What the Average Texas Business Pays for Electricity (and Why Yours Differs)
Texas commercial customers average about 9,701 kWh/month at an all-in rate of 8.66 cents/kWh (EIA, 06/2026), which works out to roughly $840/month. That average blends tiny offices with hospitals, so it is a benchmark, not a prediction. Your actual bill depends on usage, TDU territory, demand charges, and contract structure.
Say a Houston-area warehouse runs 40,000 kWh a month on a 7.5-cent supply contract. The energy line reads $3,000 on paper. Add CenterPoint's delivery charges, the PUCT assessment and city franchise fees, and the all-in total might land near $3,700, an effective rate near 9.25 cents per kWh. Example numbers to show the math, not a live quote. That gap between the supply rate and the all-in rate is exactly where 'what's the average commercial electric bill in Texas' stops being a simple question.
What the EIA Average Actually Says
The EIA puts the Texas average commercial electricity rate at 8.66 cents per kWh all-in, versus 14.19 cents per kWh nationally (EIA, 06/2026). The same dataset puts the average commercial account's monthly usage at about 9,701 kWh. Multiply those two numbers and you land on a statewide average commercial bill of roughly $840 a month, which is the figure behind the 'average commercial electric bill Texas' search. Here's the catch: it's an average of every commercial meter in the state, corner stores, dentist offices, hospitals, and distribution centers, all blended into one line. A hospital running around the clock pulls that average up. A nail salon open 40 hours a week pulls it down. Neither one tells you what your bill should actually look like.
All-In vs Supply-Only: The Comparison That Trips Businesses Up
Say a supplier quotes you 7.2 cents per kWh. That's a supply-only number, the price of the energy itself. It does not include TDU delivery charges, PUCT assessment fees, or state gross receipts taxes. The EIA's 8.66-cent average (EIA, 06/2026) is all-in, meaning delivery and fees are already baked in, so the two figures are not directly comparable. Stack a supply-only quote next to that all-in average and the comparison falls apart immediately. This is an easy mistake to make when a business owner tries to benchmark a contract against a public average. For example, say a business owner sees a supplier quote at 7 cents and assumes it beats the Texas average by a wide margin, when the true all-in cost, once TDU delivery and fees hit the bill, might land at or above 8.66 cents. Example numbers to show the math, not a live quote. Always ask a supplier for the all-in effective rate at your actual usage before comparing it to anything published.
Don't sign off the headline rate alone. Say one supplier quotes 7.5 cents with delivery billed separately by the utility, and another quotes 8.2 cents with delivery bundled into the rate. Once the utility's delivery charges land on the first bill, the 7.5-cent contract can cost more. Example numbers to show the math, not a live quote. Ask every supplier for the all-in effective rate at your real usage level before comparing any two offers.
What Actually Moves Your Bill Above or Below Average
- TDU territory: Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP Texas, and TNMP each charge a different delivery rate, and that charge applies no matter which supplier you choose.
- Demand charges: many commercial bills bill on the highest 15-minute kW spike of the month, not just total kWh, so a business with sharp peaks pays a higher effective rate than one with flat, steady usage.
- Contract structure: fixed-rate, index, and block-and-index contracts respond very differently to ERCOT price swings, and the wrong structure for your load profile adds real cost.
- Municipal vs. deregulated service: businesses in Austin, San Antonio, El Paso, and other city-owned, co-op or regulated utility territories can't shop a retail supplier at all.
- Industry and operating hours: a 24-hour hospital and a nine-to-five office in the same building post very different monthly kWh totals, even sitting on the same TDU grid.
Typical Usage Ranges by Industry (Our Estimates, and Why City Averages Mislead)
- Restaurants & food service: say 5,000 to 35,000 kWh/month (our estimate, not a published statistic)
- Retail & shopping centers: say 4,000 to 90,000 kWh/month (our estimate, not a published statistic)
- Professional offices: say 3,500 to 60,000 kWh/month (our estimate, not a published statistic)
- Warehouses & distribution: say 10,000 to 100,000 kWh/month (our estimate, not a published statistic)
- Churches & houses of worship: say 2,000 to 20,000 kWh/month (our estimate, not a published statistic)
- Healthcare & medical clinics: say 6,000 to 50,000 kWh/month (our estimate, not a published statistic)
- Light manufacturing: say 20,000 to 100,000 kWh/month (our estimate, not a published statistic)
- Auto dealerships: say 12,000 to 55,000 kWh/month (our estimate, not a published statistic)
- Hotels & hospitality: say 20,000 to 100,000 kWh/month (our estimate, not a published statistic)
- Gyms & fitness centers: say 8,000 to 45,000 kWh/month (our estimate, not a published statistic)
- Salons & beauty services: say 2,000 to 12,000 kWh/month (our estimate, not a published statistic)
- Car washes: say 10,000 to 50,000 kWh/month (our estimate, not a published statistic)
These ranges are Voltcheckr's own estimates, not a published statistic, offered as a rough guide rather than a quote for your building. Location adds another layer on top of industry. For example, a Midland energy-services firm running round-the-clock Permian Basin operations might post a commercial account of roughly 55,000 kWh a month, a hypothetical illustrating how usage varies by industry and region. A Katy retail storefront on CenterPoint's grid, by contrast, might run closer to 8,000 kWh a month. Example numbers to show the math, not a live quote. Both are legitimately 'Texas commercial accounts,' and neither looks anything like the $840 statewide average. Location also decides whether you can shop at all. Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, and most of the Rio Grande Valley around McAllen sit in deregulated ERCOT territory, where a business can put its account out to competitive bid. Austin (Austin Energy), San Antonio (CPS Energy), El Paso (El Paso Electric, outside ERCOT entirely), and Brownsville (BPUB) are served by city-owned or regulated utilities, meaning that utility is the only option for the electricity itself. If your company operates in both types of markets, only the deregulated locations can be shopped.
The move that can actually save money: stop benchmarking against the statewide average and start benchmarking against your own account's history and your industry's usage range. Then get a broker to run a competitive bid on the supply-only portion across every ESI ID you own. That's the number you can actually control.
Averages tell you where the market sits. They don't tell you what your business should be paying. Get live supplier rates priced at your actual usage and TDU territory, or an advisor's custom quote if your account is large enough for a reverse auction.
Get My QuoteFrequently asked questions
Based on EIA data (06/2026), the average Texas commercial account uses about 9,701 kWh/month at an all-in rate of 8.66 cents/kWh, which works out to roughly $840/month. That figure mixes tiny retail shops with large hospitals and factories, so treat it as a market benchmark, not a target for your specific account.
Yes. Texas's average all-in commercial rate is 8.66 cents/kWh compared to a US average of 14.19 cents/kWh (EIA, 06/2026). The EIA data doesn't break down the specific drivers behind that gap, so we won't speculate on the causes here, just the published rates.
Usage size, industry type, and demand charges explain most of the gap. A warehouse or hotel running 40,000-plus kWh/month with a sharp peak demand reading will not land anywhere near an $840 statewide average built on small accounts blended with large ones.
Your supplier contract quotes a supply-only rate, the cost of the energy itself. The EIA average is all-in, meaning it already includes TDU delivery charges, PUCT fees, and taxes. Comparing a supply-only quote directly to the EIA number makes the quote look cheaper than the contract's real all-in cost.
Yes, and more so for larger accounts. Demand charges are billed on your highest 15-minute kW interval of the month, so an operation with sharp peaks, a warehouse or a manufacturing plant for example, can see them make up a large share of its bill. How large depends on the account's load factor, and there is no published statewide figure for it.