Two gimmicks in one wrapper
Reliant's featured-plans page sells three structure plans side by side: free weekends, free nights, and this one. The Flextra Credits pitch reads like a double win: "Get your 2 highest-use days free every week, PLUS $200 in bonus bill credits to use when you need them most." Enter Houston ZIP 77002 on Reliant's shopping site, as we did on August 7, 2026, and Flextra Credits 24 is the first plan Reliant recommends, ahead of everything else on its shelf.
Every plan we have torn down in this series runs on one gimmick class. Flextra runs on two. The free days are the retroactive kind, where the seller picks your "highest-use" days after the fact, the same mechanic we took apart in the TXU Free Pass review. The credits are the headline-number kind, where a big round figure on the banner splits into smaller conditional pieces in the fine print. Reliant's own footnote does the splitting for you: the $200 is one $100 credit and two $50 credits, "each of which must be utilized in a separate billing period."
Credit where it is due: unlike TXU's phone-only Free Pass, this plan's Electricity Facts Label is public once you feed the site a ZIP code. We pulled it, reproduced its math, and priced it against the open market. The numbers are below.
Claims vs. fine print
Four claims on the front. Four footnotes on the back. Here they are, side by side.
The mailer says
"Your 2 highest-use days are free every week. We calculate your electricity usage, so you get free electricity automatically."
The fine print says
Free days waive the energy charge and the per-kWh delivery charge, which is genuinely more than some rivals waive. But Reliant selects the days after your usage happens, you never know them in advance, the count is capped at 8 per billing period, and billing periods shorter than 28 days get fewer: a 27-day cycle earns 6 free days, not 8. CenterPoint's $4.90 monthly charge bills every cycle regardless.
Source: reliant.com Flextra Credits plan page footnote 1; Flextra Credits 24 EFL, CenterPoint service area, dated June 1, 2026
The mailer says
"$200 in bonus bill credits to use when you need them most."
The fine print says
The $200 is three separate credits: one $100 and two $50. Each must be used in a separate billing period, only one credit can be applied to any bill, and they cannot be combined, so collecting the full $200 takes at least three billing cycles. You must redeem them yourself in the app, online, or by phone; AutoPay customers must redeem at least 24 hours before the due date. Switch plans and unused credits do not transfer. Leave Reliant and the balance is forfeited.
Source: reliant.com Flextra Credits plan page footnote 1; reliant.com featured-plans page fine print
The mailer says
"17.9¢ price at 2,000 kWh" on the shopping-site plan card.
The fine print says
That is the plan at its most flattering angle. The EFL's own table runs 18.7 cents at 500 kWh, 18.2 at 1,000, and 17.9 at 2,000, so the card leads with the biggest-home tier; <a href="/blog/the-2000-kwh-trap-texas/">we wrote about that display trick here</a>. And the EFL's average-price formula contains no term for the $200 in credits, so the advertised averages are what you pay before you count on redeeming anything.
Source: shop.reliant.com plan card for ZIP 77002, August 7, 2026; Flextra Credits 24 EFL price formula
The mailer says
"Switch to another Reliant plan within the first 90 days with no termination fees" (the plan page's satisfaction-guarantee pitch).
The fine print says
The switch is to another Reliant plan, one time only, and the offer does not restart. Leaving Reliant itself costs $295 through the end of the 24-month term. And the credit terms add a twist the guarantee page does not mention: unused bill credits do not transfer if you switch away from Flextra Credits, so using the guarantee means walking away from whatever remains of the $200.
Source: reliant.com Flextra Credits plan page footnote 3; Flextra Credits 24 EFL disclosure chart
The rate behind the ZIP box
Reliant shows the pitch first and the price only after you enter a ZIP code. We entered Houston ZIP 77002 on August 7, 2026 and pulled the Electricity Facts Label for the Reliant Flextra Credits 24 plan, CenterPoint service area, dated June 1, 2026. The components: a $0.00 base charge from Reliant, a $4.90 monthly charge from CenterPoint, an energy charge of 20.9 cents per kWh, CenterPoint delivery of 5.1 cents per kWh, and $0.00 for both on free days. All-in, every non-free kWh costs about 26.0 cents. Advertised averages: 18.7 cents at 500 kWh, 18.2 at 1,000, 17.9 at 2,000.
Those averages rest on one assumption, printed in the EFL: 32% of your consumption happens on the 2 highest-usage days per week. We reproduced the EFL's own formula and it checks out exactly, at 32%. Put less of your month on those days and your real average climbs toward 26.0 cents. And note what the formula leaves out: there is no line for the $200 in credits, so the advertised 18.2 cents is the price before you count on redeeming anything, and the credits are the part of the pitch with the most conditions attached.
Two availability findings, both checked August 7, 2026. The plan is not listed on powertochoose.org, the PUCT's shopping site, where Reliant offers only five "Power On" plans for ZIP 77002. And it does not appear in the open-market feed we run on this site, where Reliant lists ten other plans. The only place this plan competes is inside Reliant's own shop, where it is ranked first.
Flextra Credits 24 is sold on reliant.com, where pricing appears only after you enter a ZIP code; Reliant's shop ranked it first for Houston ZIP 77002 on August 7, 2026, displaying the 2,000 kWh price on the plan card. The numbers in this review come from the CenterPoint EFL dated June 1, 2026; rates differ by utility territory, so pull the EFL for your own ZIP before comparing. As of August 2026 the plan is not listed on powertochoose.org.
How the free days and the credits work
The free days first. Your smart meter reports daily usage; Reliant looks at each week, Sunday through Saturday, and marks your 2 highest-usage days. Those days' energy charge and per-kWh delivery charge come off the bill, up to 8 free days per billing period of 28 days or more. Shorter periods are prorated down a published ladder: a 27-day cycle gets 6 free days, a 13-day cycle gets 2. A day means midnight through 11:59 p.m. CenterPoint's $4.90 monthly charge is never free.
Notice what you control in that design: nothing. You never pick the days, and you cannot chase them, because they are assigned after your usage happens. Reliant's sibling window plans, Truly Free Nights and Truly Free Weekends, at least tell you the free hours in advance so you can move laundry into them. Flextra tells you afterward. The free days simply track whichever days you used most, which feels like a gift and works like a discount whose size the EFL already assumed: 32% of your usage, priced in.
Now the credits. There are three: $100, $50, and $50. Each must be used in a separate billing period, only one can be applied to any bill, and they cannot be combined, so the advertised $200 takes a minimum of three billing cycles to collect. Redemption is a chore you own: log in to the app or website or call, and if you are on AutoPay, redeem at least 24 hours before the due date. Credits you never redeem are auto-applied in the last available bills of the term. Unused credits do not transfer if you switch plans and are not redeemable for cash, so leave Reliant mid-term and whatever remains stops being money. A $200 welcome gift that doubles as a $200 exit toll.
One genuine plus, from the EFL itself: the product is 100% renewable, against a 37% statewide average. That beats the 22% we found on Reliant's Free Overnight EFL. It does not change the price math.
Do the math on 8 free days a month
Start with the ceiling. Eight free days in a 30-day billing period is 26.7% of the calendar, so if your usage were perfectly even, the free days would cover about 26.7% of your kWh. Your two highest days each week do somewhat better, and Reliant's EFL assumes exactly that: 32%. That number is not a bonus waiting to be unlocked. It is already inside the advertised 18.2-cent average.
Now the bills, using the EFL's own numbers. At 1,000 kWh a month, 18.2 cents comes to $182. The cheapest flat no-gimmick plan in CenterPoint territory on our live feed was 12.1 cents as of August 2026, which is $121. That is a $61 monthly gap. Spread the full $200 in credits evenly across the 24-month term, about $8.33 a month, and the gap is still roughly $53 a month, about $1,260 over the term, on Reliant's own usage assumptions and with every credit redeemed perfectly.
The break-even: by the EFL's formula, you need about 52% of your monthly usage packed into the free days to match that 12.1-cent flat plan, credits included, and about 43% just to beat Reliant's own no-gimmick Pure Power 12, which sat at 14.5 cents at 1,000 kWh on our feed. Getting to 52% means your two highest days each week carry about triple the usage of your other days, every week, all year. And unlike a nights plan, where an EV owner can time charging into the window, there is no window here to aim at. The free days are assigned after the month happens. You cannot schedule your way into them; our guide to free-period plans explains who the rare exceptions are.
26.0¢
All-in cost per kWh on non-free days (20.9¢ energy + 5.1¢ delivery), per the plan's own EFL, CenterPoint, June 2026
32%
Share of usage the EFL assumes lands on the free days when computing the advertised 18.2¢ average
~52%
Free-day usage share needed to match the cheapest flat CenterPoint plan (12.1¢, August 2026), even counting all $200 in credits
3 cycles
Minimum billing periods to collect the full $200: one $100 and two $50 credits, each in a separate period
Fine print, decoded
The five footnotes on the back of the mailer, translated into plain English.
| What the footnote says | What it means |
|---|---|
| Energy Charge: 20.8906¢ per kWh. CenterPoint Energy Delivery Charges: 5.1461¢ per kWh. Free Days Energy Charge: $0.00 per kWh. CenterPoint Energy Free Days Delivery Charges: $0.00 per kWh. | The free days are real, and everything else costs about 26.0 cents per kWh all-in. The cheapest flat plan on the open CenterPoint market charged 12.1 cents for every day of the month as of August 2026. |
| "Average price calculation is based on usage profile over 12 months, with 32% of consumption occurring during the 2 highest usage days per week." | The advertised 18.2-cent average already banks the free days at a generous 32% of your usage. An evenly spread month gets 26.7%. There is no upside left to discover, only downside if your months are flatter than Reliant's assumption. |
| "For billing period of fewer than 28 days, Free Days shall be prorated as follows: 1-3 billing days = 0 Free Flex days ... 21-27 billing days = 6 Free Flex days; 28+ billing days = 8 Free Flex days." | Eight free days is the cap, not the promise. A short billing cycle quietly docks your free days on a published ladder: a 27-day cycle earns 6. |
| "Each of which must be utilized in a separate billing period during your term... Only one credit can be applied to any outstanding bill amount... Customers on AutoPay must redeem a bill credit up to 24 hours before the bill due date... Unused bill credits will not transfer if you switch away from the Flextra Credits plan and are not redeemable for cash." | The $200 is a to-do list: three separate redemptions in three separate months, with a deadline rule for AutoPay customers. Miss the steps and the credits sit until the end of the term; switch plans or leave Reliant and what is unused stops being money. |
| "If less than 50% of the interval data is received from the TDSP or is estimated by Reliant, the usage difference... will be applied as 32% at the Free Days Energy Charge and 68% at the Energy Charge." | When smart-meter data comes in incomplete, a formula decides how much of your month was free. Your two heaviest days could have been heavier than ever; the gap still splits 68% at the full rate. |
| "Do I have a termination fee? Yes. $295. Applies through the end of the contract term. This fee does not apply if the customer moves, and provides a forwarding address and other evidence that may be requested." | You are in for 24 months or $295. Moving is the only free exit, with paperwork. The 90-day guarantee swaps you to another Reliant plan once, and taking it forfeits your unused credits. |
What to do instead
For contrast, here is the live CenterPoint market on the day we published (August 2026). The cheapest all-in plan at 1,000 kWh was 6.1 cents per kWh, but it earns that number with a bill credit that punishes you in low-usage months; threshold plans cut both ways. The cheapest flat plan with no credits, no tiers, and no time windows was 12.1 cents at 1,000 kWh. Every plan below publishes its full Electricity Facts Label before you enroll.