Your renewal notice is a test, and Power to Choose is not the answer key.
The state's website ranks plans by their price at exactly 1,000 kWh a month. Most North Texas houses never use 1,000 kWh in a month. That gap is not an accident, and it is where the cheapest-looking plan on the board quietly becomes one of the most expensive.
Figures from an audit run on 1 September 2026 for a University Park home using 37,393 kWh a year. The plan advertising 6.4¢/kWh had a true marginal rate of 16.0¢/kWh.
What actually happens
Every plan has to publish three numbers. Three is enough to solve for the whole thing.
Texas requires every retailer to disclose its average price at exactly 500, 1,000 and 2,000 kWh, delivery charges and bill credits included. Two of those points give the real rate per kilowatt-hour. The third gives the fixed monthly charge. When the two halves disagree, the difference is the bill credit.
Run that against twelve months of your own meter data instead of a made-up average, and the ranking changes. The honest answer depends on your house, which is exactly why a single ranked list cannot be right for everyone.
Rough check, right now
How far off is your current rate?
Two numbers off your latest bill. This compares you against a recent best all-in fixed rate on Oncor. It is a sanity check, not the audit.
Your bill shows this. Guess high if unsure; summer pulls the average up.
On the bill as "average price per kWh". If missing, divide the total by the kWh.
a year above the best fixed rate on the board, which works out to 11.02¢ all-in at your usage against the 14.5¢ you are paying. That is $63 a month.
This assumes steady usage. If it swings hard between February and August — which in Texas it does — the real figure can move by hundreds. That swing is why the audit reads your meter data rather than an average.
The audit
Three steps. You keep the passwords.
- 01You send your usageTwelve monthly kWh totals, or the Smart Meter Texas interval file — parsed on your computer so raw readings never leave the machine.
- 02Every live offer gets priced against your actual yearMonth by month, credits and thresholds included, with gimmick plans and enrollment catches flagged.
- 03You get one recommendation and a linkAnnual cost, runner-up, exit fee, enrollment link, and the full ranked table so you can check the work.