Are short-term electricity plans cheaper in Texas?
Updated October 18, 2026
Only over their own months. A 3-month plan's price covers 3 months, and nobody knows on the day you sign what you pay after it ends.
So compare a short plan with a longer one over the same months. Do not multiply it out as if it ran all year.
3 months of one home
Here is an example home, made up for this page. It uses 13,190 kilowatt-hours (kWh) a year, most of it in summer. A 3-month plan that starts in March covers March to May: 2,380 kWh, which is 18% of the year. Those are months when this home uses little.
The example home's year from March, and the 3 months the short plan covers
Twelve monthly totals. The plan covers March to May, 2,380 of the year's 13,190 kWh. The other 9 months, 10,810 kWh, come after it ends.
- covered by the 3-month plan
- after it ends
The same months, two plans
Two example plans, also made up. The 3-month plan charges 9¢ per kWh for energy. A 12-month plan charges 11¢. Both add your utility's delivery charges, the cost of the poles and wires: 7¢ per kWh and $4 a month.
March to May on the 3-month plan
9¢ per kWh for energy.
March to May on the 12-month plan
11¢ per kWh for energy.
Over its own 3 months the short plan saves $47.60. It says nothing about the other 9.
The mistake: pricing it as a year
Multiplied out over the home's whole year, the short plan's price comes to $2,158.40 against $2,422.20, a saving of $263.80. But the plan ends in May. You buy the other 9 months, 10,810 kWh, at whatever a new plan costs in June.
| A new plan in June | The year | Against the 12-month plan |
|---|---|---|
| 10¢ per kWh | $2,266.50 | $155.70 less |
| 11¢ per kWh | $2,374.60 | $47.60 less |
| 13¢ per kWh | $2,590.80 | $168.60 more |
The 12-month plan costs $2,422.20 for the year in all three cases. Whether the short plan beats it depends on a price nobody knows in March.
What to check
- Find the plan's term, its length in months, on its Electricity Facts Label (EFL), the price sheet every plan comes with.
- Count forward from your start date to see which months it covers, and how much you use in those months.
- Compare it with a longer plan over those same months.
- Note the day it ends. That is the day you shop again, at that day's prices. If you do nothing, your provider moves you to a month-to-month plan whose price can change from one bill to the next.
How these numbers were worked out
Each bill is energy plus delivery for the months it covers. The plans, the home and the three prices in June are examples made up for this page, and we show no real plan. Our methodology has the full method.
Kilowhiz prices every short plan over its own months, on your own meter readings, and tells you the day you would have to shop again.
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