Texas electricity bill guide

Texas Delivery Charges Explained: Historical TDU / TDSP Rate Trends

Delivery charges are one of the most misunderstood parts of a Texas electric bill. They can change even when a customer is on a fixed-rate electricity plan, and they apply no matter which retail electric provider the customer chooses.

What are delivery charges?

In Texas, the company that sells electricity is usually the retail electric provider, or REP. The company that owns the local poles, wires, meters and delivery infrastructure is the Transmission and Distribution Utility, also called the TDU or TDSP.

That means a customer can shop for the energy supply portion of the bill, but the local delivery company is determined by the service address. Customers in deregulated Texas areas may see Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP Texas, TNMP or LP&L depending on where the meter is located.

Why delivery charges show up on your bill

Delivery charges pay for the physical grid that gets power to a home or business. This includes transmission lines, distribution lines, transformers, substations, meters, vegetation management, storm restoration, and crews that respond when the power goes out.

The REP sends the bill, but the delivery charge is a regulated pass-through charge. Some plans show it as a separate line item, while other plans bundle delivery into the advertised price and then adjust when TDSP rates change.

How delivery rates are built

Residential delivery charges usually have two main pieces: a fixed monthly charge and a usage-based charge for each kilowatt-hour delivered. A customer using 1,000 kWh in a month pays the fixed monthly charge plus 1,000 times the per-kWh delivery charge.

For example, if the monthly charge is $4.23 and the usage charge is 5.6183¢ per kWh, the delivery portion at 1,000 kWh would be about $60.41 before other bill items. That amount is separate from the REP energy supply rate.

Why delivery charges change over time

TDSP rates move because the cost of maintaining, repairing and expanding the grid changes. Growth in Texas, storm-hardening work, transmission upgrades, vegetation management, financing costs and regulatory rate cases can all influence delivery rates.

Delivery charges often update around March and September, but utility rates can also change at other times when a tariff, rider, surcharge or approved settlement becomes effective. That is why a “fixed-rate” plan can still show a different all-in price when regulated delivery rates change.

Current embedded residential delivery charges

The following table is included as a customer-friendly snapshot from the embedded historical-rate data in this article. Before using these numbers in production pricing, reconcile them against the current PUCT rate page and each utility tariff.

Historical delivery-rate chart

What the historical numbers show

The long-term pattern is clear: delivery charges are no longer a small background item on many Texas electric bills. The per-kWh delivery component has generally moved higher across the major deregulated service territories, though the timing and size of each change differs by utility.

One unusual feature in the data is the sharp drop around March 2023 followed by a return to much higher levels later in 2023. That makes it important to look at a multi-year view instead of comparing only one month to the next.

How this affects shopping for electricity

Customers should not compare plans by the energy charge alone. A plan with a low energy charge can still have a higher estimated bill if the customer does not account for delivery charges, base charges, bill credits, usage tiers and monthly fees.

• Use the Electricity Facts Label to see whether delivery is bundled or passed through separately.
• Compare plans at realistic usage levels, not just at 500, 1,000 or 2,000 kWh.
• Remember that TDSP changes can affect fixed-rate contracts because delivery charges are regulated separately.
• For business customers, demand charges and meter class can make delivery costs even more important.

Common mistakes customers make

The most common mistake is assuming that “fixed rate” means every part of the bill is fixed. In many Texas plans, the energy supply price is fixed but regulated delivery charges can still change during the contract term.

Another mistake is comparing only the advertised cents-per-kWh price without reviewing the plan details. Bill credits, minimum usage fees and base charges can change the real cost dramatically when usage is above or below the advertised example.

FAQ

Using the official PUCT and utility tariff pages

The PUCT current-rate page is the best starting point for current delivery rates and links to the delivery-company tariff pages. Tariffs contain the detailed schedules, riders and descriptions that sit behind the simplified delivery-charge line on a residential bill.

For customer education, The Power Choice can use the historical view to explain why bills change. For quoting and compliance-sensitive work, current rates should be checked against the PUCT and utility tariff sources at the time a quote is prepared.

Further reading & sources

• Public Utility Commission of Texas — Transmission and Distribution Utility Rates
• PUCT — Understanding Your Electric Bill Charges
• Energy Ego — Historical TDU / TDSP Delivery Charge Graph
• Historical TDU Delivery Charges and Rates
• Oncor — Delivery Charges 101