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The average commercial electric bill in Texas

Is your business bill above the Texas average? Learn what that benchmark includes and which parts of your own bill to compare.

By Voltcheckr Research · Published Sep 4, 2026 · Updated Oct 10, 2026 · 7 min read

What changed: Revised the opening and search description to clarify the question this guide answers.

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Texas commercial accounts paid an average of about $840 a month for electricity from July 2025 to June 2026, and used about 9,701 kWh a month. Both figures are our arithmetic on EIA's monthly data for Texas, which EIA still marks preliminary for those months.¹

Average usage per account rose about 10% from 2024 to the 12 months through June 2026, and the average bill about 12%. The average all-in price per kWh, revenue divided by kWh sold, rose about 1%. So most of the change in the average bill came from usage.^1,2

The average is all-in. EIA counts gross revenue from energy and demand charges, customer charges, franchise fees and other charges billed in normal billing, and its monthly form tells Texas retail providers to include delivery revenue. A supplier's quote may price supply alone or include delivery, and either way it is not directly comparable to this all-in average.^3,4

It also mixes very different accounts. EIA's commercial sector covers hotels, restaurants, retail stores, wholesale businesses, health and educational institutions, data centers and crypto mining, EV chargers, government agencies and public street lighting. EIA's state totals cover every type of utility, including city-owned utilities and cooperatives.^3,5

Size comes first. An average across accounts this different is pulled up by its large accounts. EIA's national survey of commercial buildings shows the pattern: in 2018 the average building used about five times the electricity of a building of 1,001 to 5,000 square feet.⁷

What the building does matters too. In the same survey, food sales buildings such as grocery and convenience stores used about 53 kWh per square foot in a year, and warehouses about 6. Two businesses of the same size can differ several times over.⁷

The season moves the bill as well. Across the same 12 months, the Texas average itself ran from about $734 in December 2025 to about $960 in July 2025, and the five highest months were June through October. EIA books each month's revenue to the month the electricity was used, not the month it was billed.^1,3

So compare a year of your own bills with the yearly average, or one month with the same month. A single summer bill set against the yearly figure can look high even when nothing else changed.

Each delivery utility's monthly rate report to the PUCT lists, for business accounts, a customer charge per month and a metering charge per meter or per customer per month. Neither changes with the kWh you use, so on a low-usage account they make up a larger share of the bill.^8,9,10,11,12

Your retail provider can list these charges on the bill or build them into its price, and any delivery charge it lists cannot exceed the utility's tariff amount. In each report, the classes billed on demand carry a higher monthly metering charge than the smallest class.^{9,10,11,12,13,16}

Past a size line that each utility sets, delivery is billed on demand as well as kWh. Texas rules define a demand charge as one based on the rate at which electricity is delivered at a given instant, or averaged over a set period, during the billing cycle.¹³

So two businesses with the same kWh can pay different delivery charges if one runs its equipment all at once and sets a higher peak. For a small commercial account, one with peak demand under 50 kW, the terms of service must describe any demand charge and how it applies.^14,15

Our Houston business page explains how CenterPoint measures demand and 4CP, charge by charge. It is linked at the end of this guide.

1. 1

   Use 12 months, not one

   Add up a year of bills, or compare one month with the same month. The statewide average swings with the season.

2. 2

   Find your kWh and any demand reading

   A kW or kVA reading, or a demand charge, means part of your delivery follows your peak, not only your kWh.

3. 3

   Read your average price line

   A small commercial bill must show "The average price you paid for electric service this month." It leaves out sales tax, the gross receipts reimbursement and one-time charges or credits.

4. 4

   Know your delivery utility

   In the competitive market, delivery is billed under its PUCT-approved tariff, and how an offer shows delivery charges differs by supplier, so ask us and we'll check each offer. Your retail provider can tell you which utility serves your address.

5. 5

   Set a quote beside your supply charge

   A supplier's quote may cover supply alone, so compare it with the supply or energy charge on your bill. If the quote or your bill bundles delivery into one price, ask the supplier what its quote includes.

Questions? Call (469) 708-9311