Houston Electricity

Weights. True cost at 1,000 kWh — 30 · Cost honesty (the spread between a plan's 500- and 2,000-kWh average prices) — 25 · True cost at 500 kWh — 20 · True cost at 2,000 kWh — 15 · Exit-fee fairness — 10. Cost sub-scores stretch between the shelf's best and worst true monthly cost at that level (best = 100, worst = 0, computed exactly: 100 × (worst − yours) ÷ (worst − best)). Honesty scores the same way on spread — Champion's 0.7¢ spread scores 100; the 13.0¢ cliffs score 0. Exit fees: a prepaid $49 scores 100; a fee of $20 per month remaining scores 60 because it shrinks as you stay; a flat $150 scores 50. Every input is on the plan's own Facts Label, retrieved Nov 1, 2026, and labeled with its date — a reader with the same labels reaches the same order.

Why honesty weighs 25. Because the 1,000-kWh column is where Texans get fooled. A method that ranked on that column alone would crown the two cliff plans at the bottom of this table. We would rather explain a ranking than sell you a mirage.

Churn law. Electric plans are repriced constantly and labels reissued; older labels in this set already print outdated CenterPoint delivery rates, which understates their true cost. Treat every figure as dated, recheck the live EFL on PowerToChoose.org (the Public Utility Commission's official comparison site) before switching, and expect this shelf to be checked back on the first of every month under the house's snapshot rhythm — every plan's label re-pulled and compared, any change published openly with its new date — with event corrections between. The stamp at the top of this page tells you the last time it was checked.

Where's the complaint score? See the next section — the record exists; the per-provider scores are on our tracked list rather than guessed.

The Public Utility Commission of Texas publishes a Retail Electric Provider Complaint Scorecard — the current edition covers complaints from April 1 to September 30, 2026 (the “October 2026 Complaint Score”). Providers are grouped into five bands by their complaint rate per 1,000 customers over a rolling six months; five dots is the lowest complaint rate. The PUC's own caution, which we endorse: the score counts investigated informal complaints whether or not the company was found at fault, and it is “only one measure” — the PUC itself suggests checking the Better Business Bureau too.

Per-provider dot scores could not be extracted reliably from the official scorecard PDF in this pass, so no provider's complaint band is printed here. They are on the house's tracked list for the next refresh — pulled from the official scorecard or not printed at all. A secondary site renders dots for a few plans (four of five for Gexa's Eco Choice 8, three of five for Rhythm's Digital Choice 12); those are the aggregator's renderings, not the PUC's, and we don't republish them as the record.

If a provider mistreats you: complain to the provider first, then to the PUC — your complaint is literally what this scorecard is made of.

La luz en Houston. Usted no escoge los cables — eso es CenterPoint, y su cargo de entrega ($4.90 al mes + 6.5333¢ por kWh) viene en todas las cuentas. Lo que sí escoge es la compañía y la forma de su precio. Ojo con el truco: algunos planes dan un crédito de $125 solo si usa 1,000 kWh o más; a 999 kWh el precio real puede ser el triple. Esta tabla clasifica los planes por el costo verdadero a 500, 1,000 y 2,000 kWh y por la honestidad de su precio — por eso los planes del “crédito” quedan abajo aunque su número de 1,000 kWh se vea el más barato de Texas. Cada plan lleva la fecha de su etiqueta de hechos (EFL); verifíquela en powertochoose.org antes de cambiarse. Esta casa nunca vende electricidad y nadie paga por un mejor puesto.