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TDU delivery charges explained: who sets them

A delivery-charge change can move your bill even when your plan is fixed. Learn who sets these charges and how to check what changed.

By Voltcheckr Research · Published Aug 5, 2026 · Updated Oct 23, 2026 · 8 min read

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Delivery charges cover the cost of moving electricity from where it is generated to your home. A TDU's charges for a home come in two kinds: some per month, whatever you use, and some per kWh, which grow with your usage. The table lists the usual parts.^1,3

Your retail electric provider, or REP, sells you electricity and sends your bill. Your TDU delivers that electricity over its poles and wires. In a competitive area you choose the REP. The TDU is the wires company for your area, and the same one keeps delivering whichever provider you choose.^6,7

Your bill must list a number you can call 24 hours a day to report outages. Questions about the bill itself go to your provider.^6,13

The PUCT does. Each TDU must file a tariff with the commission, and a TDU that wants to raise its rates must apply. The PUCT then approves, modifies or denies the request. It does not set the final price a retail provider charges you.^2,11

Between rate cases, some charges move on their own schedules. PUCT rules set the transmission cost recovery factor to update on March 1 and September 1, and the energy efficiency factor once a year, effective March 1. Other dates happen too: Oncor's tariff lists transmission factor changes on August 1 and October 4, 2026.^8,9,16

Delivery charges differ from one TDU to the next, because each has its own tariff. Within one TDU's area, homes on the same rate schedule share that tariff whichever provider they choose. The PUCT does not oversee the rates of city-owned utilities or electric cooperatives.^1,3

In 2024, five TDUs delivered power to about 7.1 million Texas residential customers, by our count of EIA data. That is about 57% of the 12.5 million residential customers EIA counted in Texas that year.¹⁵

Each TDU's current charges, and the date each one took effect, are in its own tariff, linked below. The PUCT also posts a monthly summary of all five.^{3,16,17,18,19}

No. After each meter read, the TDU sends your provider an invoice for its delivery charges under its tariff. If your provider lists a TDU charge on your bill, Texas rules say the amount cannot exceed the tariff charge.^11,13,16

Your provider does decide how you see them. It can show them as their own lines, such as TDU Delivery Charges or TDU Surcharges, or build them into its price per kWh. Either way, it must itemize your charges if you ask.^1,6,13

On a fixed-rate plan, the price can change during the contract only for a few listed reasons, and actual changes in TDU charges are one of them. Your plan's Electricity Facts Label may call them TDSP charges. TDSP is ERCOT's term for a transmission and distribution service provider.^12,14

Check the effective date on the TDU's own tariff sheet. Every sheet carries the date it took effect, and it can be more current than any summary.^{2,3,5,16,17,19}

1. 1

   Open the PUCT's TDU rates page

   It lists each TDU's residential charges as of the first of the month. The utilities submit these summaries monthly.

2. 2

   Open your TDU's tariff

   Each rate sheet shows its effective date. Oncor's transmission factor change of October 4, 2026, for example, is in its tariff but not in the PUCT's summary dated October 1.

3. 3

   Look at earlier versions

   Some TDUs post expired tariffs, and some rider sheets list past effective dates, so you can see what changed and when.

4. 4

   Compare two of your bills

   If your provider lists delivery charges as their own lines, compare them. Check the kWh too, since the per-kWh parts move with your usage.

5. 5

   Search the PUCT Interchange

   Rate cases and rider updates are filed there. Search by the five-digit docket number on a rate notice or by utility name, and sign up for filing notifications.

Yes. The customer and metering charges apply every month, whatever your usage. Texas rules also have the TDU charge for the power your home draws from the grid, as its meter measures it. A home whose panels match its yearly use still draws grid power at night and on cloudy days.^4,10,16

What you earn for power sent to the grid is a plan term, not a TDU charge. The PUCT says the buyback rate is part of your contract with your provider, and every EFL says whether the provider buys excess distributed renewable generation.^4,12

You cannot opt out of delivery charges. The per-kWh parts fall when you draw fewer kWh from the grid. The monthly parts do not.^3,16

Before you install panels, know that the homeowner or the installer must register the system with the local utility that manages the poles and wires, the PUCT says.⁴

Questions? Call (469) 708-9311