There are two questions hiding in “when should I switch?”: when can you leave your current plan without paying for it, and what time of year puts you in the best position to shop. Texas rules answer the first. The ERCOT market’s summer answers the second.
Find your contract end date first
It is printed on your bill, usually near the plan name, and shown in your provider’s online account. Your provider also has to tell you: Texas rules require at least three written expiration notices in the last third of a fixed-rate contract, the final one at least 30 days before the end date (15 days for contracts of four months or less), by mail unless you chose email. If you can’t find the date, call the number on your bill and ask; they are required to tell you.
The 14-day window with no fee
Under Public Utility Commission rules, a provider cannot charge an early termination fee if you switch away in the last 14 days of your contract. The switch has to take effect inside that window, so when you enroll with the new provider, set the start date for a day inside it rather than “as soon as possible,” unless as-soon-as-possible already falls inside. Many providers let you pick the date at signup.
You can shop earlier than that. Comparing plans 30 to 45 days out and scheduling the switch for the window is the usual approach, and it lines up with when the expiration notice arrives.
If you do nothing, you roll onto a holdover rate
When a fixed contract expires without a new plan in place, service continues; nobody turns off your lights. But you move to the provider’s default renewal product, a month-to-month rate that is usually variable and usually higher than what new customers are offered. There is no termination fee for leaving it, so there is no reason to stay a single extra month. This is the most expensive electricity most Texans ever buy, and it is bought by accident.
Moving: no fee, with proof
If you move out of the home, you don’t owe the early termination fee, as long as you give the provider reasonable proof of the move, such as a forwarding address or a lease. You can also usually take your plan with you to the new address if it is in the same delivery area, which is worth asking about when the plan is a good one.
Avoid shopping in mid-summer
Wholesale power in Texas is most expensive from June through September, when air conditioning pushes the grid toward its limits, and retail offers often follow, though comparison sites disagree about how much. What’s certain is the calendar: a 12-month plan signed in August ends the following August, putting you back in the market at the peak again. A plan signed in spring or autumn ends in spring or autumn, when you can shop without a heat wave on the meter.
WattaWatt flags every plan whose contract would end between June and September, and offers to email you 45 days before your contract ends so you shop on your schedule instead of the holdover rate’s.
Under contract now? Do the math, not the rule of thumb
Sometimes leaving early is the right call. If a cheaper plan saves more over the next 12 months than the termination fee costs, switching now wins, fee included. Tell WattaWatt your contract end date and fee, and it compares two totals: switching now (new plan for 12 months, plus the fee) against waiting (your current price until the end date, then the new plan). It tells you which is lower and by how much. The fee is on your plan’s Electricity Facts Label; see how to read an EFL.
A simple checklist
- Write down your contract end date and early termination fee.
- Shop 30 to 45 days before the end date, and schedule the switch inside the last 14 days.
- Never let a contract roll onto the holdover rate.
- Prefer contracts that end in spring or autumn, not June through September.
- If a better plan appears mid-contract, compare the saving to the fee instead of waiting on principle.
Ready to move? See how to switch: it takes about ten minutes.