What Is a Good Commercial Electricity Rate in Texas? How to Judge a Quote

Say a Houston warehouse runs a CenterPoint-area commercial load of about 42,000 kWh a month and receives two quotes that both read '8.9 cents.' One rep quotes 8.9 cents all-in, meaning delivery charges and riders are folded into the number. The other quotes 8.9 cents supply-only, with CenterPoint's delivery charges and monthly riders billed separately on top. On that same 42,000 kWh, the supply-only energy charge alone works out to $3,738 a month. Once delivery and rider charges land on the invoice, the all-in cost could run $800 to $1,200 higher than what the '8.9 cent' quote implied, for example $9,600 to $14,400 a year of difference between two quotes that looked identical on paper. Example numbers to show the math, not a live quote. This illustrates why comparing quotes by method matters more than comparing headline rates alone.

The right move is to stop asking 'what's a good rate' and start asking 'have I compared this correctly.' We recommend judging every quote by method, not by a headline number, because Texas commercial contracts are structured in a way that makes the headline rate almost meaningless in isolation. The rate on a quote sheet only tells you the price of energy. It says nothing about delivery charges, demand charges, contract length, or how riders get passed through. Two quotes with the same rate can be very different deals. Two quotes with different rates can cost the exact same amount. A rate by itself is not a comparison. It's a starting point.

Texas's average commercial electricity rate is 8.66 cents per kWh all-in, meaning supply, delivery, and fees combined (EIA, 06/2026). For comparison, the U.S. average commercial rate is 14.19 cents per kWh all-in (EIA, 06/2026). But that 8.66 cent figure is a blended, all-in market average across every commercial account in the state, from a small salon to a large hospital. It is not a supply-only contract price. When a supplier hands you a quote, that number covers energy only, before your TDU's delivery charges and any riders hit the invoice. Holding a supply-only quote up against the EIA all-in average and calling it a win or a loss is comparing two different things wearing the same unit.

The rate is one line. Your final bill has five or six. A quote at 8.9 cents from one supplier can be built on a 24-month term with riders passed through monthly at cost. A quote at 8.9 cents from another supplier can be built on a 12-month term with riders bundled into a slightly higher fixed number. Both say 8.9 cents. Only one protects you from a rider spike mid-contract. Usage profile matters just as much. A quote priced against your average monthly usage can look fine until your peak summer month runs well above that average, which is exactly when a poorly structured demand charge shows up and does the damage. None of this shows up on the headline rate. It shows up on the invoice three months into the contract.

• Energy charge: the per-kWh rate the supplier quoted you, billed on actual usage
• TDU delivery charges: fixed by your wires company (Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP, TNMP, or a municipal utility), never shoppable, but they still land on your invoice
• Demand charge: billed on your highest 15-minute kW interval of the cycle, common on commercial accounts with equipment-heavy or spiky loads
• Riders and pass-through fees: ERCOT and TDU charges the supplier passes to you, sometimes bundled into the rate, sometimes billed separately
• Taxes and franchise fees: municipal and state charges added at the bottom of the bill regardless of supplier

• Confirm the quote is supply-only and get the TDU delivery charges shown as a separate line, not estimated
• Match the usage figure the quote is priced against to your actual 12-month usage, not a single low month
• Match the contract term. A 12-month quote and a 36-month quote are not the same product even at the same rate
• Ask how demand charges are billed and whether the supplier offers a demand-response or block-and-index option if your load spikes seasonally
• Ask whether riders are passed through at cost or bundled into the fixed rate, and get that answer in writing before you sign

In Greater Houston, on CenterPoint's grid, demand charges can make up a substantial share of a monthly bill for energy-intensive operations such as warehouses, manufacturers, or restaurants running heavy kitchen equipment during peak hours. That's not a supply rate problem. That's a load-shape problem, and no headline rate fixes it. In Midland and Odessa, say a Permian Basin operation runs 24/7 at around 48,000 to 55,000 kWh a month: an indexed or block-and-index structure could perform differently than a flat fixed rate in that scenario, depending on when the account's usage falls relative to peak pricing periods. A flat rate quote alone tells you none of this.

Dallas commercial accounts on Oncor sit within a competitive ERCOT retail market, with a range of contract terms and pricing structures available depending on usage. A 12-month quote and a 36-month quote pulled from that same market are not comparable on rate alone. The longer term can carry a premium for price certainty. For Fort Worth's industrial corridor, say a business locks in a 12- to 24-month fixed contract to gain price certainty against summer spot price swings, even when a shorter or index option shows a lower number on paper. And in Lubbock's competitive retail market, some accounts may still be sitting on a default rate that's never been benchmarked against anything. If that's your business, the first quote you get is almost never the right one to sign. It's the one you use to find out what the market actually looks like.