Most Texas plans come in 12, 24 and 36-month versions of the same thing, and the provider usually prices the longer ones a little differently from the short one. The question is not which length is cheaper in general; it changes with the market, and this page shows what’s true this month. The question is what a longer contract buys you, what it costs you, and when it ends.
What this month’s prices say
For a typical home using about 1,000 kWh a month, we priced the cheapest 12, 24 and 36-month plan in each part of Texas on a year with a real summer peak, delivery charges included, as of November 2026. In every area the 24-month plan costs more than the 12-month one, by $52 to $316 a year. The length of the contract moves the price far less than the plan’s design does: a bill-credit plan of any length can cost a typical home hundreds more than a flat-rate plan of any length.
| Area | 12 months | 24 months | 36 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas–Fort Worth | $1,445 | $1,534 (+$89) | $1,563 (+$118) |
| Houston | $1,421 | $1,508 (+$87) | $1,541 (+$120) |
| Corpus Christi, Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley | $1,326 | $1,378 (+$52) | $1,414 (+$88) |
| Abilene and San Angelo | $1,344 | $1,414 (+$70) | $1,462 (+$118) |
| League City, Texas City and other TNMP towns | $1,389 | $1,706 (+$316) | $1,730 (+$340) |
| Lubbock | $1,424 | $1,487 (+$62) | $1,547 (+$122) |
Estimates for a home averaging 1,000 kWh a month, with each area’s current delivery charges. The cheapest plan at each length is often from a different provider. Prices change; the rates pages have this month’s.
What a longer contract buys
A fixed energy charge for longer. The energy charge, the part of the price the provider sets, can’t change for the term. Delivery charges still pass through at whatever the utility is allowed to charge, on every plan alike. So a 36-month plan protects you from the retail market for three years, not from your utility’s rate cases.
Fewer shopping cycles. Every contract end is a chance to roll onto the holdover rate by accident, which is the most expensive electricity in Texas. Three contract ends in three years is three chances; one is one. If you know you won’t shop on time, the longer contract is insurance against yourself, and it is usually cheap insurance.
A known end month. A 12 or 24 or 36-month contract ends in the same month it started. An 18-month one ends six months away from it. Start in October and the 12, 24 and 36-month versions all end in October, a calm month for shopping; the 18-month version ends in April, which is fine, and a 6-month one ends in April too. Start in March and the 18-month version ends in September, at the end of the summer peak. We flag every plan whose contract would end between June and September.
What it costs
The cancellation fee. Leaving early costs the fee on the Electricity Facts Label, and longer contracts tend to carry bigger ones, sometimes charged per month left: $20 a month with 30 months to go is $600. You owe nothing if you move and give the provider proof, and nothing in the last 14 days of the term, but a mid-contract change of heart on a 36-month plan is expensive.
Missing a falling market. If wholesale prices drop next year, the people on 12-month plans get the lower offers at renewal and you don’t. Nobody can tell you which way the market will go; what you can do is compare the saving a cheaper plan would give you against the fee, which we do for you when you tell us your contract end date and fee.
The same plan, a different price. Providers sometimes price the 24-month version of a plan higher to cover their own risk, and sometimes lower to lock you in. The table above shows which it is this month in your area, which is why you shouldn’t assume either.
Short contracts: 3, 6 and 9 months
Short contracts often carry the lowest price of all, and we rank them separately for a reason: the price holds for three months, and then you’re shopping again, possibly in August, with no idea what the next offer will be. A 3-month plan signed in May is a plan to shop in the hottest week of the year. They make sense when you know you’re moving soon, or when you’re deliberately waiting for an autumn renewal and will set a reminder. Our rankings show them under the 12-month-and-longer plans, with what they would cost if their price held, which they don’t promise.
How to choose
- Price the plans on your own 12 months first. The design of the plan (credit, tiers, base charge) matters more than its length.
- Among the plans that come out cheapest, prefer the one whose contract ends in spring or autumn.
- If the 24-month version costs about the same, take it: one fewer renewal to miss. If it costs noticeably more, the 12-month one plus a reminder is the better deal.
- Avoid 36 months unless the price is clearly better and you’re sure you’re staying. Check the cancellation fee either way.
- Moving within a year? Take the short contract, or ask whether the plan transfers to the new address.
Ready to shop? See when to switch for the timing rules, and what a good rate looks like this month.