How to Read a Texas Electricity Facts Label (EFL)

The Electricity Facts Label is the one-page document that tells you what a Texas electricity plan actually costs. Every retail provider has to give you one, the format is set by state rule, and it's the only place the real numbers live. The rate you saw in the ad is marketing. The EFL is the contract's price tag.

Most people never open it. That's usually where the surprise on the first bill comes from.

What an EFL is

The Public Utility Commission of Texas describes it as a way to make an "apples-to-apples" comparison between providers, and compares it to a nutrition label. That's a fair description. Every EFL carries the same sections in the same order, so once you can read one, you can read all of them.

Providers must hand you one on request, and it's part of your contract along with the Terms of Service and the Your Rights as a Customer document.

The format itself comes from PUCT rule §25.475. If you ever want to argue with a provider about what they disclosed, that rule is the thing to point at.

The three price columns are the whole game

Open any EFL and the first thing you'll see is a small table. The state requires it to look like this:

Three different prices for the same plan. Not a typo, and not the provider being cagey. It's arithmetic.

Your bill has fixed monthly charges in it — the provider's base charge, the delivery utility's fixed charge. Those don't shrink when you use less electricity. So a fixed $9.95 monthly fee spread across 500 kWh costs you about 2¢ per kWh. Spread across 2,000 kWh it's about half a cent. Same fee, wildly different effect on the rate.

This is where most people pick the wrong plan. Comparison ads almost always quote the 1,000 kWh number, because it's usually the flattering one. If your house doesn't use 1,000 kWh a month, that number is not your price.

So before you compare anything: look at twelve months of your own bills and find your actual average. Then read the column that matches. A plan that wins at 1,000 kWh can lose badly at 500.

If your usage swings hard between summer and winter, and in most of Texas it does, check the columns on both ends rather than the middle.

What each section actually tells you

Electricity price

The average price per kWh at each of the three usage levels, including all recurring charges. Sales tax is excluded. For a variable-price plan, this is only the first billing cycle.

Type of product

The rule requires this to say either fixed rate product or variable price product. There's no third option and no fuzzy middle. If a plan is being marketed to you as "locked in" but the EFL says variable, believe the EFL.

Contract term

How long the price holds. This is also the clock on your early termination fee.

Cancellation fee

What you pay to leave early. Worth knowing before you sign, not after. One useful protection: the rule says there's no early termination fee if you're leaving because you moved, provided you give a forwarding address and, if asked, reasonable evidence you no longer live there.

Renewable content

The percentage of the product that's renewable, plus the statewide average for comparison. The statewide figure is the part that gives the number meaning.

Fees

A list of every fee the provider can charge you and whether it's already baked into the recurring charges. Read this one slowly.

"Fixed rate" doesn't mean the price can never change

This trips up careful people, so it's worth being precise.

Under the rule, a fixed rate product holds the same price for every billing period of the term, except that it may change to reflect actual changes in delivery utility charges. Your EFL will carry language close to this:

"The price applied in the first billing cycle may be different from the price in this EFL if there are changes in TDSP charges; changes to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas or Texas Regional Entity, Inc. administrative fees charged to loads; or changes resulting from federal, state or local laws or regulatory actions that impose new or modified fees or costs that are outside our control."

TDSP is the delivery company — Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP Texas or TNMP depending on where you live. They set delivery charges, the PUCT approves them, and those can move regardless of your contract. Your provider genuinely can't control that part.

What "fixed" protects you from is the provider changing their own margin. It isn't a promise that the total never moves a cent.

For a variable plan, the EFL has to state the maximum it can rise month to month and point you to the product's historical price. If you're on variable, go read that history. It's the closest thing to a forecast you'll get.

How to compare two plans in about two minutes

1. Find your average monthly usage from your last twelve bills.

2. On each EFL, read the price column closest to that number.

3. Check the product type: fixed or variable.

4. Check the term and the cancellation fee.

5. Scan the fee list for anything conditional, especially minimum-usage credits or charges that only apply below a certain kWh.

That last one deserves a flag. Some plans hang a bill credit on hitting a usage threshold. If you land under it, the effective rate you actually pay looks nothing like the headline. The three-column table already hints at this: if the 500 kWh price is far above the 1,000 kWh price, there's usually a usage-based credit doing the work.

When you're ready to compare real plans, you can see what's available at your address and open each EFL before you commit. If you're not sure whether you can even choose a provider where you live, we keep a list of deregulated cities in Texas, and our Power to Choose guide covers how the state's own shopping site compares.

One disclosure, plainly: Energy Outlet earns a commission when someone enrolls through us. That never affects how plans are ranked. Listings are ordered on rates and plan details, not on what a provider pays us.

Common questions about the Electricity Facts Label

Where do I get an EFL?

Every retail electric provider is required to give you one on request, and they're normally linked directly from the plan listing before you sign up. If a provider won't produce one, that tells you something.

Why does one plan show three different prices?

Because fixed monthly charges spread differently across different amounts of electricity. The lower your usage, the more those fixed costs weigh on your per-kWh rate. Same plan, same fees, three honest answers.

Which column should I use?

The one closest to your real monthly average. Pull twelve months of bills and average them rather than guessing, since Texas summer and winter usage can differ by a lot in the same house.

Is the EFL the same as the contract?

It's part of it. Under the rule your contract is the Terms of Service, the EFL, the Your Rights as a Customer document, and your enrollment documentation. The EFL is the pricing piece.

Can my fixed rate change?

Only for reasons outside the provider's control, chiefly delivery charges, ERCOT administrative fees, and new or modified government fees. The provider can't change their own portion mid-term.

What is POLR on my EFL?

Provider of Last Resort. It's the backstop service you'd be moved to if your provider stopped serving you, and the EFL shows a maximum price for that usage. It's a ceiling for an unusual situation, not what you'd normally pay.

Does the EFL show taxes?

No. The prices exclude state and local sales tax and the state miscellaneous gross receipts tax reimbursement, so your final bill runs slightly higher than the EFL price.