If you live in a deregulated part of Texas, you’ve probably heard, “Just go to Power to Choose.” It’s the official state website for comparing electricity plans. But it’s not the only way to shop—and for a lot of Texans, it’s not the easiest way, either.
Many shoppers end up searching for Power to Choose alternatives after feeling overwhelmed by dozens of plans, teaser rates, and fine print. That’s where marketplaces like Power Wizard, along with others such as SaveOnEnergy, ComparePower, Texas Electricity Ratings, EnergyBot, and more, come in. They all try to make comparison shopping easier in different ways.
This guide walks through why shoppers look beyond Power to Choose, what to look for in an alternative, how Power Wizard works, and how to switch step-by-step without getting burned by a bad-fit plan.
Power to Choose plays an important role in Texas. It’s run by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT), and lists plans that Retail Electric Providers (REPs) submit for deregulated areas.
The friction usually isn’t the existence of the site—it’s the experience of decoding complex plan designs on your own. Common reasons shoppers look for alternatives include:
Alternatives like Power Wizard and other marketplaces aim to solve these problems by:
Aside from Power to Choose, you can visit comparison websites like the following.
What it is:
Power Wizard is a Texas-focused electricity marketplace that shows dozens of available electricity plans in your area, their rates, Electricity Facts Labels (EFLs), contract terms, and more—all in one place. It operates as a marketplace/broker that connects shoppers to plans from multiple REPs.
How it helps:
It’s a good fit if you want to avoid spreadsheets, don’t have time to decode EFLs, or simply prefer to offload the heavy lifting to a tool built for Texas electricity shopping. Power Wizard also helps take the guesswork out of shopping for electricity with easy to use comparison and bill-estimator features.
There are several other third-party comparison sites besides Power Wizard, such as ComparePower, Choose Energy, ElectricityPlans, SaveOnEnergy, and Texas Electricity Ratings, among others, that you can use to determine which electricity plan is best for you.
Common traits:
Another route is going straight to a REP website, like TXU Energy, Gexa Energy, Frontier Utilities, and others.
This approach tends to work best if you already trust a particular REP and value familiarity over comparison.
Power to Choose is the official state-run comparison site for Texas’ deregulated areas. It does three core things:
You’re responsible for reading the EFLs, doing the math, and deciding which plan is truly best for your home. You also can’t sign up through Power to Choose—it directs you to the REP’s website, where you then have to input your information and find the plan you like again.
Power to Choose can be a great resource, but many shoppers encounter two main issues:
Most people shopping on Power to Choose are not energy analysts. They’re juggling work, family, and everything else. Staring at a screen full of plan names that sound similar, base charges, Transmission and Distribution Utility (TDU) fees, tiered pricing, time-of-use windows, and more can cause shoppers to freeze or default to the first low rate they see.
Ultimately, Texans care about what they’re likely to actually pay each month, not the theoretically lowest kWh rate.
Because Power to Choose doesn’t automatically translate rates and rules into a bill estimate at average usage levels, it’s easy to underestimate what a plan will really cost. That’s the gap that alternatives like Power Wizard try to fill.
If you’re going to use another site instead of—or in addition to—Power to Choose, here’s what you should search for.
A good alternative should show you estimated monthly bills at average usage levels, not just cents-per-kWh headlines.
Power Wizard, for example, uses your ZIP and TDU to model estimated bills at different usage levels so you can compare plans based on what they’ll cost your household, not just a rate that only works at one narrow kWh band.
Look for platforms that provide in-depth information about each electricity plan. This can include upfront details about bill credits, usage tiers, free usage hours, minimum usage fees, and more. This helps you better understand each plan and make the best decision for your home.
The best alternatives let you filter plans around real-life constraints, like:
This makes it easier to find a plan that fits your needs.
Another advantage of alternatives is that some provide education and human help.
That extra layer of support is a big step up from trying to interpret everything on your own.
Power to Choose and Power Wizard both help Texans compare electricity plans, but they play different roles. Power to Choose is the official state listing site that shows what REPs submit. Power Wizard is a dependable marketplace that focuses on estimating bills and offers intuitive filtering tools to help you find an option that fits your usage and budget.
| Dimension | Power to Choose (Official State Site) |
Power Wizard (Texas Marketplace) |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs it | Operated by the State of Texas as the official electricity shopping website for deregulated areas. | Electricity marketplace designed to help Texans compare and enroll in plans. |
| How plans are listed | Shows all available plans submitted by REPs | Shows a curated set of plans from multiple REPs in your ZIP code. |
| What it’s optimized for | Listing many options so shoppers can do their own comparisons. | Estimating your total monthly bill based on average usage levels. Broader range of filters + other useful tools. |
| Help with EFLs & fine print | Leaves EFL interpretation up to consumers; no support or guidance. | Provides tools and phone support to explain EFLs, bill credits, fees, and terms so you know what to expect. |
| Who it’s best for | DIY, spreadsheet-style shoppers who are comfortable doing their own analysis. | Texas shoppers who want a more straightforward, guided way to avoid bad-fit plans. |
Switching doesn’t have to be a three-hour research project. With Power Wizard, all you have to do is:
Start with a recent electric bill—ideally 12 months of history, but at least one summer and one winter bill. You don’t need this information to enroll, but having it on hand can help guide your decision.
Look for:
Example: A Houston home in ZIP 77077 might use around 1,200 kWh in August and 900 kWh in January. That pattern matters more than any single month.
Knowing your usage is what protects you from teaser rates that only look good at exactly 1,000 or 2,000 kWh.
Next, go to Power Wizard and enter your ZIP code. Power Wizard then pulls plans from multiple REPs and uses TDU fees and average usage levels to calculate expected monthly bills. Instead of staring at a list of rates, you’ll see:
Now refine the list around your priorities:
Once you narrow it down to one or two plans, open the EFL for each and review:
If you need a refresher, check out a guide on how to read an EFL before you finalize your choice.
When you’re ready, enroll through Power Wizard. Your new REP coordinates the switch with your TDU, usually without a technician visit or service interruption.
Before you forget, set a reminder 30–60 days before your contract end date. When that reminder pops up, log back into Power Wizard to:
That’s how you avoid quietly getting rolled into a pricey default rate at the end of your term.
The official site is still a solid option if you:
For highly analytical shoppers, Power to Choose, along with a spreadsheet, can work well.
You’ll probably be happier with an alternative like Power Wizard if you:
In those cases, delegating the heavy lifting to a marketplace built for Texas electricity often makes more sense than going it alone.
Not always. Power to Choose lists available plans, but it doesn’t help you estimate bills. Many of the cheapest-looking rates depend on specific usage ranges or complicated bill credits that can be easy to misread. Curated marketplaces like Power Wizard help you spot those details upfront and show you estimated electricity bills based on average usage levels so that you can avoid costly surprises later.
Yes. Power Wizard partners with multiple Retail Electricity Providers (REPs) that operate under Texas electricity market rules, giving you access to real, regulated plans from legitimate providers.
No, you do not have to pay extra to use Power Wizard instead of Power to Choose. Like other energy marketplaces, it operates on a broker model, meaning it may receive compensation from providers but does not receive payments from website visitors.
Yes. You’re never limited to a single provider or set of plans just because you use a different comparison platform. Alternatives like Power Wizard still connect you to Texas Retail Electricity Providers and often make it easier to view and compare a wide range of plan options in one place.
Electricity in Texas doesn’t work like it does in most other states. Because of deregulation, most Texans can choose t...
Tiered electricity plans are among the options available in Texas’s deregulated market. Since the early 2000s, the Pub...
