,000 kWh" because it credits back $50 at exactly that usage level — but at 1,300 kWh (a perfectly normal Houston summer month), that credit disappears and the underlying rate may be 13¢/kWh or higher. Always check the EFL at the 2,000 kWh column before signing anything.
How to Find the Lowest-Cost Plan for Houston
The most effective approach is to enter your actual monthly usage — not a guess — into a comparison tool that calculates the real bill rather than quoting a single advertised rate. You can find your 12-month usage history on the Smart Meter Texas portal (smartmetertexas.com), which logs your usage in 15-minute intervals and lets you download it as a CSV.
Once you have your typical high-month and low-month figures, you can use the True Cost Calculator to see exactly what each plan would have charged you over the past year. This approach identifies plans that are genuinely cheapest for your specific profile — not cheapest at 1,000 kWh, which is the advertised figure every provider optimises for.
Smart move
Lock in a fixed-rate plan 30–45 days before your current contract ends — not the day it expires. Houston's wholesale electricity market prices tend to spike in late spring as summer demand approaches, which pushes fixed-rate offers higher. Comparing plans in March or April typically surfaces lower fixed rates than comparing in June.
Which Providers Are Most Active in Houston?
The Houston market routinely hosts among the largest plan inventories in ERCOT. Major national providers — TXU Energy, Reliant Energy, and Direct Energy — maintain consistent presences with multiple plan types. Texas-focused providers including Gexa Energy, Frontier Utilities, 4Change Energy, Discount Power, Pulse Power, Rhythm Energy, and Octopus Energy also file Houston plans regularly.
Provider activity shifts constantly. Plans expire, new ones are filed, and promotional pricing changes seasonally. The Power to Choose registry (powertochoose.org), maintained by the PUCT, is the only authoritative source of currently available plans. This site pulls from the same data daily, adds linear interpolation math, and sorts by true cost at your usage level rather than the 1,000 kWh advertised rate.
The math
If a plan shows 10.2¢/kWh at 1,000 kWh and 9.8¢/kWh at 2,000 kWh, then at 1,500 kWh — a realistic Houston July — the interpolated rate is 10.0¢/kWh and the energy charge alone is $150.00. Add CenterPoint TDU charges of roughly $20–$24 at that usage level and you're looking at a $170–$174 July bill before taxes and fees. The advertised "10.2¢" told you nothing about this number.
Non-Deregulated Pockets Near Houston
The vast majority of the Greater Houston metro is CenterPoint territory and fully deregulated. However, a handful of small cities and rural cooperatives near Houston operate outside the competitive market. These include communities served by Entergy Texas (in Southeast Texas near Beaumont) and some rural electric cooperatives in outlying counties. If you are in one of these areas, you will not see plans on the Power to Choose search tool.
The easiest test: enter your ZIP code at powertochoose.org. If plans appear, you are in the deregulated market and can shop. If it returns no results or says the ZIP is not eligible, you are with a regulated utility and your rate is set by the PUCT or the co-op board.
Key Takeaways
CenterPoint Energy delivers electricity in Houston — that relationship is fixed and not part of the comparison. Your REP, the company that sells you power, can be switched at any time without service interruption. Houston's summer usage (1,500–2,200 kWh) routinely exceeds the 1,000 kWh figure that plan ads are built around, making the advertised rate a poor proxy for real cost. The most reliable way to find the lowest-cost Houston plan is to enter your actual ZIP and typical usage into a comparison tool that calculates the interpolated true rate — not just the three EFL benchmarks.
Find the cheapest Houston plan for your actual usage
Enter your ZIP code and bedroom count — the tool calculates the true bill at your usage level, not the 1,000 kWh advertised rate.
Compare Houston Plans →Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average electricity rate in Houston?
As of May 2026, competitive fixed-rate plans in Houston (CenterPoint Energy territory) typically run between 9.5 and 13.5 cents per kWh at 1,000 kWh usage — but that advertised figure almost never matches your real bill. At 1,500 kWh, the effective rate on most plans shifts noticeably. Use the ZIP search tool to see the true interpolated rate for your usage level.
Who is the TDU for Houston electricity?
CenterPoint Energy is the transmission and distribution utility (TDU) for the greater Houston area, including the city proper, Sugar Land, Katy, The Woodlands, Pearland, Pasadena, and most surrounding suburbs. CenterPoint owns the poles, wires, and your meter. You cannot change your TDU — only your retail electric provider (REP).
How much are CenterPoint delivery charges on my Houston bill?
CenterPoint's TDSP (Transmission and Distribution Service Provider) charges include a fixed monthly customer charge plus a per-kWh distribution charge. As of 2025 tariff filings, residential customers typically see combined TDU charges of $12 to $20 per month depending on usage. These charges are set by the PUCT and applied identically regardless of which REP you choose.
Why does Houston electricity get so expensive in summer?
Houston summers drive some of the highest residential electricity usage in the country. Average August usage in a 3-bedroom Houston home can reach 1,800 to 2,200 kWh — nearly double a February baseline. Most plans' bill-credit structures and tiered rates were engineered around a 1,000 kWh assumption, so your effective per-kWh rate often rises sharply once you cross 1,000 or 2,000 kWh.
Can I switch electricity providers in Houston?
Yes. Houston is fully within the deregulated ERCOT market. You can switch retail electric providers at any time, typically with a 1-3 business day processing window. If you are on a fixed-rate contract, check your early termination fee (ETF) first — some contracts charge $100 to $300 to break early. If you are in a month-to-month or holdover rate, you can switch with no penalty.
Does ZIP code affect Houston electricity rates?
Yes, but the effect is usually small within CenterPoint territory. All Houston-area ZIPs use the same CenterPoint TDU, so delivery charges are identical. However, some REPs file plans selectively — a plan available in 77002 (downtown) may not appear in 77449 (Katy). Always search by your specific ZIP code on the Power to Choose tool or on this site for accurate results.
Which electricity providers are most active in Houston?
The Houston market typically has 60 to 100+ active plans from providers including TXU Energy, Reliant Energy, Direct Energy, Gexa Energy, Frontier Utilities, Discount Power, Pulse Power, 4Change Energy, and Green Mountain Energy, among others. Provider inventory shifts constantly as new plans are filed and old ones expire. The only current source is the Power to Choose registry or a live comparison tool.
Your Next Move
Start with the ZIP search tool — enter your Houston ZIP and bedroom count for a ranked list of plans at your actual usage. For a deeper look at how CenterPoint delivery charges break down on your bill, see the Texas TDU Delivery Charges guide. If you want to understand why the 1,000 kWh advertised rate is almost always misleading, the Texas electricity plan types guide explains every pricing structure in use. For a side-by-side comparison of specific plans, the True Cost Calculator runs the math at any usage level you enter.
Small apartment (~600 kWh) · Large home (~2,000 kWh) · All Houston plans