Texas Utility Cost Calculator

Pick a retail electric provider

In much of Texas you buy electricity from a retail electric provider, not from the company that owns the wires. In 2024 the two largest sellers to homes were retail power marketers — Reliant Energy Retail Services (19.1 TWh) and TXU Energy (18.7 TWh) — and the Public Utility Commission of Texas runs Power to Choose, which it calls “the official, unbiased, electric choice website” where certified providers post their plans. Other Texans are served by a city utility such as San Antonio’s (11.1 TWh to homes), one of 67 cooperatives with about 2.9 million accounts, or a traditional utility such as Entergy Texas. Plan prices differ widely, so your contract’s energy charge matters more than the 15.96¢ statewide average.

Generation and the summer bill

Texas generates far more electricity than any other state — 567 TWh in 2024 — from natural gas (52%), wind (22%), coal (12%), solar (7%) and nuclear (7%); Comanche Peak nuclear plant was the largest producer. Coal’s share was 34% in 2014.

Air conditioning dominates home use: the 2020 survey measured 3,979 kWh a year of cooling where used, fourth-highest among the states, and the average bill reached $251.09 in July 2026 against $130.48 in November 2025. Counting major events, the average customer lost about 1,614 minutes of power in 2024, third-most in the country.

Gas and help

Natural gas heats 42% of homes, and a gas account used only 378 therms in 2024, at $1.911 per therm, the seventh-highest price nationally. Propane was $2.989 a gallon when EIA’s 2025–26 survey ended. The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs runs energy assistance.