When can I switch electricity providers in Texas without an early-termination fee?

Updated October 19, 2026

In the last 14 days of your contract. Your provider's expiration notice has to say that no early-termination fee (ETF) applies in the 14 days before the expiration date it states. That stretch is your fee-free window.

Before the window, leaving a fixed-rate contract, a plan with a set price for a set term, costs the ETF your contract sets. The rule is the Public Utility Commission of Texas's, 16 TAC §25.475(e) (opens in a new tab).

Moving out is different. If you move and give your provider a forwarding address, and proof of the move if it asks, it may not charge the ETF (16 TAC §25.475(c)(2)(C)).

The fee-free window

Say your notice gives August 31 as the expiration date. The window opens on August 17. A switch on August 16 pays the ETF. A switch on August 17 does not.

For a contract longer than 4 months, the final notice has to reach you at least 30 days before it ends. If you do nothing, your provider moves you to a month-to-month plan. You can leave that plan at any time without a fee, and its price can change from one bill to the next.

When leaving early is worth the fee

Sometimes paying the ETF costs less than waiting. Here is an example, made up for this page. The ETF is $150. The plan you would move to costs $40 a month less than yours.

Some contracts set the ETF as one amount. Others set an amount for each month left, so the fee shrinks as the end nears. Your contract says which.

What to check

• The expiration date on your contract expiration notice.
• The ETF on your plan's Electricity Facts Label (EFL), the price sheet every plan comes with. Check how much it is, and whether it is one amount or an amount for each month left.
• Whether your notice states a fee-free date of its own. If it does, go by the notice.
• The start date you pick with the new provider. It has to fall inside the window, or after the contract ends.

How these numbers were worked out

The 14 days and the 30 days are the Commission's rule. We count the dates from the example's expiration date. The ETF, the monthly saving and the dates are examples made up for this page. Our methodology has the full method.