Average Commercial Electric Bill in Texas by Business Type

"What's the average commercial electric bill in Texas?" is one of the most common questions we hear — and the honest answer is that there isn't a single number. A 3,000-square-foot restaurant and a 30,000-square-foot warehouse are both "commercial," but they live in completely different worlds on the electricity bill. What does exist is a sourced usage benchmark by business type, and a repeatable way to turn it into a realistic estimate for your own operation. This guide gives you both.

Why There's No Single "Average" Commercial Electric Bill

Three variables decide your bill, and all three swing widely from business to business:

• How much electricity you use — driven by your building type and size. A commercial kitchen or a data-heavy medical office draws far more per square foot than a warehouse.
• Your rate structure — a fixed, index, or hybrid supply rate, and whether you're locked in or drifting on a holdover rate.
• Your TDU delivery charges — the regulated wires half of the bill, which is the same for every retail provider and rose in 2026.

Because those three multiply together, quoting a single dollar "average" across all Texas businesses would be worse than useless — it would mislead. So instead of a fake average, start with a real benchmark. (If you want to understand each charge first, read our guide to how to read your commercial electricity bill.)

The Sourced Benchmark: Electricity Intensity by Business Type

The most credible public benchmark is electricity intensity — kilowatt-hours used per square foot per year — from the U.S. Energy Information Administration's 2018 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS). Per CBECS, food service and inpatient health care buildings are the most electricity-intensive commercial types, while warehouse-and-storage and religious-worship buildings are among the least. Here is where the business types that ask this question most often tend to fall:

Intensity tiers reflect EIA's 2018 CBECS finding on which building activities are most and least electricity-intensive; the hotel figure is the median for U.S. lodging from the CBECS hotel electricity consumption table. These are national usage benchmarks from 2018 survey data — not Texas rates and not projected bills. Gyms and fitness centers fall under CBECS "public assembly" and "service" categories rather than a standalone line.

How to Turn the Benchmark Into Your Number

The estimate is simple arithmetic: annual kWh ≈ intensity × square footage, then bill ≈ annual kWh × all-in rate. Worked through for a hotel:

• A 50,000-sq-ft hotel at the median 12.8 kWh/sq ft ≈ 640,000 kWh per year.
• At a modeled all-in commercial rate of about $0.11/kWh (energy + delivery + demand + fees), that's roughly $70,000 per year, or about $5,900 per month.

Treat that as a starting estimate, not a quote. Your real number moves with your actual square footage and occupancy, how peaky your demand is, your specific TDU's delivery charges (which went up in 2026), and the supply rate you sign. The "all-in rate" is the number that matters most, and it is almost always higher than the headline energy rate — a REP advertising $0.065/kWh can land at $0.11 all-in once delivery, demand, and fees are added. Our bill-reading guide shows how to calculate your true all-in cost per kWh.

What Each Business Type Actually Pays For

Restaurants and food service are the most intensive per square foot — cooking lines, walk-in refrigeration, exhaust, and HVAC stack up, and their morning startup peaks drive heavy demand charges. See our restaurants and food-service page and the tactics in how Texas restaurants cut electricity costs.

Medical offices and health care sit near the top of the intensity scale because they run around the clock, with imaging equipment, continuous air handling, and sterilization. Our health-care page covers where the load hides.

Hotels and hospitality land in the middle at roughly 12.8 kWh/sq ft, but the number that matters to operators is cost per available room. See the benchmarks on our hotel and hospitality page.

Gyms and fitness centers run moderate-to-high because ventilation and HVAC dominate — you're conditioning and exchanging a lot of air. Our wellness and fitness page has more.

Offices are moderate and driven by plug loads, lighting, and HVAC; consumption tracks occupancy closely. See the office buildings page.

Warehouses and storage are the least intensive per square foot — mostly lighting and limited conditioning — but large dock and refrigeration loads can still create demand spikes worth managing. See the warehouse and storage page.

Why the "Average" Misleads: Load Factor and Demand Charges

Even two businesses of the same type and size can pay very different bills, because total kilowatt-hours aren't the whole story. Load factor — how steady your usage is — and demand charges on your peak kW can swing the bill dramatically. A business that draws its power in sharp spikes pays more for the same energy than one with a flat, steady load. That's why chasing an "average" is the wrong game: your peak profile and rate structure matter as much as your consumption.

How to Beat Your Benchmark

Once you know where you stand, three levers move the bill:

• Shop the supply half. Compare your energy rate across multiple licensed REPs and time the contract against the ERCOT wholesale market rather than signing on renewal-notice panic.
• Cut your peak demand. Staggering equipment startup, pre-cooling, and basic load management lower the demand-driven portion of both supply and delivery charges. Our guide to lowering commercial electricity bills covers the tactics by industry.
• Know your all-in number. Track total bill ÷ total kWh every month so you can tell a good rate from a bad one at a glance.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the average commercial electric bill in Texas?

There is no single average, because commercial bills depend on three things that vary enormously: how much electricity you use (a function of your building type and size), your rate structure, and your TDU delivery charges. What does exist is a sourced usage benchmark — EIA's 2018 CBECS reports electricity use per square foot by building type, such as roughly 12.8 kWh per square foot per year for a median U.S. hotel. Multiply a benchmark like that by your square footage and your all-in rate to estimate your own bill.

How much is the electric bill for a hotel, restaurant, or warehouse?

It scales with electricity intensity. Per EIA CBECS, food service (restaurants) and inpatient health care are the most electricity-intensive commercial building types, while warehouses are among the least. A hotel sits in the middle at roughly 12.8 kWh per square foot per year. A restaurant of the same size will use far more, and a warehouse far less — which is exactly why a single dollar "average" across business types is meaningless.

Why is my electric bill higher than a similar business nearby?

Usually load factor and demand charges. Two businesses can use the same total kilowatt-hours but pay very different bills if one has spikier demand. Because the TDU — and often the REP — bills a per-kW charge on your peak, a peaky operation pays more for the same energy. Your rate structure, contract timing, and whether you're on a holdover rate also drive the gap.

How can I lower my commercial electric bill in Texas?

Attack the two halves separately. On the supply side, shop your energy rate across multiple licensed REPs and time your contract against the ERCOT wholesale market. On the delivery side — regulated and rising in 2026 — you can't change the tariff, but you can lower what you pay by cutting your peak demand. Start by calculating your all-in cost per kWh so you know your real baseline.