Power to Choose

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Power to Choose

Power to Choose (powertochoose.org) is the official electricity shopping site for Texas, run by the Public Utility Commission of Texas. It’s free and it’s legit. If you’ve never used it, you should know two things. It’s the real deal. And it has one design flaw that costs Texans real money: it prices every plan at exactly 500, 1,000, or 2,000 kWh a month, and almost nobody’s home uses exactly that.

This page explains how the site works, how to use it without getting burned, and how to compare plans against what your home actually uses instead of a number the state picked.

Key Takeaways

1. Power to Choose is the PUCT’s official site. The address is powertochoose.org. The .com and the lookalike “choose Texas power” sites are private companies.
2. By rule (16 TAC §25.475), plan prices are disclosed at 500, 1,000, and 2,000 kWh. Your bill is calculated on what you use. That gap is where advertised rates and real costs split.
3. You don’t have to avoid Power to Choose. You have to compare plans against your real usage history, which your smart meter already records.

What is Power to Choose in Texas?

Power to Choose is a plan-listing website the Public Utility Commission of Texas created so people in deregulated parts of the state could compare retail electricity plans in one place instead of clicking through fifty provider sites.

Any certified retail electric provider (REP) can list plans there. The PUCT runs the site but doesn’t vet plans for value, doesn’t rank them by what you’d pay, and doesn’t sell electricity. It’s a bulletin board with a search filter. Useful, with real limits.

The official address is powertochoose.org (powertochoose.com redirects there, so either gets you to the state site). The ones to watch are the official-sounding lookalikes: “choose Texas power,” “power choice Texas,” and similar sites are private marketplaces. We’re a private marketplace too (the difference is we just told you). Any site that wants you to trust it because it sounds like the state site has already answered your first question about it.

Is Power to Choose legit?

Yes. A state agency operates it, providers have to follow PUCT listing rules, and every plan links to its official Electricity Facts Label (EFL) and Terms of Service. The site also shows each provider’s complaint history, and the PUCT’s Customer Protection Division takes complaints when a provider misbehaves.

Legit doesn’t mean it’s working in your favor, though. Power to Choose is a marketplace, not an advisor. It shows you what providers submitted. Whether a plan fits your home is a math problem the site doesn’t do.

What Power to Choose shows you (and what it doesn’t)

Texas rule 16 TAC §25.475 requires every plan’s Electricity Facts Label to disclose the average price at three usage levels: 500, 1,000, and 2,000 kWh per month. Power to Choose sorts and displays plans using those three snapshots.

Providers know this. So plans get engineered to look cheapest at exactly 1,000 kWh. Bill credits that trigger at 1,000 and vanish at 999. Tiered rates that jump above the threshold. Base charges that hit small users hardest. The plan at the top of the list is often the best plan for a home that uses exactly 1,000 kWh, a home that mostly exists on paper.

Here’s a real one, straight from the EFL. 4Change Energy’s Maxx Saver Select 24 in the Oncor area advertises 10.5¢ per kWh at 1,000 kWh. Read the label and the machinery shows: a 14.8827¢ energy charge, no base charge, and a $100 bill credit that kicks in at 1,000 kWh. Use 1,250 kWh (an ordinary summer month) and your average is 12.4¢, about 18% above the advertised number. Use 999 kWh and the credit vanishes entirely: $204.80 instead of $105.00. One kilowatt-hour less, $99.80 more.

Nobody designed this to help you. It isn’t your fault for falling for it either; the disclosure rule was written to standardize comparison, and providers turned the standard into a target.

➤ Read: Why Texas electricity plans often cost more than advertised »

How to use Power to Choose the right way

Most sites that outrank this page tell you Power to Choose is flawed and then pitch themselves. Fine. But the state site is the complete list, and there are good reasons to use it. So here’s the playbook:

1. Know your usage first. Pull your last 12 bills, or log into Smart Meter Texas (your meter records usage in 15-minute intervals). Your monthly kWh is the single most important input in this whole process.
2. Ignore the default sort. It’s built on the 1,000 kWh snapshot. If you use 800 or 1,400, the “cheapest” plan on screen may not be cheap for you.
3. Open the EFL on every plan you shortlist. Look for base charges, bill credit thresholds, tiered rates, and whether TDU delivery charges are bundled or passed through.
4. Do the math at YOUR usage. Total monthly cost at your kWh, divided by your kWh. That’s your real rate. Run it for each of your 12 months if your usage swings between seasons. In Texas it does.
5. Check the provider’s complaint score before the price convinces you.
6. Screenshot the EFL when you enroll. It’s your receipt if the bill doesn’t match.
7. Set a reminder for 30 to 60 days before contract end. Doing nothing rolls you onto a month-to-month holdover rate, routinely the most expensive plan a provider offers.

Do all seven and you’ll land on a good plan. That’s true and we’ll say it. It’s also a spreadsheet-and-PDF afternoon, and step 4 is where most people quit.fternoon, and step 4 is where most people quit.You resist the urge to throw your phone.

➤ Read: What are Advertised Rates? How to Avoid Gimmicky Pricing and Find Your Best Plan »

Compare plans with your real usage

This is what Compare Power was built to do. Connect your address through Live Link™ and we pull your usage history from Smart Meter Texas, the same data your provider bills you on. Then we run every available plan against your real 12 months and show what each one would have cost you, all-in, TDU charges included.

It’s step 4 from the playbook above, done for every plan at once, in about 10 minutes.

• 82,000+ verified customer reviews, 4.9 stars
• Plans from 18 providers, priced at your usage
• If your current plan wins, that’s what we show you. We’d rather tell you to stay put than earn a commission moving you sideways.

➤ Find Your Best Plan with Live Link »

How we make money (and why it doesn’t work against you)

We earn a commission from the provider when you enroll through us. We show you the math either way, and the ranking comes from your usage data, not from who pays us. If staying on your current plan is the right answer, that’s the answer you get.One comparison. Real data. Actual savings.

➤ Read: What’s Your Energy Plan Really Costing You?

When Power to Choose is all you need

Not everyone needs us.

• Brand-new address with no usage history? Nobody can price plans to your real usage yet. A state-site comparison at your best-guess kWh is a reasonable start. (We can estimate from home size, but it’s an estimate either way.)
• Flat usage that really does sit near 1,000 kWh? The Power to Choose sort treats you fairly. You’re the person the disclosure rule was written for.
• You enjoy the spreadsheet? Respect. The seven steps above are the complete playbook.

Everyone else, meaning anyone whose usage swings with a Texas summer, is exactly who the 1,000 kWh snapshot misleads.

Ready to skip the spreadsheet nightmare? Start your 10-minute comparison with Live Link »

Best Texas Electricity Rates for August 2026

Want to see plans available today? Here’s a snapshot of energy plans from major providers—the same ones you’d find after entering your zip code and starting your 3-hour comparison journey on Power to Choose.

Provider & Plan	Term	Rate per kWh
Frontier Utilities – Saver Plus 12	12 months	7.3¢
4Change Energy – Maxx Saver Value 24	24 months	8.2¢
Just Energy – Power Plus 24	24 months	8.5¢
Reliant – Power Savings 12	12 months	12.8¢
Constellation – 12 Month (No Min Usage Fee)	12 months	13.8¢

How we make money (and why it doesn’t work against you)

We earn a commission from the provider when you enroll through us. We show you the math either way, and the ranking comes from your usage data, not from who pays us. If staying on your current plan is the right answer, that’s the answer you get.

Power to Choose FAQs

Beyond Power to Choose

Power to Choose means well, but it often leaves Texans confused.

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