2025 Texas Electricity Market Review and 2026 Outlook
By
Rafael Morales
|
Texas electricity market
The past year has been an exciting one for the Texas electricity market, and for us as well. We officially launched Clear Energy Facts in October 2025, and it has been an incredible journey so far. We are extremely proud of the platform we’ve built, and—true to our original mission—we remain fully focused on helping Texans make smarter, more transparent electricity decisions.
Below is a summary of how the electricity market evolved from September through December 2025, followed by what we achieved this year and what’s coming next:
2025 Electricity Market Overview (September–December)
Power to Choose continues to be the preferred platform for electricity providers to post their cheapest plans across nearly all TDUs in Texas. While it remains an essential resource, consumers must be cautious, especially with short-term contracts and gimmick plans. This is exactly where Clear Energy Facts fills the gap. We focus on proper plan categorization, something that Power to Choose does not fully address.
Key Market Observations:
- Be careful with AI-only plan selection
Tools like ChatGPT or Google AI can be useful for education, but they should not be trusted on their own to select electricity plans. Plans that consistently rank high across comparison sites and AI tools are often Bill Credit plans, which are among the most common ways electricity customers are deceived. 👉 Read our analysis on using ChatGPT for electricity shopping. - Top-performing providers in 2025
Four companies have consistently ranked at the top of our internal scoring system:
- NextVolt Energy
- CleanSky Energy
- Abundance Energy
- Branch Energy
These rankings are based on true pricing behavior, cancellation fees and plan transparency.
- Multiple pricing paths = penalty on transparency
Some providers offer different rates depending on how you arrive at their website (ads, affiliate links, organic traffic). We strongly dislike this practice and actively penalize it in our rankings. We will continue monitoring this behavior and hope it does not become an industry standard. - Hidden minimum usage fees
While analyzing EFLs and customer reviews, we discovered that several companies charge minimum usage fees below 500 kWh. Fees that do not appear in the advertised 500 kWh rate.
This is critical for small apartments. The only reliable way to catch these costs is by connecting your real usage data and calculating the true effective rate using our tools. - Rate trends
Electricity rates have been declining since October 2025. Right now is a solid time to lock in a 12-month or longer plan. ⚠️ Be cautious with 18-month contracts signed in December or January. Their renewal often lands in the middle of summer, historically the most expensive period for electricity in Texas.
What We Achieved at Clear Energy Facts in 2025
This year, we stayed focused on two core goals:
1. Smarter Plan Selection Using Real Usage
We support two distinct paths, depending on whether a user has access to their electricity usage data:
- Without usage data: For users who do not want to connect usage data or do not have it available, we only show True Fixed Rate plans. This protects users from misleading pricing structures and eliminates exposure to bill credit and usage dependent plans.
- With usage data (Smart Meter Texas): For users who connect their Smart Meter Texas (SMT) data, we unlock full plan comparisons:
- Help users find the best True Fixed Rate plan based on historical usage
- Allow users to compare all plan types, including Free Nights and Free Weekends
Most users still find that True Fixed Rate plans are the best option. However, some customers discovered that Free Nights plans ranked at the top based on their actual habits. In several cases, by shifting more electricity usage to nighttime hours, their bills dropped significantly.
Important: Never enroll in a Free Nights or Free Weekends plan without validating the real effective rate using your own usage data.
2. Provider Transparency & Reviews
- In-depth reviews covering 40+ electricity providers
- Analysis based on:
- EFLs and Terms of Service
- Pricing compared and ranked against other providers
- Plan transparency, PUCT score and google summary reviews.
- This has become a powerful reference tool for Texans comparing providers. We are committed to updating these reviews monthly.
Clear Energy Facts Platform Improvements & New Tools
- Updated ZIP Code database
If your ZIP code is served by multiple TDUs, you can now select the correct one, ensuring accurate plan results. - Best Free Nights & Free Weekends list
We created a unique list of the best Free Nights and Free Weekends plans available by area.
👉 This list is for reference only. Always connect SMT data for precise results. - Bill comparison & savings tools
Our comparison tools show:- Whether you are overpaying
- How much you could save by switching
- More personalized support
We are expanding our presence on social media and offering hands-on help:- Send us your electricity bill
- Send us an EFL
- We’ll tell you if you’re overpaying and why
Looking Ahead to 2026
In 2026, we plan to introduce even more tools to:
- Track your free night consumption every week to check your improvement and see if you really can save on Free Night plans
- Stay on track with Bill Credit plans, sending alerts when you are at risk of missing the credit
At Clear Energy Facts, we will continue building tools and services with one clear goal: no Texan should ever overpay for electricity again.
