Your Electricity Contract Is Expiring. Here Is Exactly What Happens Next
When a fixed-rate electricity contract in Texas expires without action, it typically rolls onto a month-to-month holdover rate set by the provider, often higher and adjustable monthly. Providers must send a renewal notice beforehand, and most contracts include an ETF-free window near the end letting you switch providers without an early termination fee before holdover begins.
Nothing dramatic happens on the day your fixed-rate contract ends. The power stays on, nobody calls, and no letter arrives to mark the moment. What changes is the rate. If you have not picked a new plan by then, the account rolls onto a month-to-month holdover rate your provider sets, and that rate can move from one billing cycle to the next. Most people find out two or three bills later, which is the expensive way to find out. Here is the timeline, the notice your provider owes you, and the window where leaving costs you nothing.
Why the Bill Jumps the Month After Your Contract Ends
A fixed-rate plan locks your per-kWh energy rate for a set term, usually 12 or 24 months. That lock only lasts as long as the contract does. When the term ends, your provider doesn't shut off your power or cancel your account. It just stops honoring the fixed rate. If you haven't picked a new plan, the account rolls onto what's usually called a month-to-month or holdover rate. That rate is set by the provider, not negotiated by you, and it can move from one billing cycle to the next with no notice beyond what's already in your contract. It's not a penalty rate exactly. It's closer to a default setting, and defaults are rarely the cheapest option on the table.
The Notice Your Provider Has to Send, and the Free Switch Window Inside It
Texas retail electric providers are required to send you a renewal notice before your fixed-rate term ends. It spells out what your rate becomes if you take no action, along with whatever new plan options the provider wants to offer you. It typically arrives weeks before your end date, by mail or email. The problem isn't that it's hidden. It's that it looks exactly like every other piece of marketing mail you've trained yourself to ignore.
Inside that same window sits the part most people miss. Texas rules bar an early termination fee (ETF, the charge for leaving a fixed-rate contract before its term is up) when you switch in the final days of your term, commonly the last 14. Your contract's Terms of Service states the exact window, and the renewal notice usually repeats it. Read the notice once and you will know how many days you have.
- •Fixed-rate plan, no action taken: rolls to a month-to-month holdover rate set by the provider, often higher and adjustable.
- •Fixed-rate plan, renewed with the current provider: locks into a new fixed term at whatever rate is offered, unless you shop first.
- •Variable-rate plan: already month-to-month with no fixed end date, so expiration in the traditional sense doesn't apply.
- •Any plan, switched during the ETF-free window: the new contract starts fresh and no fee is owed to the old provider.
Market context only. Your own rate depends on your plan, your usage, and your delivery utility, so treat these as a backdrop rather than a target.
Here is something worth knowing about the bills people send us. Across 159 distinct bills uploaded to Voltcheckr over the last 90 days, the median landed at $296.86 while the average was $343.81. These come from people who came to us wondering whether they were overpaying, so they are not a statewide sample and should not be read as one. The spread is what matters: when the average sits well above the median, a handful of accounts are running much hotter than the middle of the pack.
The trap has a name: silent auto-renew. Your renewal notice arrives looking like routine mail. It gets set aside, then recycled. Nothing dramatic happens on the day your contract ends, no shutoff, no phone call. The rate just changes, and it can take two or three bills before the increase is big enough to notice. By then you've already paid the holdover rate for months.
The fix is timing, not luck. Find your contract's end date on your latest bill or in your online account with your provider, then count backward to the fee-free window your contract specifies. That is your shopping window: no termination fee, no rush, and no holdover rate waiting on the other side.
- •60 days out: locate your contract's end date and the ETF-free window terms, usually in your Terms of Service or the renewal notice.
- •30 days out: read the renewal notice fully and note the exact holdover rate you'll get if you do nothing.
- •14 days out: compare that holdover rate against current live offers for your address.
- •Before day 0: switch inside the ETF-free window if a better rate exists, or actively renew if the current provider's new offer holds up.
- •If you already missed it: you're on month-to-month now, so no fixed-term ETF applies going forward, but confirm the specific holdover terms before you switch.
Nobody should have to remember their own renewal date. Voltcheckr's Rate Watch is a free service, paid for by participating suppliers, that reminds you before your contract-end window opens, so the notice never gets buried and the holdover rate never sneaks up on you.
Set up free Rate Watch remindersA holdover rate is not a penalty. It is a default setting, and defaults are rarely the cheapest thing on the table. Compare live rates for your home before your contract-end window closes.
Compare today's ratesFrequently asked questions
Most fixed-rate plans automatically roll you onto a month-to-month holdover rate set by your provider. It's usually higher than your expired fixed rate and can change from month to month.
Usually not. Texas rules bar an early termination fee when you switch in the final days of your term, commonly the last 14. Check your contract's Terms of Service or your renewal notice for the exact number of days that applies to you.
Texas retail electric providers are required to send a renewal notice before your fixed term ends, disclosing your rate options and what happens if you take no action. It often looks like routine mail or a plain email, which is exactly why it gets ignored.
No. Variable-rate plans are already month-to-month, so there's no fixed end date or holdover transition, though the rate itself can still move at the provider's discretion.
A reminder service like Voltcheckr's Rate Watch tracks your contract-end date and alerts you before the window closes, so you do not have to rely on catching a notice buried in your mail. It is free to you, and we are paid a referral commission by the supplier you choose.