Oncor vs. CenterPoint for Texas Business Electricity

Identify the TDU before requesting retail pricing

Read the current bill and service-point information to confirm the delivery utility. An ESI ID and applicable commercial class help identify the account. A general Dallas or Houston description can be useful context, but it should not replace the actual service-point record, especially for properties near boundaries or under special arrangements.

Oncor’s delivery guidance separates retail providers from network utilities. CenterPoint describes its Houston role as delivery rather than retail electricity sales. The retail provider coordinates service requests through the applicable process; switching that provider does not physically move the building’s connection to the other TDU.

Check commercial delivery determinants

Business delivery cost can depend on energy, billed demand, service voltage, class and other tariff provisions. A residential average-price example is not an adequate model for a demand-billed business. Request the tariff components or a worked bill for the actual account class and operating profile.

Retail offers may pass delivery charges through or describe them in another stated way. Confirm whether a headline cents-per-kWh figure includes a particular TDU charge and which changes can flow through later. Two offers should use the same delivery assumptions before their effective prices are compared.

Hypothetical same-provider, different-site case

Suppose a business has two sites using 60,000 kWh in a month. At an invented retail energy rate of $0.08, supply energy is $4,800 at each. If separately modeled delivery components total $2,000 at one site and $2,600 at the other, complete cases differ by $600 despite the identical retail energy rate.

These are not Oncor or CenterPoint prices. They do not prove one territory costs less because the usage shape, class and tariff inputs are unspecified. Use actual bills, including measured and billed demand, to explain a real portfolio difference. The utility tariff and retail contract must be reconciled together.

Separate procurement from service reliability planning

Keep the correct delivery utility’s outage and emergency information for each site. Selecting a retail price does not install backup generation, change network ownership or guarantee uninterrupted supply. Critical-load designations or site resilience needs require their own verified process and do not follow from a cheaper retail plan.

For procurement, obtain comparable ESI-ID-specific offers and preserve the accepted contract, start dates and component scope. Inspect the first invoice after a change. This guide provides no current delivery-rate table or territory winner; it prevents the common error of treating the TDU name as a freely interchangeable retail supplier.

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