How to Pick an Electricity Plan Without Usage History

The moving truck is booked, the lease is signed, and then the electricity question lands: which plan? Every comparison tool asks for a 12-month usage history. The apartment manager shrugs. The previous tenant is long gone.

Texas runs on a fully competitive electricity market, which means dozens of Retail Electric Providers (REPs) want your business, each with plans that look similar on the surface but behave very differently depending on how much power you actually use. Without a reference bill, most people either freeze, pick a random plan, or fall for a low advertised rate that evaporates at their real usage level.

None of those outcomes are necessary. Estimating usage before you shop is straightforward, and the tools Texas built for consumers, especially the Power to Choose site, are designed to help you compare once you have a number in mind.

Before estimating usage, it helps to understand what you are paying for. Two separate charges make up your electric bill.

First, your REP charges for the electricity supply itself. That is the rate you see advertised. Second, your local Transmission and Distribution Utility (TDU) charges a delivery fee to physically move power to your home. In the Dallas area that TDU is Oncor; in Houston it is CenterPoint; across West and South Texas you may be on AEP Texas or TNMP. Every plan on every REP carries those TDU pass-through fees, so they show up regardless of which REP you choose.

The all-in rate you should care about combines both. The Electricity Facts Label (EFL), a standardized disclosure required by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT), shows that combined rate at three usage tiers: 500 kWh, 1,000 kWh, and 2,000 kWh per month. A plan priced attractively at 1,000 kWh can look very different at 500 kWh, because some REPs use bill credits that only activate above a usage threshold. Reading all three columns on the EFL before signing up is the single most important habit a new renter can build.

As of August 2026, the lowest advertised all-in rate in the Oncor territory (Dallas area) at 1,000 kWh sits around 6.8 cents per kWh, with a median rate near 16.1 cents across roughly 127 active plans. That spread is wide, and your estimated usage is the variable that determines where you land on it.

Square footage is your starting point. A well-insulated Texas apartment uses roughly 500 to 700 kWh per month in mild weather. In July or August, when central air conditioning runs for hours daily, that same unit can spike to 1,000 kWh or beyond. A larger two-bedroom or a unit with older windows and poor insulation can push higher still.

Run through these practical questions to sharpen your estimate:

What size is the unit? A studio under 600 square feet will use meaningfully less than a two-bedroom at 1,100 square feet. Most energy engineers use roughly 1 kWh per square foot per month as a summer rough guide for Texas, adjusted up for electric water heaters and down for gas appliances.

What appliances are electric versus gas? If the stove, dryer, and water heater run on natural gas, your electric load is dominated by the HVAC and lighting. Electric everything pushes consumption up significantly.

How efficient is the building? A newer complex built after 2015 will often have better insulation, double-pane windows, and higher-efficiency HVAC units than a 1990s complex. Ask the property manager what SEER rating the air conditioner carries if you can.

What time of year are you moving? Moving in during October or March? Your first month may run very light. Moving in June means your first bill hits during peak cooling season.

A reasonable planning assumption for most Texas apartment renters: budget around the 1,000 kWh tier for summer months and around 500 to 700 kWh for shoulder-season months. Starting at the 1,000 kWh column on Power to Choose gives you a usable baseline and protects you from plans whose rates inflate badly below that threshold.

Every REP operating in Texas must provide an EFL before you enroll. It is a one-page document standardized by the PUCT so plans can actually be compared side by side.

Look at these elements in order:

The three-tier all-in rate. The EFL lists the average price per kWh at 500, 1,000, and 2,000 kWh. Check all three. If the 500 kWh price is dramatically higher than the 1,000 kWh price, a bill credit is probably hiding in the fine print. You will pay that higher rate any month your usage dips, which for smaller apartments happens often in spring and fall.

Contract length and early termination fee. Plans run anywhere from month-to-month to 36-month fixed terms. A longer fixed term locks in your rate through future summers. The early termination fee matters if your lease ends before the plan does.

The base charge. Some plans carry a flat monthly base charge of several dollars regardless of consumption. For low-use months that fee pushes your effective per-kWh rate up considerably.

TDU delivery charges listed separately. The EFL breaks out what goes to the REP and what goes to the TDU. You cannot avoid TDU charges, but they help you understand exactly what portion of the bill is supply versus delivery.

If anything on the EFL is unclear, the PUCT's consumer resources at puc.texas.gov explain every line item in plain language.

Power to Choose (powertochoose.org) is the PUCT's official shopping portal. You enter a zip code, not an account number or prior usage record, so having no billing history is not a barrier.

Start by entering your new apartment's zip code. The site will identify your TDU automatically. Then select the usage level closest to your estimate from the section above. Sorting by price at that usage level is a reasonable first filter, but do not stop there.

Click through to the EFL for any plan that catches your attention. Verify that the rate looks equally reasonable at 500 kWh, in case a mild-weather month drops your usage. Check the contract length and termination fee. Read the renewable content disclosure if that matters to you.

For a deeper side-by-side comparison across providers, ElectricRates.org's Texas page pulls live rates and lets you filter by term length and plan type. It is particularly useful for spotting plans with unusual bill-credit structures before they surprise you on a bill.

Texas REPs offer several plan structures. For someone with no usage history, the choice between them carries real consequences.

Fixed-rate plans lock the supply portion of your rate for the contract term. Your bill will still vary month to month because you use different amounts of electricity, but the price per kWh will not change. For renters without historical data to forecast their usage, fixed-rate plans remove at least one variable from the equation.

Variable-rate plans let the REP adjust the rate each billing cycle, typically tied to wholesale market conditions. They occasionally produce lower bills, but in Texas summers, when the ERCOT grid is stressed, variable rates can spike sharply. For a first apartment renter who has no feel yet for how the market moves, variable plans carry more risk than most shoppers realize going in.

Indexed plans tie your rate to a published index like ERCOT day-ahead prices. They behave similarly to variable plans in terms of exposure.

Prepaid plans require no credit check and no deposit, which matters if you are a young renter with a thin credit file. You load money onto an account and draw it down as you use electricity. Daily usage alerts can actually help new renters understand their consumption patterns quickly, which is a genuine advantage if you plan to switch to a traditional plan after a few months.

For most first-time Texas renters, a 12-month fixed-rate plan sits in the practical sweet spot: predictable pricing, no deposit surprises, and a term that roughly matches a standard apartment lease.

Possibly. Texas REPs are permitted to require a deposit if a credit check shows limited or adverse history. The PUCT sets rules on how large that deposit can be and how quickly a REP must return it after a period of on-time payment. For renters with thin credit files, a few options reduce or eliminate the deposit requirement.

Some REPs waive deposits for customers who sign up through autopay or who can provide a co-signer. Prepaid plans, as noted above, skip the credit check entirely. A handful of REPs specifically advertise no-deposit enrollment. Searching Power to Choose with the deposit filter can surface those options.

If a deposit is required, ask the REP in writing how long you must maintain timely payments before it is returned, and whether it earns interest. The PUCT's rules require that it does under certain conditions.

Your first full month's bill is the most valuable piece of electricity information you will ever have, because it reflects your actual apartment, your actual habits, and one real Texas season.

Note the total kWh consumed and compare it to your estimate. If your actual usage landed significantly below 1,000 kWh but your plan's rate at 500 kWh is far higher than at 1,000 kWh, that is worth addressing before the next contract renewal.

In Texas, switching REPs is legal at any time, subject to early termination fees on your current contract. If you are within 14 days of your contract end date, you can switch without penalty in most cases. Checking rates again after your first summer, when you have real consumption data, often reveals better options than what you could access when you were estimating blind.

Keep your EFL on file. It is the document that governs your plan, and in any billing dispute with your REP it is the first thing you will need. If a dispute cannot be resolved with the REP directly, the PUCT handles formal complaints at puc.texas.gov.

Going through a few steps before clicking enroll takes about 20 minutes and can save a meaningful amount over a 12-month contract.

1. Estimate your likely monthly kWh based on square footage, appliance type, and season.
2. Enter your new zip code on powertochoose.org and filter at your estimated usage tier.
3. Click through to the EFL for every plan you consider. Check the rate at all three usage tiers.
4. Confirm the contract length and early termination fee against your expected lease duration.
5. Verify whether a deposit is required and how it is returned.
6. After your first full billing cycle, compare actual usage to your estimate and note it for your next renewal decision.

For live rate comparisons across all active Texas REPs in your zip code, ElectricRates.org's Texas tool updates continuously and flags plans with unusual pricing structures.