Texas electricity · pricing
What a price per kWh before delivery leaves out
By Jake Breaux, solar industry expert · Updated
The short version
A price "before delivery" covers the energy only. The delivery utility's charges come on top: in CenterPoint territory, about 6.9¢ per kWh at 1,000 kWh a month. So 9¢ before delivery is about 15.9¢ delivered, before taxes. The Electricity Facts Label is the fair comparison, because Texas requires its average price to include delivery.
What does "per kWh before delivery" mean?
It means the price covers only the energy. In the parts of Texas with retail choice, your bill has two layers: what your retail provider charges for the electricity, and what the delivery utility charges to carry it over its wires. A price "before delivery" leaves the second layer out, and you still pay it.
How much does delivery add to a Texas electric bill?
In CenterPoint territory around Houston, delivery was 6.413¢ per kWh plus $4.90 a month on labels dated September 2026, which works out to about 6.9¢ per kWh at 1,000 kWh a month. It is lower in Oncor and AEP Texas areas and higher in TNMP areas; the table on this page has each one.
| Delivery utility | Per kWh | Per month | Adds at 1,000 kWh | Adds at 2,000 kWh |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CenterPoint | 6.41¢ | $4.90 | 6.9¢ | 6.7¢ |
| Oncor | 6.03¢ | $4.06 | 6.4¢ | 6.2¢ |
| AEP Texas Central | 5.76¢ | $3.24 | 6.1¢ | 5.9¢ |
| AEP Texas North | 5.64¢ | $3.24 | 6.0¢ | 5.8¢ |
| TNMP | 7.77¢ | $7.56 | 8.5¢ | 8.1¢ |
Delivery charges as printed on Electricity Facts Labels dated September 22, 2026, read September 28, 2026. Every retail provider in an area passes the same charges through, so they are the floor under any price there. The "adds" columns spread the monthly fee over that month's usage. The PUCT approves new delivery rates from time to time, so check a current label.
How do I turn a "before delivery" price into a real one?
Add your area's delivery charge per kWh, then spread the monthly delivery fee over your usage. A price of 9¢ before delivery in CenterPoint territory comes to about 15.9¢ per kWh at 1,000 kWh a month, before any monthly fee from the seller, taxes or city charges.
Is the price on an Electricity Facts Label before or after delivery?
After. The PUCT's rule requires the average price on every Electricity Facts Label to reflect all recurring charges, delivery included, at 500, 1,000 and 2,000 kWh a month. It leaves out sales tax, the gross receipts tax reimbursement and any special charge that applies only in part of a utility's area, which the label has to point out. That makes the label the one number you can compare like for like.
What Texas homes actually pay
The federal Energy Information Administration puts the average Texas home at 15.88¢ per kWh in July 2026, everything averaged across every residential customer. That is the number a "before delivery" price has to beat once delivery is added, not the headline. For today's prices in your area, with the catch on the cheapest plans counted, see Houston electricity rates and the pages for the other areas linked from it.
Where this shows up in solar offers
Solar and solar-plus-battery offers in Texas are often quoted per kWh, and sometimes before delivery. That is not a trick by itself: the delivery charge is real, and nobody can make it go away. It only misleads when it sits next to an all-in number. Ask for the offer's price with delivery included, at your own usage, in writing. If the company is also your retail electric provider, it has to give you an Electricity Facts Label, and the rule behind that label says a bundle you cannot split must be priced as a whole. Then compare it with your last twelve bills, not with an advertised rate.
If you want that comparison done with your own bill, put it into the estimator. If you already have an offer on paper, the contract checker reads it on your device and points out what to ask.
Sources
We sell subscription solar, so don't take our word for the contract mechanics. These are the primary sources: check them.
- 16 TAC § 25.475, General Retail Electric Provider Requirements and Information Disclosures to Residential and Small Commercial Customers, Public Utility Commission of Texas
Subsection (b)(2)(A) and (C): the label's average price reflects all recurring charges except sales tax and the gross receipts reimbursement, at 500, 1,000 and 2,000 kWh. (b)(2)(D): when electricity comes bundled with another product you cannot buy separately, the price shown is the total for everything.
- Power to Choose: plans and Electricity Facts Labels, Public Utility Commission of Texas
The delivery charges in the table, as printed on labels of plans listed there, read on September 28, 2026 from labels dated September 22, 2026.
- Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A: average price of electricity by state, U.S. Energy Information Administration
What Texas homes actually paid per kWh on average, all residential customers.
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