Why Is My Texas Electricity Bill So High?

If your Texas electricity bill is suddenly much higher than last month — sometimes 50–200% higher — the cause is almost always one of six things, not a mistake or a price gouge:

1. Your fixed-rate contract expired and you rolled into a month-to-month rate that's often 2–3× higher.
2. It's summer in Texas and your AC is doing 2× the work it did in March.
3. You missed a "bill credit" threshold — usage just under 1,000 or 2,000 kWh on a plan with credits makes your effective rate jump.
4. A TDU delivery charge changed — the part of your bill from Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP Texas, or TNMP isn't picked by your provider.
5. You had a weather event — a freeze, heatwave, or storm-driven backup heating spike.
6. Your home got less efficient — failing AC, AC running constantly because of a thermostat schedule, or a tenant change.

Below, we walk through each one, show you how to check it on your bill, and tell you what to do about it. Upload your bill using the "Get Started" button and we'll diagnose the cause for free — no email or signup needed.

Reason 1: Your fixed-rate contract expired

This is the most common cause of a huge bill jump. About 60% of customers we see whose bills doubled or tripled in a single month had their fixed-rate term end and got rolled to a default month-to-month rate — sometimes called the "holdover rate" or "month-to-month rate" on your Electricity Facts Label (EFL).

Default rates after a fixed term ends are typically 15–19.5¢/kWh (from current Texas market data). Fixed rates in Texas average around 8–14¢/kWh depending on term length and provider. On a 1,500 kWh summer bill, that's the difference between $125 and $293 — a $168 swing, every month, with no warning sign on the bill itself.

How to check yours:

1. Look at the "Plan" or "Service Plan" line on your bill — typically near the top or in the middle of page 1.
2. If it says "Month-to-Month", "Default Plan", "Holdover", or contains the word "Variable", you're on a higher rate than you need to be.
3. Look at the "End Date" or "Service Period" — if there's no contract end date listed, you're on month-to-month.

What to do: Shop for a fixed-rate plan that matches your actual usage profile. Most homes save $30–80/month by switching from default to fixed. Upload your bill and we'll show you exactly which plans would have saved you money for the last 12 months on your house specifically.

A note on "evergreen renewals": Some providers will auto-renew you into a new fixed-rate plan at term end, but that new plan can also be expensive. Auto-renewal is rare in Texas (most providers default to month-to-month), but if your bill has the same "Plan Name" you've had for years and is still high, you may have been auto-renewed into a similar product at a higher rate.

Reason 2: It's summer in Texas

This is the most common "everyone is mad about their bill" reason, but it's worth saying out loud: your usage in July is typically 2–2.5× your usage in March, even if nothing else changed.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Smart Meter Texas records, and Texas utility company load profiles (2024–2025). Assumes ~2,000 sq ft single-family home.

So if your rate stayed the same (e.g., 12¢/kWh) but you went from 800 kWh in March to 1,800 kWh in July, your bill goes from $96 to $216 — a 125% increase — without anything actually changing about your contract.

How to check yours:

• Compare your kWh usage to last year's same month. Most bills show a 12-month or 13-month usage graph.
• If usage is similar to last year's same month, this is normal seasonal variation. Your rate hasn't changed.
• If usage is significantly higher than last year's same month, see Reason 6 below.

What to do: For summer-driven bill increases, the best response is lower your usage (set thermostat 1–2 degrees higher, run AC less when not home), not switch plans. But if your rate is also high (12¢+) and you're using a lot of summer power, consider a free-nights or free-weekends plan that gives you off-peak hours when you can't use them anyway. We'll model whether that math works on your specific bill.

Reason 3: You missed a "bill credit" threshold

This is the trap. Many Texas electricity plans advertise rates like "8.9¢/kWh" but only deliver that rate if your usage falls within a specific window — typically 1,000 to 2,000 kWh. Use less than 1,000 kWh and you don't get the credit. Use a different amount and your effective rate jumps.

Here's how it works on a plan like Chariot Energy's GridPlus 12 — a structure we see often in the Texas market:

If you're at 999 kWh and your neighbor is at 1,000 kWh, your bill is $130 higher for using less electricity. That's the bill credit trap.

How to check yours:

1. Find your "Energy Charge" line on your bill.
2. Look for a line labeled "Bill Credit", "Credit", or "Usage Adjustment" — sometimes hidden in the breakdown.
3. If you have no bill credit applied and your usage was just under 1,000 kWh, you're in the trap.

We have a dedicated guide on the Bill Credit Trap that walks through every variant of this we've seen across Texas retail providers.

What to do: If you're consistently below a credit threshold, switch to a plan with no usage tiers and no bill credits — just a flat ¢/kWh rate. We'll surface those plans first when you upload your bill.

Reason 4: A TDU delivery charge changed

About 40% of your Texas electricity bill is not from your retail provider at all — it's a TDU delivery charge from the company that owns the poles and wires in your area. Depending on where you live, this is one of:

• Oncor — Dallas-Fort Worth, North/Central Texas
• CenterPoint Energy — Houston metro
• AEP Texas Central — Corpus Christi, Rio Grande Valley
• AEP Texas North — Abilene, West Texas
• TNMP — Parts of Houston metro and West Texas

The TDU charge has two parts: a monthly base charge (currently $3.24–$7.85 depending on TDU) and a delivery rate (currently 5.0–6.5¢ per kWh depending on TDU). Twice a year, in March and September, the PUCT can approve TDU rate changes. When that happens, every electricity bill in that TDU's service territory goes up the same amount on the same date — regardless of which retail provider you have.

How to check yours:

1. Find the "TDU Delivery Charges" section on your bill (usually a separate breakdown).
2. Compare the per-kWh delivery rate to last month's. If it changed, that's a TDU adjustment — not anything your provider did.
3. The PUCT publishes TDU tariff change history at puc.texas.gov.

What to do: Unfortunately, nothing direct — TDU charges are regulated and you can't avoid them by switching providers. But knowing this is the cause helps you stop blaming your retail provider unfairly. The right response is to lower your usage (since TDU charges are per-kWh).

Reason 5: A weather event spiked your usage

Beyond normal summer/winter variation, a specific weather event can drive a one-off bill spike:

• A freeze (December–February): your heat strips or backup heating ran for days. Heat strips are extremely expensive — typically 3–4× the cost of normal heat pump heating per hour of use.
• A heatwave (July–August): prolonged 100°F+ days mean your AC never cycles off.
• An outage and recovery: after CenterPoint or Oncor restores power following a storm, the first 24–48 hours of usage can be unusually high as fridges, HVAC, and water heaters recover.

If your bill spiked specifically in February 2021 (the Uri freeze), that was a special case. Customers on variable-rate or wholesale-indexed plans like Griddy paid catastrophic bills. Those plans are now largely banned in Texas, but if you're still on a variable rate, freeze events will still hurt you more than fixed-rate customers.

How to check yours:

• Pull your bill graph and find the spike month. Was there an unusual weather event?
• If yes, the spike is one-off, not a structural problem.

What to do: For one-off weather spikes, no immediate action needed — you're back to normal. But if you're on a variable-rate plan, switch to fixed before next winter.

Reason 6: Your home got less efficient

If your usage in the same month last year was 1,100 kWh and this year is 1,600 kWh — same month, same weather, same rate — something inside your home changed. Possibilities:

• AC needs maintenance: dirty filters, low refrigerant, or a failing capacitor make your AC run much longer for the same cooling.
• Thermostat schedule changed: someone reprogrammed it or it lost its schedule.
• Pool pump or other large load added: a new dehumidifier, EV charging, or pool equipment can add hundreds of kWh.
• More people in the home: a kid moved back, a family member moved in, or you started working from home full-time.
• Aging appliances: a 15-year-old fridge uses 2–3× the power of a modern one.

How to check yours:

• Compare 12 months of usage. Look for a step-change rather than a gradual trend.
• A step-change means something specific happened — an appliance added, an HVAC issue, a thermostat change.
• A gradual upward trend over 2–3 years means appliances are aging or the home's envelope is leaking more.

What to do: This is usually an at-home audit, not a plan switch. Common quick wins: replace AC filter (every 30–60 days in Texas summer), set thermostat 78°F+ when home / 82°F+ when away, run pool pump only at night when off-peak rates may apply.

What if your bill jumped this month — what should you actually do?

Three steps, in order:

1. Pull your last 2–3 bills. Compare the kWh usage line, the energy charge, and the TDU delivery charge. Most "bill went way up" problems become obvious at this comparison stage.
2. Upload your bill using the button on this page. We'll automatically check your current plan, your effective rate, your usage profile, and whether a switch would save you money on the next 12 months of usage.
3. If you're on a default/month-to-month rate or near a bill-credit threshold — switch this week. The savings compound every month you wait.

Frequently asked questions

Q: Why did my bill double when nothing changed?

A: The most common reason is that your fixed-rate contract ended and you got rolled to a default month-to-month rate of 15–19¢/kWh, vs. your previous fixed rate of 8–12¢/kWh. Check the "Plan Name" line on your bill — if it says month-to-month, default, or holdover, that's your answer.

Q: My usage is the same as last year but my bill is higher — what gives?

A: Either your rate changed (look at the ¢/kWh you're paying), a TDU delivery rate adjustment took effect (check the TDU delivery line), or you crossed below a bill-credit threshold. Comparing line-by-line against last year's bill for the same month is the fastest diagnosis.

Q: I'm on a "free nights" plan and my bill is still high — why?

A: Free-nights plans charge a higher daytime rate (often 16–22¢/kWh) in exchange for free off-peak hours. They only save you money if your night/weekend usage is genuinely high — typically 40%+ of total. If most of your usage is daytime AC, a flat-rate plan will be cheaper. We'll model this on your specific bill.

Q: Can my electricity provider raise my rate mid-contract?

A: On a fixed-rate plan, no — your rate is locked for the contract term (typically 6, 12, 24, or 36 months). On a variable-rate or indexed plan, yes — they can change the rate any month, and Texas has no cap on how high it can go. Your EFL tells you which type of plan you're on.

Q: Why is my TDU delivery charge so high?

A: TDU delivery is roughly 40% of a typical Texas electricity bill and is regulated by the PUCT — not chosen by your retail provider. Different TDUs charge different rates: CenterPoint Houston is currently ~5.0¢/kWh, Oncor is ~5.6¢/kWh, AEP Texas Central is ~5.8¢/kWh, AEP Texas North is ~5.7¢/kWh, TNMP is ~6.5¢/kWh. You can't avoid TDU charges by switching providers; the only way to reduce them is to use less electricity.

Q: My bill says "Adjustment" or "Reconciliation" — what is that?

A: Usually an estimated meter reading from a prior month being corrected. If a meter reader couldn't access your meter, the provider estimates and then reconciles when they get an actual reading. The adjustment makes that month's bill look weird but evens out.

Q: Should I switch providers if my bill went up?

A: If you're on a month-to-month / default / variable plan — yes, switch now. If you're on a fixed plan that hasn't expired, the math depends on whether your current rate is competitive vs. current market rates. Upload your bill and we'll show you whether switching would save you money even accounting for any Early Termination Fee (ETF) on your current plan.

This guide was last reviewed on May 17, 2026. TDU rates change in March and September each year; we update those numbers after each PUCT adjustment.