The Texas electricity market attracts two kinds of operators: licensed electric companies and predators who profit from the confusion around them.
Some tactics are outright illegal—switching your account without permission, threatening fake disconnections, charging for services you never ordered. Others are legal but built to be misread: headline rates that only exist at one usage level, fees parked in the fine print, “free electricity” plans whose daytime rates earn the free hours back.
Here are the seven you’re most likely to meet in Texas, exactly how they work, and how to make sure you never become a victim.
1. Slamming: Unauthorized Switching
How it works: A door-to-door salesperson or telemarketer asks to see your electricity bill “just to compare rates.” They use your account information to switch your service without permission—a practice called “slamming.”
State rules treat a contested switch as unauthorized unless the company can produce proof you agreed to it (16 TAC §25.474). And this is not a rare complaint: in the six months ending August 31, 2026, the state regulator (PUCT) logged 466 slamming complaints against Texas electric companies, about 11% of the 4,116 complaints filed in that window.
Warning signs:
- Someone asks to see your full electricity bill
- You receive a welcome letter from a company you didn’t contact
- Your bill arrives from a different company than expected
- You get a cancellation notice from your current company
How to avoid it:
- Never hand your account number to an unsolicited salesperson
- Check the badge. Every door-to-door rep must wear one showing their name and photograph, the company’s PUCT certificate or registration number, and a toll-free number you can call to verify them
- Listen for what they’re required to say. A rep must state outright that they do not represent your TDU or any other electric company, and must never tell you that you have to switch to keep the lights on
- If you want to compare rates, contact companies yourself or use PowerToChoose.org
- Keep records of every communication
If it happens to you: Call the company you meant to be with, then file a complaint with the PUCT. Under 16 TAC §25.495, the companies and the registration agent have to return you to your original company as quickly as possible, the company that switched you without permission pays the delivery charges for putting you back and refunds what you paid it within five business days, and you end up paying no more than you would have if the switch had never happened. Once the PUCT forwards your complaint, the company must stop collection activity on the disputed switch until the case is resolved.
You also get a cooling-off window on any switch you did agree to: three federal business days after you receive the Terms of Service, with no penalty. That right applies to switches, not to move-ins at a new address.
2. Fake Disconnection Threats
How it works: You get a call from someone claiming to be your electric company, saying your power will be shut off within the hour unless you pay immediately—usually by gift card, prepaid debit card, or wire transfer.
The pressure is the product. Every legitimate step in a Texas disconnection takes days, so the scam only works if you don’t stop to check.
Warning signs:
- Threats of disconnection within hours
- Demands for payment via gift cards, wire transfer, or cryptocurrency
- Caller won’t let you hang up and call back on the official number
- Caller ID shows your company’s name (it can be spoofed)
- They refuse to give you a supervisor or a call-back number
The truth: In Texas, a disconnection for nonpayment follows strict rules (16 TAC §25.483):
- You get written notice—a separate mailing, a hand-delivered notice, or an email if you agreed to email notices—with “disconnection notice” displayed prominently
- The disconnection date must be at least 10 days after that notice is issued
- The disconnection date cannot be a holiday, a weekend day, or any day the company’s own staff aren’t available to take your payment and make arrangements
- Your bill’s due date itself is never less than 16 days after the bill is issued
Electric companies and TDUs publish standing warnings that they will never call and demand payment by prepaid debit card or gift card. No legitimate company takes a gift card.
How to avoid it:
- Hang up on any disconnection threat call
- Call your electric company using the number on your bill
- Never give payment information to an inbound caller
- Report it to your company and to the PUCT at 1-888-782-8477
3. Headline Rates That Don’t Survive Contact With Your Bill
How it works: A plan advertises a number far below what everyone else is charging. What it doesn’t say is which usage level that number belongs to, or what happens the month you land somewhere else.
Here’s the part most people get wrong. A fixed rate product in Texas has to hold the same price for the whole contract term; the company can only move it for TDU charges, ERCOT fees, or a change in the law (16 TAC §25.475). So a rate that “jumps after two months” was never a fixed plan. It was a month-to-month variable price product, which can change every billing cycle and, under state rules, needs no advance notice at all.
The other source of an unreal headline number is a fixed plan whose advertised average price only lands at one usage level, because a bill credit or a usage tier does the work. Use 20 kWh less than the threshold and the credit disappears.
Warning signs:
- An all-in price far below the going rate. Competitive 12-month fixed plans ran about 12 to 15 cents per kWh in September 2026, so treat anything dramatically under that as a question, not a bargain
- The plan type isn’t stated. Every Terms of Service and EFL has to say “fixed rate product” or “variable price product” in plain words
- The Electricity Facts Label is hard to find or download
- Aggressive pressure to sign up today
How to avoid it:
- Read the Electricity Facts Label (EFL) before signing. It must show the total average price at 500, 1,000 and 2,000 kWh
- Find the tier closest to your own usage and use that number, not the headline
- Check whether the price depends on a bill credit, and what your bill looks like in a month you miss the threshold
- If the plan is a variable price product, look up the company’s posted current price and one-year price history before you sign
Protection tip: Understanding the EFL is the single best defense against a deceptive electricity contract.
4. Hidden Fee Traps
How it works: A plan advertises a low energy rate and puts the rest of the cost in the EFL. The usual suspects are base charges, minimum usage fees, and bill credits that vanish the month you fall under the threshold.
What that looks like on a real plan:
- A base charge, commonly $9.95 a month and running up to about $15
- A minimum usage fee if you fall below a threshold, typically 1,000 kWh, sometimes 500
- A bill credit that only applies at or above its threshold. At 1,020 kWh you keep it. At 980 kWh you lose the whole thing
- An early termination fee of $150 on most 12-month plans, about $295 on 24-month plans, and up to $395 on 36-month plans at the biggest companies
None of this is hidden in the legal sense. All of it is disclosed in the EFL or the Terms of Service, which is exactly why it works: disclosure and attention are not the same thing.
Warning signs:
- The advertised rate is well under competitors’
- The EFL is hard to find or download
- Multiple asterisks in the rate advertising
- “Free electricity” claims
- A base charge that’s large relative to your usage
How to avoid it:
- Calculate your true cost from the EFL:
(Monthly Cost at Your Usage) / Your kWh Usage = True Rate - Watch for minimum usage penalties. Use less than the plan requires and you pay extra for the privilege
- Compare the average price at your actual usage level, shown at the top of the EFL
- Be skeptical of “free nights” or “free weekends” unless you can genuinely shift most of your usage into those hours
- Use your own historical usage from past bills, not the EFL’s sample 500/1,000/2,000 kWh figures
Reality check: If the EFL is hard to find, that difficulty is the message.
5. Cramming: Unauthorized Charges
How it works: Your electricity bill carries charges for something you never ordered—insurance, a home warranty, an “energy management” service.
Texas rules are specific about this. Before a company can bill you for any non-electric product, it has to tell you about the product and its charges, tell you plainly that the charges will appear on your electric bill, and get your clear and explicit consent, which it must document and keep for at least 24 months (16 TAC §25.481).
Cramming is rare in the complaint data: 30 of the 4,116 complaints the PUCT logged against Texas electric companies in the six months ending August 31, 2026, under 1%. Rare is not zero, and the reason it happens at all is that most people never read the line items.
Warning signs:
- A charge you don’t recognize
- A service you don’t remember ordering
- Vague line items like “premium service” or “protection plan”
- Small monthly amounts that don’t trip your attention but add up over a year
How to avoid it:
- Read every line item on your monthly bill
- Question any charge you don’t recognize
- Keep a record of what you actually authorized
- Never sign anything you haven’t read
- Be careful with “free trial” offers that roll into paid services
If it happens: Tell your electric company. Within 45 days it has to stop providing the service, take the charge off your bill, and refund or credit what you paid; if the refund takes more than three billing cycles, it owes you interest. It cannot disconnect you for not paying a charge you didn’t authorize, and it cannot re-bill you for it. If it won’t cooperate, file a complaint with the PUCT.
6. Phishing Emails and Text Scams
How it works: An email or text arrives looking like it’s from your electric company, logo and all, asking you to:
- Click a link to view your bill or avoid disconnection
- Update payment information
- Verify account details
- Download an attachment
Texas electric companies keep standing scam-warning pages up precisely because these keep landing. The branding is copied, the urgency is manufactured, and the link goes somewhere that is not your company.
Warning signs:
- Urgent action required (account suspended, payment failed)
- Requests to click links or download attachments
- Asks for account numbers, Social Security numbers, or payment details
- Generic greetings (“Dear Customer”) instead of your name
- Slight misspellings in the sender’s address (reliantenerqy.com instead of reliantenergy.com for Reliant)
- Threats of immediate service interruption
How to avoid it:
- Never click links in unsolicited emails or texts
- Type your company’s address into the browser yourself
- Check sender addresses carefully for subtle misspellings
- Call the number on your bill to verify anything suspicious
- Turn on two-factor authentication if your account offers it
Red flag: A legitimate electric company won’t ask for sensitive information by email or text.
7. Too-Good-To-Be-True Promotions
How it works: Someone poses as an electric company and offers a deal no licensed company could make: free electricity for a year, a guaranteed rate below what the market can support, or a “government program” that turns out not to exist.
Two of these deserve naming, because they trade on real programs:
- The fake assistance program. Texas really does have one: CEAP, run by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs through local subrecipient agencies. You reach it at 877-399-8939 or through 211. It never cold-calls you, and it never needs your bank login.
- The fake senior discount. LITE-UP Texas, the old state discount, ended on August 31, 2016. Anyone offering to enroll you in it today is lying, and anyone asking for your Social Security number to “verify” a senior discount is after the number.
Warning signs:
- Offers that sound too good to be true
- Requests for Social Security numbers or bank details up front
- Pressure to sign before “the offer expires”
- Company names that sound almost like real ones
- No PUCT certificate number, or one that doesn’t match PUCT records
How to avoid it:
- Look the company up in the PUCT’s Directory of Retail Electric Providers
- Check the certificate is valid
- Check the company’s complaint history
- Be skeptical of unsolicited offers
- Contact companies directly instead of responding to an ad or a call
Verification: Every company that can sell you a plan in Texas’s competitive market holds a PUCT certificate. Look it up before you sign anything.
How to Verify a Legitimate Electric Company
Before switching or responding to any electricity offer, check these four things:
1. PUCT certification Search the PUCT Directory of Retail Electric Providers to confirm the company holds a valid certificate under 16 TAC §25.107.
2. Complaint history The PUCT publishes customer complaint statistics by company, broken out by category: slamming, cramming, billing, disconnection, provision of service. Every company gets some complaints. What you’re looking for is a high count relative to the company’s size, or a cluster in one category.
3. Door-to-door reps A legitimate rep wears a badge showing their name and photograph, the company’s PUCT certificate or registration number, and a toll-free verification number. Call that number before you tell them anything.
4. Everything in writing A legitimate company gives you the Terms of Service and the EFL before enrollment, lets you read them, and doesn’t push you to sign on the spot.
What to Do If You’ve Been Scammed
Step 1: Contact your electric company
- Tell them about the unauthorized switch or charge
- Ask what protections they can put on the account
- Write down who you spoke to and when
Step 2: File a PUCT complaint
- Online: PUCT Complaint Form
- Phone: 1-888-782-8477
- The PUCT investigates and enforces the rules that require an unauthorized switch to be reversed and an unauthorized charge to be removed and refunded
Step 3: Report it more widely
- Texas Attorney General: the Consumer Protection Division takes utility company complaints and consumer complaints generally
- Federal Trade Commission: ReportFraud.ftc.gov or 1-877-382-4357
- Local law enforcement: if someone turned up in person and made threats
Step 4: Protect your accounts
- Change account passwords
- Watch the next few bills closely
- Consider a credit freeze if you gave out your Social Security number
Step 5: Document everything
- Save emails, texts, and any recordings
- Photograph door-to-door reps and their badges
- Keep copies of bills showing the charges
- Note dates, times, and names
Your Rights as a Texas Electricity Customer
You have the right to:
- Choose your electric company, and to not be switched without proof you agreed
- Rescind a switch within three federal business days of receiving the Terms of Service, without penalty
- Get the EFL and Terms of Service before you enroll, and again any time you ask, free
- Get written disconnection notice with a disconnection date at least 10 days out
- Have an unauthorized charge removed and refunded, without being disconnected over it
- Have any vagueness in your contract read in your favor, not the company’s
- Switch companies without interference
Companies must:
- Publish an Electricity Facts Label for every plan
- Say plainly whether a plan is a fixed rate product or a variable price product
- Process a switch only with documented authorization
- Comply with their own contracts
- Hold a valid PUCT certificate
Staying Safe in Texas’s Electricity Market
Texas’s deregulated market offers real benefits—but only if you can spot the traps. Here’s the checklist:
Before signing:
- Verify PUCT certification
- Read the whole EFL
- Calculate the cost at your actual usage
- Check complaint history
- Get everything in writing
Reject immediately:
- Requests for gift cards or wire transfers
- Threats of disconnection within hours
- Pressure to sign without reviewing documents
- Requests to see your account number at the door
- An all-in price far below the 12 to 15 cents competitive 12-month fixed plans were running in September 2026, with no explanation
- Any difficulty getting the EFL
Good practices:
- Review bills monthly for charges you didn’t authorize
- Keep your company’s contact details from your bill, never from an unsolicited message
- Research before switching
- Report suspicious activity
The Bottom Line
Scammers work the Texas market because deregulation creates genuine confusion about who’s legitimate. The rules are on your side, but only if you slow down long enough to use them.
Remember the core rule: if it feels like pressure, or it’s too good to be true, walk away and verify independently. Nothing in Texas electricity has to be decided in the next ten minutes.
For more on choosing well, read our guides on understanding the Electricity Facts Label and how to switch electricity companies safely.
Need Help?
- PUCT Consumer Hotline: 1-888-782-8477
- Report Fraud to FTC: 1-877-382-4357
- Texas Attorney General Consumer Protection: texasattorneygeneral.gov
Compare legitimate Texas electric companies: Visit our company directory to research licensed electricity companies and read unbiased comparisons before making your choice. Start with our best electricity companies in Texas ranking or explore specific company comparisons like TXU vs Reliant.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I verify if a Texas electric company is legitimate?
Look it up in the PUCT Directory of Retail Electric Providers to confirm it holds a valid certificate, then check its complaint history in the PUCT’s published customer complaint statistics. If someone is at your door, their badge must show their name and photograph, the company’s PUCT certificate number, and a toll-free number you can call to verify them.
What should I do if my electricity was switched without permission?
Contact the company you meant to be with, then file a complaint with the PUCT at 1-888-782-8477. Under state rules the companies have to return you to your original company as quickly as possible, refund what the unauthorized company charged you within five business days of the return, and leave you paying no more than you would have without the switch. Document everything.
Can my electricity really be shut off with two hours’ notice?
No. A disconnection for nonpayment needs written notice with a disconnection date at least 10 days out, and that date can’t be a weekend, a holiday, or a day the company’s staff aren’t available to take your payment. A call threatening shutoff within the hour unless you pay by gift card or wire transfer is always a scam. Hang up and call the number on your bill.
Why do some electricity plans look too cheap to be true?
Usually because the headline number belongs to one usage level and you don’t live at that usage level, or because the plan is a month-to-month variable price product whose price can change every billing cycle with no advance notice. A fixed rate plan can’t legally jump mid-term. Competitive 12-month fixed plans ran about 12 to 15 cents per kWh in September 2026, so read the EFL at the usage tier closest to yours before believing anything well under that.