Power to Choose, explained

Power to Choose (powertochoose.org) is the official electricity shopping site run by the Public Utility Commission of Texas. It’s a real public service: every retail plan in the deregulated parts of Texas has to be listed there, the data is standardized, and no provider can pay to rank higher. If you only ever use one tool, it should be that one.

The trouble is that providers have learned to design plans that look great on Power to Choose specifically, and the site does little to stop it. Here’s where it tends to mislead, and how to read around it.

It only shows three usage points

Power to Choose ranks plans by the average price at 500, 1,000, and 2,000 kWh a month, and 1,000 is the default sort. Providers respond by tuning a plan to be cheapest at exactly 1,000 kWh, even if it’s a bad deal at 900 or 1,100. We call these bullseye plans. If your real usage is 1,250 kWh, the “cheapest” plan at 1,000 may not be cheapest for you at all. The fix is to price every plan at your actual usage, which is what this site does.

Bill credits hide the real rate

A common trick is a high per-kWh rate paired with a big credit that only applies once you cross a usage threshold (often, again, right around 1,000 kWh). Land in the sweet spot and the bill looks tiny. Miss it by a little and the credit vanishes and the bill jumps. The average-price label smooths this over at the three sample points, so the danger doesn’t show up until you’re a customer.

The “average price” is not your rate

The headline cents-per-kWh figure already blends in the delivery charges and any credits at that one usage level. It is not the rate you’ll be charged per kWh, and it shifts as your usage moves. Reading it as a simple rate is how people end up surprised by their first bill.

Fine print that doesn’t fit in a row

Early-termination fees, minimum-usage fees, monthly base charges, autopay or smart-thermostat requirements, and the contract’s renewal month all change what a plan really costs, and none of them fit neatly into a sortable column. They live in the Electricity Facts Label, the one-page document every provider must publish. It’s worth opening before you sign anything.

What the star rating means

The star rating next to each provider is Power to Choose’s own 1-to-5 score, and it isn’t a set of written reviews: it’s a complaint score. The Public Utility Commission of Texas tracks how many complaints each retail provider draws relative to its size, on a rolling six-month basis, and publishes it as the Retail Electric Provider complaint scorecard (PDF). More stars means fewer complaints per customer than other providers over that window.

Two caveats worth knowing. The score only counts that a complaint was filed, not whether the provider was at fault or how it was resolved. And providers are graded on a curve into five equal buckets, so the gap between a four-star and a five-star company can be small. Treat it as one signal about customer service, not the whole story.

How to shop without getting tricked

• Use your real monthly usage, not a round 1,000 kWh.
• Be suspicious of any plan that’s only cheap at one exact usage level.
• Read the Electricity Facts Label for fees, credits, and the renewal date.
• Treat the “average price” as a sorting number, not your actual rate.

That’s the work this site is built to do for you. Head back to the comparison, enter your usage and ZIP, and the all-in costs and gimmick flags are already worked out. For the details of the calculation, see how this site works.