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What are the best alternatives to Power to Choose?

Updated November 7, 2026 · By Sean Janoe

JFMAMJJASONDOne average month: 1,099 kWhYour home's 12 months

Power to Choose works from one average month, and a home's usage changes from month to month.

The alternatives price plans on your home. They differ in who pays them, whose usage they price, and what happens after you switch.

Kilowhiz is one of them, and we built it, so we have a stake here. Every line about another service comes from its own site, read on the date in the sources.

What Power to Choose does well

filtersEFL
  • Plan length
  • Fixed or variable
  • Prepaid
  • Time of day
  • Renewable share
  • Complaint rating
  • Hide bill credits

Power to Choose is the state's list of plans, run by the Public Utility Commission of Texas. It costs you nothing, and providers list their plans on it for free.

Its filters are good: plan length, fixed or variable price, prepaid, time of day, renewable share, a complaint rating, and a switch that hides bill credits.

Its guide also tells you to read each plan's Electricity Facts Label (EFL) before you sign.

The details

The Commission calls it “the official and unbiased electric choice website” for the state. You enter your ZIP code, narrow the list, and open each plan's EFL, the price sheet every plan comes with.

Where Power to Choose falls short

Power to Choose's guide asks you to work out your average month from your bills.

05001,0001,500Jan: 1,140 kWh, earns the $75$JanFeb: 960 kWh, misses the $75FebMar: 780 kWh, misses the $75MarApr: 690 kWh, misses the $75AprMay: 910 kWh, misses the $75MayJun: 1,320 kWh, earns the $75$JunJul: 1,640 kWh, earns the $75$JulAug: 1,720 kWh, earns the $75$AugSep: 1,390 kWh, earns the $75$SepOct: 880 kWh, misses the $75OctNov: 740 kWh, misses the $75NovDec: 1,020 kWh, earns the $75$Dec$75 credit line · 1,000 kWh

The made-up home from our bill credit page averages 1,099 kWh a month. A plan with a $75 credit at 1,000 kWh looks right for it, but 6 of its 12 months fall under 1,000 and pay full price. Over the year the plan costs this home 14.0¢ per kWh; its ad says 9.9¢.

Power to Choose doesn't read your meter. The services below do the year's math on your home.

The details

Free nights work the same way. The EFL's price assumes a share of your usage falls in the free hours, and only your meter's 15-minute readings show yours.

Seven ways to shop, side by side

Power to Choose

YouThe stateProvidersProviders list for free
You pay
Nothing
Who pays it
No provider; providers list for free
Whose usage
One average month you work out
Signing up
With the provider

EnergyBot

YouEnergyBotProvidersA provider pays when you sign up
You pay
Nothing
Who pays it
A provider, when you sign up through it
Whose usage
Yours, linked from your utility
Plans
From providers it has vetted
Signing up
On its own site

ComparePower

YouComparePowerProvidersA provider pays for each customer
You pay
Nothing
Who pays it
A provider, for each customer it refers
Whose usage
It can use your last 12 months
Plans
From providers it has vetted
Signing up
On its own site

Energy Ogre

YouEnergy OgreProvidersYou pay a membership
You pay
$12 a month or $130 a year
Who pays it
You; it says it takes nothing from providers
Whose usage
Your smart meter's, with your permission
Signing up
It chooses your plan, switches you itself, and keeps checking prices all year

WattPal

YouWattPalProvidersYou pay once
You pay
$9.99 once
Who pays it
You; it says it takes no commissions from providers
Whose usage
A 15-minute meter file you download from Smart Meter Texas and upload
Plans
The ones on Power to Choose
Signing up
It gives you the provider's link

MeterMentor

YouMeterMentorProvidersFirst result free; passes are paid
You pay
Nothing for the first result; paid passes add more plans
Who pays it
Its site says it is independent of providers. It doesn't say whether any provider pays it
Whose usage
A meter file you upload
Plans
The ones on Power to Choose
Signing up
Its site doesn't say

Kilowhiz

You pay

  1. $0
    1$140/yrsavings

    See whether to switch and what every plan would save you. The names stay hidden.

  2. $5
    1link ↗$140/yrsavings

    Shows the names of the plans we found, with their rate cards and sign-up links.

  3. $0
    2partner$120/yrsavings

    Or choose a partner plan, whose provider pays us. Its name and link show free.

You see the saving before you pay, so you only pay if it works for you.

Whose usage

metera reading every 15 minutes

Your meter's own readings. Smart Meter Texas sends them when you tap Confirm.

Plans

+=Power to Chooseproviders' ownat your address

Every plan sold at your address, from Power to Choose and each provider's own list.

Signing up

The provider's own siteEnroll

You choose, and you enroll on the provider's own site.

After you switch

1st billevery month from the 3rdemail only when a plan beats yours

We check your first bill and email you before your plan ends. When it opens, we price your home again every month, free.

Where Kilowhiz does more

meter15-minute readingsevery plan, pricedsmallest bill first$a plan that pays us stays where its bill puts it

We read your meter, price every plan sold at your address, and tell you whether to switch, stay or wait.

Today

2× the plans Power to Choose shows

Every day we load Power to Choose's list and each provider's own, so you see every plan sold at your address.

Power to Choose942Kilowhiz2,710

How we counted: 2,710 plans priced across Texas to Power to Choose's 942, and 192 plans priced by time of day to its 47, on Nov 7, 2026.

WattPal and MeterMentor price the plans on Power to Choose. EnergyBot and ComparePower show plans from providers they've vetted.

Your readings arrive by themselves

Smart Meter Texas emails you. Tap Confirm and two years of meter readings arrive. No file, no password; stop any time. Until they arrive, we price on an estimate from your answers about the home.

WattPal and MeterMentor ask you to download a meter file and upload it.

Switch, stay or wait

We price staying on your plan too. The early-termination fee (ETF) comes off the saving, and we tell you if waiting until you can leave free saves more.

Every catch counted, solar and cars too

Bill credits your home would miss and free hours it wouldn't use go into the figure. With solar panels, we count the power your meter shows you sent back; with an electric car, the charging we find in your readings, marked as an estimate.

Power to Choose shows a solar or car plan's advertised price, which assumes you send back or charge the same amount every month.

Every number has a receipt

Each one shows the rate, the credits you did or didn't earn, and your utility's delivery charges.

No provider can pay to move up the ranking

Some providers pay us when you enroll through our link. Their plans open free, and the payment never moves a plan in the ranking.

Free to see, $5 to unlock

Whether to switch, and how much you'd save, is free. The recommended plan is $5 to unlock, and a partner plan opens free. You see the saving before you pay, so you only pay if it works for you.

Energy Ogre is $12 a month or $130 a year. WattPal is $9.99 once.

After you switch

You enroll on the provider's own site. We check your first bill against your new plan, and email you before that plan ends.

When it opens

After you switch, we keep watching

your meter's readings, every day for 12 months1st bill checkedpriced again every month from the 3rd123456789101112yours still winsa plan beats yours: we email you

Every month, we price your home again and email you when a plan beats yours.

From the third month after you switch, each check uses your meter's newest readings, which keep arriving for 12 months after you tap Confirm. You hear from us only when another plan beats yours by enough to switch. If your assessment said stay, the checks start the month after.

The check and the email are free for everyone. The plan a check finds is $5 to unlock, or included in Whiz+.

Energy Ogre keeps checking prices all year for $12 a month or $130 a year. WattPal and MeterMentor don't say what happens after you switch.

The details

Some providers we partner with don't allow these emails while your plan with them runs. A home without its meter connected is checked on its estimated year, marked “est.”

When it opens

A helper on every screen

Your bill!Page 1 of 2Charges pagemissingAdd a photoNeed help? Click on me.Helper · your bill stepWhy didn't my billgo through?The photo is missing thepage with your charges.Add that page and we'llread the rest.

Tap the wizard in the corner of any screen and ask.

It knows which step you're on and what you've added, so you don't have to explain where you are.

If you look stuck, after an error or a second try at the same step, it offers first: “Need help? Click on me.”

It explains the figures on your screen and never makes up one of its own. Every account gets it, paid or not.

Also when it opens

ETF paybacks includedWhen it opens

Some providers pay back part of the ETF your old provider charges. We count it in the figure, tell you what proof the provider wants and by when, and give you the email to send.

Whiz+When it opens

A $10-a-year membership with no $5 unlock for 12 months. The $5 you already paid counts toward it.

Where the others do more

Energy Ogre chooses and switches for you, and keeps watching all year. Kilowhiz leaves the choice and the sign-up with you.

Energy Ogre and WattPal say they take nothing from providers. Some providers pay Kilowhiz.

Power to Choose shows a rating built from each provider's complaints. Kilowhiz doesn't.

Which fits you

Power to Choose

You want to see what's sold and read each EFL yourself.

A membership like Energy Ogre

You want someone else to choose and switch for you, every year.

EnergyBot or ComparePower

You want plans from providers they've vetted, and to sign up on their site.

WattPal or MeterMentor

You want the plans on Power to Choose priced on a meter file you upload.

Kilowhiz

You want every plan sold at your address priced on your own meter readings, and to know whether to switch, stay or wait.

Questions to ask any of them

Who pays you, and does that decide which plans I see first?

Kilowhiz

You pay $5 to unlock the plan. Some providers pay us when you enroll, and that never moves a plan in the ranking.

Do you price each month of my year, or one average month?

Kilowhiz

Each month, on your meter's 15-minute readings.

Does the figure count the ETF on my current plan?

Kilowhiz

Yes, and we tell you if waiting until you can leave free saves more.

What happens after I switch?

Kilowhiz

We check your first bill against your new plan, and email you before it ends. When it opens, we also price your home again every month and email you when a plan beats yours.

Can I get help while I sign up?

Kilowhiz

When it opens, tap the wizard on any screen. It knows which step you're on.

Sources

The home, the plans and their savings in the pictures are made up for this page.

Kilowhiz prices every plan sold at your address on your own meter readings, and tells you whether to switch, stay or wait.

See my savings
How is Kilowhiz different from EnergyBot, ComparePower and Energy Ogre?
More answers