For business · Business contract guide
When to renew a Texas business electricity contract
Plan your next contract around your end date. See what price history can tell you and when to begin comparing.
By Voltcheckr Research · Published Aug 19, 2026 · Updated Oct 10, 2026 · 6 min read
What changed: Revised the opening and search description to clarify the question this guide answers.
The short answer
Plan around your contract's end date, not the calendar: we found no public data showing a month when Texas business offers run reliably lower. Wholesale power has usually cost most in summer, but a fixed contract of 12 months or more covers summer whichever month it starts. Shop early enough to compare offers before the end date.
- In ERCOT's Houston load zone, August's average wholesale price ran above its year's average in 8 of the 10 years from 2016 to 2025.
- In EIA's data for 2016 to 2025, what Texas businesses paid per kWh, all-in, barely moved: the typical month sat within about 2% of its year's average.
- The term you choose sets your next end date, so pick an end month you can give the renewal attention.
- For a small commercial account, the final expiration notice must come at least 14 days before the contract expires.
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Does the time of year matter?
It matters for when power is delivered. For when you sign, we found no public data showing a month when business offers are reliably lower. EIA says electricity prices are usually highest in summer, when demand is high and more expensive generation is added to meet it.1
ERCOT's price history for its Houston load zone shows the same shape. From 2016 to 2025, August's average real-time price ran above its year's average in 8 of the 10 years, and January through April each ran below it in at least 8.2
Wholesale power swung with the seasons, while what businesses paid held steady
| Label | Wholesale real-time price, ERCOT Houston zone (% of year's average) | Paid by Texas businesses, all-in (EIA) (% of year's average) |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 75 | 99 |
| Feb | 74 | 102 |
| Mar | 77 | 101 |
| Apr | 82 | 100 |
| May | 96 | 100 |
| Jun | 107 | 100 |
| Jul | 98 | 99 |
| Aug | 129 | 102 |
| Sep | 93 | 101 |
| Oct | 96 | 100 |
| Nov | 90 | 99 |
| Dec | 84 | 98 |
Source: ERCOT, Historical RTM Load Zone and Hub Prices, Houston load zone (LZ_HOUSTON), 2016 to 2025; EIA Form EIA-861M, Texas commercial revenue and sales, 2016 to 2024 final and 2025 preliminary. Read Oct 5, 2026.
Summer is a pattern, not a schedule
The month with the highest average changed from year to year, and how far it rose above the rest of its year changed even more. In 2021 the highest month was February, not a summer month.2
Read the months as delivery months, not signing months. Typically, January through April each averaged under 85% of their year's average, but a 12-month price locked in March still covers the August that follows.2
The highest-priced wholesale month changed from year to year
| Year | Highest month | Times its year's average |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | August | 1.4 |
| 2017 | May | 1.4 |
| 2018 | July | 1.3 |
| 2019 | August | 3.6 |
| 2020 | August | 1.5 |
| 2021 | February | 10.0 |
| 2022 | July | 2.0 |
| 2023 | August | 4.0 |
| 2024 | May | 1.5 |
| 2025 | May | 1.2 |
Why a fixed price evens out the seasons
For a small commercial account, Texas rules define a fixed-rate product as one whose price is the same for each billing period of the term, apart from narrow pass-throughs such as actual changes in delivery charges. So a 12-month contract covers June through September at the one price you lock, whichever month you sign it.4
What Texas businesses paid moved far less than wholesale power. In EIA's data for 2016 to 2025, the typical month's all-in price per kWh sat within about 2% of its year's average, and 98 of the 120 months were within 5%. In ERCOT's Houston zone, 11 of the 120 were.2,3
Two cautions. EIA's figure is statewide and all-in: supply, delivery and fees together, including utility areas without retail choice, so it does not compare with a supplier's supply-only quote. And both series are history: they do not show why one moved less than the other, and neither predicts any year's offers.3
What the calendar does change: your own dates
The months that matter are yours: the start month an offer is priced for, and the end month its term sets. Compare every offer on the same start month and term, since offers are priced by both.
The end month is the month you shop next. Pick a term that ends when you can give the renewal attention, outside your busiest season, rather than one that ends in a month you cannot spare.
Locking early does not have to mean leaving early. Voltcheckr's business page asks when your current contract ends, and when that month falls within the next 12 months, the rates shown are priced to start then. The results name the month the rates are priced for.
How far ahead of the end date to start
Months ahead, not weeks. Our Houston business electricity page gives the renewal window, when to start watching and when to shop, and it is linked under Keep reading below. The rules set a floor under that window, not a plan.
For a small commercial account, Texas rules require at least three written notices of the end date during the last third of a fixed-rate contract. The final notice must be provided at least 14 days before the contract expires, and each notice shows the end date in bold, underlined text.4
With no action by the end date, the account moves to a month-to-month product it can cancel at any time without a fee. Its price may vary between billing cycles.4
Texas rules call an account small commercial when its peak demand is under 50 kilowatts during any 12-month period. A larger account may agree to contract terms with more or fewer protections than the rules set, so its own contract decides the notices and what happens at the end.5
Plan your renewal, step by step
Find your end date
It is in your contract. On a small commercial account, every expiration notice also shows it in bold, underlined text.
Check which rules cover you
Under 50 kilowatts of peak demand, the PUCT's small commercial notices apply. Above that, read your contract's notice and renewal terms.
Set the start month
Ask for offers priced to start the month your current contract ends, so the current one runs its full term.
Choose the term, and with it your next end date
Pick an end month you can give attention to, outside your busiest season.
Compare on the same footing
Line up offers on the same start month and term, read each one's fees and pass-through terms, and sign before your end date.
Questions
Is there a cheaper month to sign a business electricity contract in Texas?
Not one that public data shows. ERCOT's history shows when wholesale power has cost most to deliver, mostly in summer, not when offers are lower to sign. A fixed contract of 12 months or more includes every season at one price, whichever month you sign.
Does signing a new contract early mean paying an early termination fee?
It need not. A new contract can be priced to start the month your current one ends, so the current contract runs its full term. Read your current contract's end and renewal terms first, since a larger account's contract sets its own.
When will my supplier tell me my contract is ending?
For a small commercial account, in at least three written notices during the last third of a fixed-rate contract, the final one at least 14 days before it expires. Each shows the end date in bold, underlined text. A larger account's contract sets its own notice terms.
Should a business wait for prices to move before renewing?
Public data cannot say which way prices will move, and Voltcheckr does not forecast them. Waiting past the end date moves a small commercial account to a month-to-month price that may vary between billing cycles, so compare offers before then.
Sources
- EIA, Electricity explained: prices and factors affecting prices, read Oct 5, 2026
- ERCOT, Historical RTM Load Zone and Hub Prices (NP6-785-ER), yearly files 2016 to 2025, read Oct 5, 2026
- EIA, Form EIA-861M monthly sales and revenue by state, read Oct 5, 2026
- 16 TAC §25.475, REP Requirements and Disclosures to Residential and Small Commercial Customers (PUCT), read Oct 5, 2026
- 16 TAC §25.471, General Provisions of Customer Protection Rules (PUCT), read Oct 5, 2026
How we research
Voltcheckr Research writes each guide from primary sources: the PUCT's rules, the utility's tariff and federal data. Every source is listed above with the day it was read. AI tools help draft each guide; every fact is checked against its source and the guide is approved before it is published. Voltcheckr LLC is a PUCT-registered broker, registration BR260102, with no affiliated supplier.
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