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The advertised price is the trick. Texas plans are built to look cheapest at exactly 1,000 kWh — use a little more or less and the rate jumps. This checks what a plan would actually cost you.

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True-cost plan checker

Enter your real usage and the numbers off each plan's Electricity Facts Label (EFL). We do the math at your usage, not the advertised one.

500 1,000 1,500 2,000

Find this on any past bill. Use a summer month if you want the worst case.

Set by your wires company, the same on every plan in your area — prefilled with typical values. Confirm against your EFL, they change twice a year.

Advertised · at 1,000 kWh
You'd pay · at kWh

What does this plan really say?

Paste or upload an Electricity Facts Label and get the plan's real terms — every number quoted straight from the document so you can check it yourself. Anything not printed in the EFL is marked "not found," never guessed.

PDF is read on your device — only its text is sent for analysis. Reading aid, not legal or financial advice; the EFL is the binding document.

This is a tool to help you read your plan, not legal or financial advice. The EFL, Terms of Service, and Your Rights as a Customer documents are the binding contract — always confirm anything important against them before you sign or switch. Gridglancer takes no commissions and isn't affiliated with any provider.

What does your real usage say?

Drop in a year of your smart-meter data and get the answers no plan site gives you: your load shape, your peak, and the exact daytime rate where a "free nights" plan would actually beat a flat one — for your house.

+ How to get your data (5 minutes, free)

Texas smart-meter data lives at smartmetertexas.com, run by the utilities. One-time setup:

  • Grab a recent electric bill. You need two numbers from the delivery section (not the retailer's part): your ESI ID (a ~17-digit number) and your meter number.
  • Register at smartmetertexas.com as a Residential user with those two numbers. If the meter number is rejected, try it without any letters at the end.
  • Once in: View Energy Data15-minute interval → pick a date range. A full year is best (it captures summer); 30 days works.
  • Export / Download as CSV. On iPhone it lands in the Files app.
  • Come back here and drop the file below.
Analyzed entirely on your device — the file never leaves your browser.
Period
Total
Daily avg
Peak draw
Average use by hour of day
12 AM6 AMnoon6 PM11 PM
Monthly total kWh
Your current energy charge: ¢/kWh (from your EFL or bill)

Estimates from your meter data — confirm any plan's numbers on its EFL before signing.

+ The three gimmicks to watch for

Bill credits / the 1,000 kWh bullseye. A plan advertises something like 9.9¢, but that rate only lands if you use right around 1,000 kWh. Drop to 999 or climb to 1,100 and the credit disappears — the real rate can jump to the low 20s. The site shows the 1,000 kWh number in the biggest font, which is exactly how these plans win the top of the list.

Free nights & weekends. Sounds great, but the free hours are usually paid for with an inflated daytime rate. Unless most of your use is genuinely overnight, you often come out behind.

Variable rate. No locked price — it can move every month and tends to spike in summer, right when you use the most. For most homes a fixed rate is the safer pick.

+ How to read the EFL (the one document that matters)

The Electricity Facts Label is the standardized fact sheet for every plan. It lists the average price at 500, 1,000, and 2,000 kWh, the energy rate, any monthly base charge, the delivery charges, the early-termination fee, the term length, and whether the rate is fixed or variable.

  • If the three prices are about the same → honest, flat plan. Good sign.
  • If they swing a lot → there's a credit or tier doing the work. Gimmick.
  • The best plans: flat rate, no minimum-usage fee, no conditional credits.

Whatever a listing says, the EFL is the source of truth. Read it before you sign.

+ The shopping checklist
  • Know your usage first. Pull 12 months of bills; note your summer peak. The advertised rate is meaningless away from its assumed usage.
  • Default to fixed-rate unless you have a specific reason not to.
  • Watch the exits. Some early-termination fees run into the hundreds. Check the number and whether it shrinks over the term.
  • Mind minimum-usage fees that hit you for using too little.
  • Check the complaint score (PUCT complaint ratio), plus reviews. A cheap rate from a provider with billing complaints isn't cheap.
  • Match the term to your lease if you rent, so you're not paying to break a contract when you move.
+ What happens if my provider fails?

Your power stays on. Texas has a Provider of Last Resort that automatically picks up customers from a failed provider, with electricity still flowing over the same wires. The catch is that those rates are usually higher than the competitive market — so if it happens, shop for a new plan right away.