Last updated: October 27, 2026. All figures checked October 27, 2026 against EIA and PUCT data. EIA’s 2026 monthly numbers are preliminary and may be revised.
The average Texas home paid about $171 a month for electricity in 2025, using about 1,110 kWh a month at an average of 15.40¢ per kWh. That’s GridPenny’s calculation from EIA’s residential sales, revenue and customer data, checked October 27, 2026. Summer is another story. In August 2026 the average Texas residential customer used about 1,670 kWh, and the average bill worked out to roughly $266 (preliminary EIA data).
So the honest answer to “what’s the average electric bill in Texas” is: it depends on the month. This page has the yearly and monthly numbers and the things that push a Texas bill up. At the end there’s a quick way to tell whether your own bill is normal.
Key numbers (checked Oct 27, 2026)
- Texas average bill, 2025: $170.95/month at 1,110 kWh and 15.40¢/kWh (EIA; GridPenny calculation)
- U.S. average bill, 2025: $150.68/month at 874 kWh and 17.23¢/kWh (same source)
- Texas, August 2026 (preliminary): about 1,670 kWh and $265.58 for the month
- Average residential price, August 2026 (preliminary): Texas 15.91¢/kWh, U.S. 18.16¢/kWh (EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A, released Oct 23, 2026)
- Cheapest month in 2025: April, $127.90 at 826 kWh (November had the lowest usage, 807 kWh)
The short answer, with the math
Texans pay less per kWh than the national average and still end up with bigger bills. Blame usage. In 2025 the average Texas price was 15.40¢ against 17.23¢ nationally, about 11% cheaper per kWh. But the average Texas home used 1,110 kWh a month against 874 kWh for the country as a whole, about 27% more. Multiply the two and the Texas bill comes out about 13% higher, $170.95 against $150.68.
Here’s how I got those numbers. EIA reports total residential revenue, total residential kWh sold and the number of residential customers for each state and month. Divide revenue by customers and you get the average bill; divide kWh by customers and you get average usage. For 2024, this method reproduces EIA’s own published Texas figure exactly: $163.72 a month at 1,096 kWh (EIA Table 5A, 2024). Before GridPenny I worked on an education and jobs guide website, and I’ve kept the habit from that job: start from the official dataset and show the math.
Two caveats. First, these are statewide averages, so they include customers of retail providers in the competitive market as well as city-owned utilities like Austin Energy and CPS Energy and the rural co-ops. Second, your actual bill can carry taxes and fees on top of the electricity itself.
| Year | Avg. monthly use | Avg. price | Avg. monthly bill |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1,178 kWh | 13.76¢ | $162.17 |
| 2023 | 1,146 kWh | 14.46¢ | $165.82 |
| 2024 | 1,096 kWh | 14.94¢ | $163.72 |
| 2025 | 1,110 kWh | 15.40¢ | $170.95 |
Over those four years usage drifted down a little. The price rose about 12%, from 13.76¢ to 15.40¢, and the bill climbed anyway. Most of the pushing has come from price.
Month by month: Texas bills follow the thermostat
A yearly average hides the summer spike, and in Texas the summer spike is the whole story. Here’s the same calculation month by month for 2025 and for 2026 so far.
| Month | 2025 use | 2025 avg. bill | 2026 use (prelim.) | 2026 avg. bill (prelim.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 1,186 kWh | $173.60 | 1,087 kWh | $170.28 |
| Feb | 1,043 kWh | $154.09 | 922 kWh | $142.15 |
| Mar | 853 kWh | $129.72 | 821 kWh | $134.65 |
| Apr | 826 kWh | $127.90 | 850 kWh | $144.37 |
| May | 1,018 kWh | $157.39 | 995 kWh | $163.54 |
| Jun | 1,284 kWh | $195.09 | 1,311 kWh | $209.02 |
| Jul | 1,479 kWh | $226.10 | 1,583 kWh | $251.33 |
| Aug | 1,508 kWh | $232.27 | 1,670 kWh | $265.58 |
| Sep | 1,297 kWh | $204.51 | ||
| Oct | 1,080 kWh | $173.16 | ||
| Nov | 807 kWh | $128.78 | ||
| Dec | 936 kWh | $147.84 |
In 2025 the August bill was about 1.8 times the April bill. Spring and late fall are the cheap stretch, when a lot of homes barely run heating or cooling. January has a smaller bump of its own for winter.
August 2026 was the most expensive month in the EIA data I pulled (January 2024 through August 2026). It came in $33.31 above August 2025, and most of that was usage: about 11% more kWh, with a price only about 3% higher. Over the first eight months of the year, though, usage was almost flat (1,155 kWh a month in 2026 versus 1,150 in 2025) while the average bill rose about 6%, from $174.52 to $185.12. That gap is price.
What drives a Texas electric bill
1. How much you use
Usage is the biggest swing factor by far, and in Texas that mostly means air conditioning. Home size, insulation, the age and efficiency of the AC, how many people are home during the day and where you set the thermostat all show up in the kWh line. To see when your own usage happens, pull your meter’s interval data from Smart Meter Texas. Our Smart Meter Texas guide walks through the signup and the download.
2. What your plan charges for energy
In the competitive market, your retail provider sets the energy charge and any base fee, bill credits or usage tiers. Two plans with the same headline price on Power to Choose can produce very different bills at your usage, especially plans with a bill credit that only kicks in above a certain kWh. The plan’s EFL has the real terms, and it’s worth learning how to read an Electricity Facts Label before you sign anything.
3. Delivery charges you can’t shop around
Your local wires company (the TDU) adds its own charges, and every provider in its area passes them through. In CenterPoint’s Houston-area territory, that’s $4.90 a month plus 6.5333¢ per kWh as of October 1, 2026 (PUCT rate report). At the August 2026 average of about 1,670 kWh, CenterPoint delivery alone would be about $114.01. Set against the statewide average bill of $265.58 that month, delivery would be roughly 43% of it. That comparison mixes a statewide average with one utility’s rate, so it’s rough. It’s still clear that delivery is a big share of a Houston bill. For the full breakdown, see CenterPoint delivery charges explained.
The other Texas TDUs are cheaper at that same 1,670 kWh: about $96.81 for AEP Texas North, $98.73 for AEP Texas Central and $104.75 for Oncor, while TNMP is higher at $137.34 (GridPenny calculations from the PUCT TDU rates as of October 1, 2026).
4. Rate changes during your contract
Even a fixed-rate plan can move when the TDU changes its charges. CenterPoint’s per-kWh delivery rate went from 5.1461¢ in its June 1, 2026 tariff to 6.5333¢ on October 1. On a pass-through plan at 1,670 kWh, that’s about $23.17 more a month, and nobody touched the thermostat.
Is my bill normal? A three-step check
You only need two numbers from your bill: the total amount and the kWh used.
- Find your all-in price. Divide the bill total by the kWh. A $200 bill for 1,000 kWh works out to 20¢ per kWh.
- Compare the price. Texas averaged 15.91¢ in August 2026 (preliminary), and you can see how that stacks up nationally in our electricity price by state ranking. If you’re well above the Texas average, the plan is probably the problem, not your house.
- Compare the usage. Check your kWh against the same month in the table above. If you’re far above the state average for that month, look at the AC, the water heater, a pool pump or anything that runs all day.
Two worked examples, both for a $200 bill:
- $200 for 1,000 kWh in October. Usage is right around the October 2025 average of 1,080 kWh, but 20¢ per kWh is well above the state average. This household should look hard at its plan when the contract allows.
- $200 for 1,500 kWh in August. That’s about 13.3¢ per kWh, cheaper than average, and both the usage and the bill are below the August 2026 averages of 1,670 kWh and $265.58. For a Texas summer, that’s a normal bill.
So yes, a $200 electric bill is normal in Texas for a lot of the year. Whether it’s a good bill depends on how many kWh it bought, which is why the price per kWh matters more than the total.
What about Houston?
EIA doesn’t publish average bills by city, so any “average Houston electric bill” figure you see is someone’s estimate. What I can show with real numbers is how the local pieces stack up. My family moved to Texas in 2025 and we live in CenterPoint territory near Houston, so this is the case I’ll track most closely. A Houston-area bill is your plan’s energy charge plus CenterPoint’s delivery charge, and CenterPoint is currently the second most expensive of the five TDU rate sets at every usage level in the PUCT table. If you’re estimating your own bill, start with $4.90 + 6.5333¢ × your kWh for delivery, then add your plan’s charges from its EFL.
FAQ
What is the average electric bill in Texas per month?
About $171 in 2025 ($170.95), based on EIA revenue and customer counts. Monthly averages ranged from $127.90 in April to $232.27 in August that year. In August 2026 the preliminary figure was $265.58.
Why are Texas electric bills higher than average if the price is lower?
Usage. The average Texas home used about 1,110 kWh a month in 2025 against 874 kWh nationally. The lower price (15.40¢ versus 17.23¢) doesn’t make up for 27% more electricity.
How many kWh does a typical Texas home use?
About 1,110 kWh a month averaged over 2025, or roughly 13,300 kWh a year. In 2025 that ranged from about 807 kWh in November to about 1,508 kWh in August, and August 2026 reached about 1,670 kWh (preliminary).
Are these numbers final?
EIA marks 2025 values as final and 2026 values as preliminary estimates that can be revised. EIA’s next Electric Power Monthly release is scheduled for November 24, 2026 (EIA), and this page will be updated after it.
Sources
- U.S. EIA, electricity retail sales data: Texas and U.S. residential revenue, sales, customers and price, monthly and annual, 2022 through August 2026. Same data is viewable in the EIA Electricity Data Browser. Checked Oct 27, 2026.
- U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A, August 2026 and 2025 (released Oct 23, 2026; 2026 values preliminary). Checked Oct 27, 2026.
- U.S. EIA, 2024 Average Monthly Bill, Residential (Table 5A), from Electric Sales, Revenue, and Average Price. Checked Oct 27, 2026.
- CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric Rates Report, 10/1/2026 and PUCT TDU rates, as of Oct 1, 2026. Checked Oct 27, 2026.
- Smart Meter Texas and Power to Choose. Checked Oct 27, 2026.