Most of Texas has a deregulated energy market, which means your utility company and your energy provider are separate. While your utility is assigned based on where you live and can’t be changed, you have the freedom to choose from dozens of energy providers and plans.
Whether you’re choosing an energy provider for the first time or reviewing your options before your contract ends, PUCT ratings can help you compare retail electric providers (REPs) more easily. Here’s what PUCT ratings mean and why they matter.
What Do PUCT Ratings Mean?
PUCT ratings are one-to-five-star ratings that the PUCT assigns to energy providers to indicate their customer complaint ratio. The PUCT updates these ratings monthly to reflect the most recent data.
What Is the PUCT and Why Does It Rate Providers?
PUCT stands for the Public Utility Commission of Texas. It’s the state agency that oversees Texas’s utility and electricity companies. The PUCT also regulates the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages the power grid that serves around 90% of Texas.
Part of the PUCT’s job is to ensure that the energy market operates in a way that’s both fair and reliable for consumers. It sets and enforces rules to help achieve this goal, and it tracks customer complaints about energy providers.
The PUCT doesn’t set energy rates for deregulated area; it only regulates TDU delivery fees charged by your area’s utility company, but it does monitor an energy provider’s performance to help you make more informed decisions.
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Why PUCT Ratings Matter for Consumers
The electricity provider rating system in Texas and customer complaint breakdowns give you a general idea of where a company meets (or misses) customer expectations. [1] For instance, a provider with many billing complaints could signal potential billing issues for you, while having few cramming complaints suggests you’re less likely to encounter surprise charges on your energy bill.
Where to Find PUCT Ratings
You’ll see these ratings mostly on the PUCT’s Power to Choose website. This trusted platform lets you compare REPs by rates and filter results by categories such as utility service areas, prices based on your estimated usage, and energy plan types.
It also publishes a Retail Electric Provider Complaint Scorecard that rates all energy providers in one place. [2]
How Are PUCT Ratings Calculated?
The PUCT calculates a six-month rolling average of complaints per 1,000 customers for each energy provider. It then compares these averages across all companies to arrive at a PUCT complaint score. [2]
Complaint Scorecard Breakdown
The PUCT tallies slamming, cramming, billing, and other types of complaints that a company receives to arrive at a final score. Here’s more about the rating categories.
- Slamming: When your REP is switched without your consent.
- Cramming: When there’s an unauthorized charge on your energy bill.
- Billing: Errors found on your bill or made in the billing process.
- Quality of service: Issues related to the customer service you receive.
- Discontinuation of service: Complaints related to the disconnection of your electricity service for non-payment.
- Provision of service: When the energy provider doesn’t connect your service as requested.
- All others: A catch-all category for customer complaints that don’t fit into the other categories.
PUCT Score Meaning: Low vs. High Score
A low rating of 1 or 2 stars means a company received more complaints than average over the last 6 months. A high score of four or five stars means the company has a low complaint ratio when compared to all ranked companies.
How to Use PUCT Ratings When Choosing an Electricity Provider
Texas electricity provider ratings simply measure the number of complaints filed against a REP. They don’t indicate whether the company was at fault, or if the issue was resolved. As a result, PUCT ratings should be seen only as one data point for assessing REPs, not as the final say on whether an energy provider is a high-quality company.
Only companies active on the Power to Choose website are ranked, and star ratings are updated monthly. For smaller providers, only a few additional complaints can make ratings swing dramatically.
What to Consider Besides the Score When Shopping
To get a truer picture of an energy provider’s quality and reputation, you’ll want to consider other data points like:
- Better Business Bureau rating and customer reviews
- Customer reviews left on other platforms like Google and Yelp
- Terms and structure of the plan you’re interested in (as shown in the Electricity Facts Label)
- Plan fees
- Years in business
- Customer service availability
- Renewable energy choices
- Plan rewards
Find our list of the best Texas electric companies.
Tips for Choosing a Reliable Energy Provider in Texas
PUCT ratings offer a trusted, unbiased metric. Still, even the Public Utility Commission of Texas recommends checking other sources (like a provider’s Google Business Profiles and reading reviews) before making your decision. [2]
Sometimes people file complaints because they didn’t fully understand the details of a plan before enrolling and feel misled about its pricing or structure. So, before signing up for any plan, be sure to read its Electricity Facts Label (EFL). It’s a standardized document that cuts through the marketing to make the plan’s information clear and easy to compare.
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Frequently Asked Questions About PUCT Ratings
What is a good PUCT rating?
A good PUCT rating is three stars or higher, showing that the REP receives an average number of complaints or fewer.
Should I only rely on PUCT ratings when choosing a provider?
No, PUCT ratings should only be used as one metric when choosing an energy provider. For a more complete picture, you’ll want to dig deeper into customer reviews, company history, customer support availability, plan benefits and rewards, and more. Once you decide on a provider, be sure to review the plan’s EFL before signing up to ensure you understand the plan’s terms and costs.
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Sources
1. Public Utility Commission of Texas. Accessed February 27, 2026.https://www.puc.texas.gov/consumer-help/electricity/electric-complaints/customercomplaintstats/
2. Public Utility Commission of Texas. “Retail Electric Provider Complaint Scorecard.” Accessed February 27, 2026. https://www.powertochoose.org/scorecard/scorecard.pdf