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You can use this Texas government site to learn about electric competition in Texas and obtain information to help you make informed decisions about your electricity service and Retail Electric Provider.

TEPA qualified electricity professional are Texas electricity experts that understand the intricacies of the Texas electricity market. TEPA professionals are aggregators, brokers, and consultants (A/B/C) which have demonstrated an in depth knowledge of the Texas electricity deregulation rules & regulations as well as the growing number of counterparties involved. By working with a TEPA professional, you are leveraging the purchasing power, knowledge and industry network capabilities that only a TEPA professional can provide. In addition, TEPA professionals are held to the highest of ethical standards.

Each potential TEPA applicant must go through a rigorous application process including detailed experiences, industry references, services offered and be sponsored by a TEPA professional.

The TEPA organization works with the PUCT, energy consultants, and retail electric providers on behalf of commercial and industrial businesses in Texas in order to assist in making the market a better place for Texas electric customers. As new problems and issues develop TEPA uses their pull to make sure these problems are dealt with by the PUCT instead of being pushed under the rug left for the Texas energy customer to deal with on their own.

The mission of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is to direct and ensure reliable and cost-effective operation of the electric grid and to enable fair and efficient market-driven solutions to meet Texas customers’ electric service needs.

This Texas government site provides consumer information on what exactly the Texas PUC does to assist in regulating the utilities like our retail electricity we buy for our homes and businesses. After exhausting trying to resolve your issue with the retail electric provider you can go to the PUCT's website and issue a formal complaint against the Texas Retail Electric Provider that has wronged you. It is good to exhaust all resources and keep a record of any evidence and communications you have had with the electric company in order to succesfully win a case against an electric company. If the case is heard and accepted you may need to hire a lawyer to pursue the matter further.

Startex Power started business in Texas a little after Texas deregulated back in 2002 by having some key players at Gexa jump ship to start their own Retail Electric Provider. Startex Power is actually Star Electricity, Llc but has named themselves a pretty catchy brand that has stuck with a lot of Texas consumers. Not only has their brand been well taken but their electricity prices have been competitive in the residential electricity market and they are making in roads at being just as competitive in the commercial energy sector in Texas as well. If you have used Startex Power for either residential electricity or commercial energy and have an opinion about them please feel free to leave a comment and go ahead and rate them while your at it on the star rating scale from 1 - 10.
3200 Southwest Fwy
Houston, TX 77027-7528 United States

Phone: 713-357-2800

Occidental Energy Marketing, Inc. (OEMI), Oxy’s marketing division, provides comprehensive crude oil, natural gas and power marketing and related risk management services in Texas. OEMI is one of the top 10 natural gas marketers in North America, with trading volume exceeding 4.5 billion cubic feet per day. They are just beginning to offer commercial businesses in Texas the option to buy energy from them. They currently only accept energy customers that are using atleast 2 megawatt hours of electricity or more a year. Their company is large and the entry into the Texas commercial electricity market will be slow but they promise to deliver accurate billing and competitive prices.

TXU Energy is the incumbent retail electric provider in the North region of Texas, Dallas Fort Worth metroplex. When Texas deregulated the retail electric market TXU broke off of their pole and wires company to only sell retail electricity along with their power generation division. Oncor Electric Delivery became the name of what was previously called TXU Electric Delivery which services and owns the meters, poles and wires. The Texas state government ERCOT have worked out an agreement with TXU Energy that if any Retail Electric Provider in this region were to go bankrupt and the electric customers would be automatically switched to the POLR or TXU as way to insure continued electricity service to those affected. Because of the great work by ERCOT and the POLR system Texas is the benchmark state on how deregulation should be done.

Champion Energy Services is partially owned by Lehman Brothers company but has been bought out by a large investor in the Texas energy market. Champion was bought out prior to Lehman's financial disaster and remains a strong well-capitalized retail electric provider (REP) in Texas. They have consistently provided competitive electric power service to residential, commercial and industrial (C&I) businesses in Texas for several years. They have wide access to wholesale power supply sources and tremendous experience in commodity marketplaces. Although there have been issues in the past as they were bought and sold by several companies they have now settled down and the in house customer service platform they have now ensures you will receive accurate and straightforward billing.

Spark Energy is a Retail Electric Provider based out of Houston Texas. They began business back in 2002 when Texas deregulated and have maintained a strong and growing position in the Texas Electricity market.

Reliant is the incumbent Retail Electric Provider in the Houston Texas area and at one time owned both the retail electric division that sells the energy to residences and commercial businesses and the pole and wires company that owns and services the electric lines. Texas deregulated the Texas electric market back in 2002 and broke off Reliant from the pole and wires company Centerpoint. They are now rebranded as Reliant Energy and Centerpoint now only provides pole and wire transmission and distribution services. Reliant has worked out a deal with Texas ERCOT to be the POLR or Provider Of Last Resort. What this means is if you were to sign up with an electric company that later on goes bankrupt during the course of the electricity agreement you would be switched back to Reliant Energy with no interruption in service. This POLR setup created by the ERCOT deregulation organization has become a benchmark in how to do deregulation in other states and continues to effectively provide for continued uninterrupted electric service as new energy companies come and go in the Texas retail energy market.