Deregulated Energy States and Deregulated Cities in Texas

For commercial and industrial buyers, 16 states plus Washington, D.C. have retail electricity choice, and 27 states plus D.C. have natural gas choice, based on the commercial energy choice map on our homepage (verified June 2026). Fifteen of those states, plus D.C., offer both, and Texas is one of them. Inside Texas, about 85% of electricity consumers can choose their retail electric provider, according to ERCOT. The dividing line is the utility that owns the wires at your address, not the city name. Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Corpus Christi and Lubbock can shop. San Antonio, Austin and El Paso can't.

This guide is about where choice exists: which states, and which Texas cities. If you want to know how the Texas market works once you're in it, including generators, retail providers, delivery utilities and ERCOT's role, read how deregulated electricity works in Texas.

One note on the state numbers: they reflect choice for businesses. Consumer lists count household programs, so their totals differ. The next two sections explain why.

Deregulated Energy States at a Glance

The table uses the same four categories as our homepage map, which tracks commercial and industrial energy choice by state.

Adding up the rows: the deregulated electricity states are the 15 "both" states plus Oregon, 16 in all, plus D.C. The energy-deregulated states for natural gas are the 15 "both" states plus the 12 gas-only states, 27 in all, plus D.C. In the other 22 states, a typical business can't shop for either.

A state on the list doesn't guarantee that every business there can switch tomorrow. Several states cap choice or reserve it for certain customers, and those limits are the reason published lists disagree.

Why Lists of Deregulated Electricity States Never Agree

Energy deregulation is not an on/off switch. Each state wrote its own law, and many opened only part of the market. The Michigan Public Service Commission, for example, counts "20 jurisdictions" with full or limited electric restructuring in its 2025 status report. Our map shows 16 states plus D.C. for commercial electricity. Neither number is wrong. They answer different questions.

Capped Programs

Michigan is "both" on the map, but state law caps electric choice at 10% of each utility's sales. The MPSC's report, published February 1, 2026, shows the cap fully subscribed at Consumers Energy, DTE Electric, Upper Peninsula Power, UMERC and Indiana Michigan Power. As of December 2025 it counted about 5,517 participating customers and about 5,101 more waiting in the queue, with participants mostly industrial and mid-size commercial. A Michigan business that wants to shop electricity at one of those utilities generally has to wait in that queue for space to open.

California Direct Access takes new load only from nonresidential customers, under a statewide cap. After Senate Bill 237, the CPUC raised that cap by 4,000 GWh in 2019, and in Decision D.21-06-033 it recommended against expanding Direct Access further. Its Direct Access page describes the lottery and waitlist used to allocate new load.

Programs Limited by Customer Size or Class

Oregon, the map's only electricity-only state, offers direct access to all nonresidential customers of Portland General Electric and PacifiCorp, according to the Oregon PUC.

Virginia is gas-only on the map. On the electricity side, Va. Code §56-577 lets nonresidential customers above 5 MW buy from a competitive supplier, allows larger aggregations by petition, and lets some customers buy 100% renewable energy when the local utility has no approved tariff for it. An ordinary commercial account can't shop electricity there.

Nevada is regulated on the map. Under NRS Chapter 704B, a customer averaging 1 MW or more can apply to buy from a provider of new electric resources. It needs approval from the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, a wait of at least 280 days after filing, and payment of its share of certain utility costs. That is an application to leave the utility, not open shopping.

Montana is gas-only on the map. The Montana PSC says plainly that "the electricity supply market in Montana is no longer open to choice," though NorthWestern Energy's natural gas customers can choose a supplier.

Residential Counts and Commercial Counts Measure Different Things

EIA's Natural Gas Annual 2024 (Table 25) lists residential gas-choice eligibility in 21 states plus D.C. Our map shows gas choice in 27 states plus D.C. because it tracks business buyers. EIA itself notes that large commercial and industrial customers "have had the option to purchase natural gas separately" from their utility "for many years" (EIA, natural gas customer choice programs). A residential table and a commercial map won't line up state for state.

Being eligible isn't the same as having an active market, either. EIA's 2024 table shows zero residential gas-choice participants in Rhode Island and Wisconsin despite eligibility. Rhode Island is "both" on our commercial map, and Wisconsin is regulated.

Community choice aggregation, used in states such as California, Illinois, Ohio and Massachusetts, is a separate mechanism. A local government buys power on behalf of customers in its area, so an individual business isn't picking its own supplier. We don't count it as retail choice.

Deregulated Cities in Texas: Who Can Choose

The Texas rule is easy to state. Section 39.102 of the Texas Utilities Code gave every retail electricity customer choice starting January 1, 2002, except customers of electric cooperatives and municipally owned utilities that have not opted in. Separate subchapters hold four utilities outside ERCOT out of competition, covered below. The PUCT's consumer guidance puts it in one line: if you are in ERCOT and not served by a co-op or a city-owned utility, you can choose (PUCT, Choosing an Electric Plan).

ERCOT's November 2025 retail market brief says approximately 85% of Texas electricity consumers can choose, a footprint that covers "major population centers such as Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Corpus Christi, Galveston, Waco, and many more." In administering retail switching, ERCOT tracks more than 8.5 million customer accounts across over 170 competitive retailers.

In practice, choice follows the wires. Four investor-owned delivery utilities, known as TDUs, carry most of it: Oncor, CenterPoint Energy, AEP Texas and TNMP. Two utilities that opted in carry the rest: Lubbock Power & Light and Nueces Electric Cooperative. Whichever one serves your address, it keeps delivering the power while you buy supply from a retail electric provider (REP).

The table lists every Texas city with an Elite city guide, grouped by wires utility. For a longer community-by-community list, see our ERCOT market explainer.

* Two utilities with retail choice serve different parts of the city (CenterPoint Energy and TNMP in the Houston-area cities; AEP Texas and Nueces Electric Cooperative in Corpus Christi), so both areas can shop. † Part of the city is served by a utility without retail choice: electric cooperatives in Frisco, McKinney, Allen, McAllen and Lubbock, and Entergy Texas on Spring's northern side.

Utility Boundaries Don't Follow City Limits

The daggers in that table are not trivia. A city name, ZIP code or county won't settle whether a site can shop. Entergy Texas, which is outside retail choice, lists Harris, Montgomery and Galveston among the 27 counties it serves (only small portions of Harris), and those same counties hold much of CenterPoint's choice territory.

The reliable check is the meter itself. Every service point in the competitive market has an ESI ID tied to its delivery utility, and our ESI ID lookup guide shows where to find yours.

Texas Cities Without Retail Choice, and Why

A Texas address ends up with no choice in one of three ways. A city-owned utility never opted in, an electric cooperative never opted in, or an investor-owned utility outside ERCOT is held out of competition by statute.

San Antonio and Austin

Both cities own their electric utilities, and neither utility has opted into retail choice. ERCOT's retail market brief lists Austin and San Antonio among its Non-Opt-In Entity areas. CPS Energy has been owned by the City of San Antonio since 1942 and provides both electricity and natural gas. Austin Energy describes itself as a community-owned, not-for-profit enterprise of the City of Austin.

The decision sits with local government. Under §40.051, a city's governing body, or the board that runs its utility, decides "when or if" the utility will offer customer choice. According to the PUCT, "for munis, the decision to enter into competition is irrevocable," and the Commission "only has appellate jurisdiction over muni retail rates." Staying out keeps rate decisions local, and a city-owned utility's revenue supports the city: CPS Energy says it has generated $10.6 billion in revenue for San Antonio since 1942.

For a business, the practical result is simple. A San Antonio or Austin site buys electricity from its city utility, and no competitive offer exists to compare. That is why we don't build electricity quote pages for either city: we don't send businesses to a switching page in a market where they can't switch. Portfolios cross this line constantly, a point our guide to apartment common-area electricity makes for multifamily owners. Your Houston or Dallas sites can still shop even when your San Antonio site can't.

Other City-Owned Utilities

San Antonio and Austin are the largest cases, not the only ones. The Texas Public Power Association counts 72 municipally owned utilities in Texas. Members business readers will recognize include Garland Power & Light, Denton Municipal Electric, Bryan Texas Utilities, College Station Utilities, Brownsville Public Utilities Board, New Braunfels Utilities, Georgetown Utility Systems and the City of San Marcos. The rule is the same for each: the city-owned utility's customers can't choose a provider unless the city opts in. Some of those cities also have areas served by other utilities, so check the address rather than the city.

Electric Cooperatives

Texas Electric Cooperatives represents 76 co-ops with more than 3 million members. Under §41.051, each co-op's board decides whether to offer choice. The PUCT notes that a co-op's decision to compete "can only be revoked if no customer of the co-op has opted for choice within four years of the resolution's adoption." Nearly every co-op has stayed out. That's why Frisco, McKinney, Allen, McAllen and Lubbock each have co-op-served areas where businesses can't switch, even though most of each city can.

Investor-Owned Utilities Outside ERCOT

The third route applies to four investor-owned utilities whose Texas territory sits outside ERCOT. The PUCT puts it this way: "Due to a lack of adequate competition in the wholesale electricity market to support successful retail competition, state law has included provisions to delay competition for Entergy Gulf States, Southwestern Public Service Company, El Paso Electric Company, and AEP SWEPCO." Chapter 39 of the Utilities Code handles each region in its own subchapter, and the PUCT would decide if any of them later becomes eligible to compete.

Lubbock and Nueces Electric Cooperative: The Two That Opted In

The opt-in rule isn't just theory. ERCOT's retail brief says that "over the last two-plus decades, only Nueces Electric Cooperative and City of Lubbock/Lubbock Power & Light have opted into retail competition."

Lubbock Power & Light

According to a January 5, 2024 PUCT release, LP&L's transition into ERCOT and retail competition was finalized on December 12, 2023. The PUCT called it "the largest migration of customers in state history" and said LP&L was the first utility owned by a major Texas city to integrate into ERCOT in nearly 25 years. Customers could pick a provider from January 5 to February 15, 2024. Those who didn't were assigned a default provider and could choose later.

LP&L now acts as the wires utility for most of Lubbock, and competitive REPs sell the supply. Some areas of the city are served by South Plains Electric Cooperative, which has not opted in. Lubbock is still a young competitive market, and nothing we found suggests other large city utilities are about to follow. See commercial electricity in Lubbock for the local picture.

Nueces Electric Cooperative

Nueces Electric Cooperative opened to retail choice on August 16, 2004, and its entire service area is open. It remains the lone co-op to have done so. NEC still maintains the lines and meters, responds to outages and bills for delivery. Members choose who supplies the electricity. The co-op serves parts of eight South Texas counties, including areas around Corpus Christi.

Texas Natural Gas: Why the Map Says "Both"

Texas gets "both" on the map because commercial gas choice works differently from electricity. There is no statewide retail gas market like ERCOT's. The local distribution company still delivers the gas and bills delivery. An eligible business can buy the gas itself from a marketer under that utility's transportation tariff.

Eligibility depends on the utility. According to the transportation tariffs on file with the Railroad Commission of Texas (reviewed September 2026):

• CenterPoint Energy requires at least 10 MMBtu per day per facility, and separate sites don't combine to meet it.
• Atmos Energy West Texas requires more than 100,000 Ccf a year per meter.
• Atmos Energy Mid-Tex and Texas Gas Service set no minimum volume.

So "Texas gas is deregulated" is true only for a qualifying account, and never in the sense of switching your gas company. The pipe and the delivery charge stay with the utility. CPS Energy, San Antonio's city-owned utility, also delivers gas there, so ask about its terms before assuming either way. Our commercial natural gas page and guide to buying natural gas for a Texas business cover the process.

How to Check a Specific Business Address

State lists and city tables get you close. The meter gives the final answer.

1. Read the bill. In a choice area, your bill comes from your REP and passes through the TDU's delivery charges. In a city-owned or co-op area, one utility both sells and delivers the power. REP vs. TDU in Texas explains the difference.
2. Find the ESI ID. A service point in the competitive market has one, and it tells a REP or broker which delivery utility serves the site. Our ESI ID lookup guide walks through where to find it.
3. Check every site on its own. For a multi-site portfolio, a broker can verify each meter once you sign a letter of authorization. A shopping center or campus can have more than one service point.
4. Take the right next step. A site that can shop and is under contract should read how to switch commercial electricity providers first. A new location at a non-choice address starts with the local utility, as our new business electricity setup guide explains.

A word on roles. Elite Energy Consultants is a broker. We compare REP offers for sites that can choose, and tell you plainly when a site can't. We don't run the grid, and we don't install meters: the wires utility owns and installs the meter, as our guide to getting a new commercial electric meter explains. No one can honestly guarantee savings in advance.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many states have deregulated electricity?

For commercial and industrial buyers, 16 states plus Washington, D.C. have retail electricity choice on our map, verified June 2026: 15 states plus D.C. with both electricity and natural gas choice, and Oregon for electricity only. Other lists give different counts because some states cap choice, some limit it to large or nonresidential customers, and some lists count only residential programs.

Is San Antonio deregulated?

No. CPS Energy, owned by the City of San Antonio since 1942, has not opted into retail choice, so San Antonio businesses buy their electricity from CPS Energy. ERCOT lists San Antonio among its Non-Opt-In Entity areas.

Is Austin deregulated?

No. Austin Energy is a community-owned, not-for-profit enterprise of the City of Austin, and it has not opted into retail choice. ERCOT lists Austin among its Non-Opt-In Entity areas.

Is Lubbock deregulated?

Yes. The PUCT says Lubbock Power & Light's move into ERCOT and retail competition was finalized on December 12, 2023, and customers could pick a provider from January 5 to February 15, 2024. LP&L now acts as the wires utility, and competitive retail electric providers sell the supply.

Is El Paso deregulated?

No. El Paso Electric is one of four investor-owned utilities outside ERCOT for which, according to the PUCT, state law delays retail competition. The other three are Entergy Texas (which the PUCT still lists as Entergy Gulf States), Southwestern Public Service Company and AEP SWEPCO.

Can a Texas city-owned utility or electric co-op join retail choice later?

Yes. A city's governing body (or the board that runs its utility) or a co-op's board can opt in by resolution at any time. For a city-owned utility the decision is irrevocable. A co-op can revoke it only if none of its customers has chosen a new provider within four years of the resolution.

Is natural gas deregulated in Texas?

For many commercial buyers, yes, with conditions. The local gas utility still delivers the gas, but an eligible business can buy supply from a marketer under that utility's transportation tariff. Eligibility differs by utility: CenterPoint requires at least 10 MMBtu per day per facility, while Atmos Mid-Tex and Texas Gas Service set no minimum volume.

What is energy deregulation?

Energy deregulation, more precisely called restructuring, separates the sale of electricity or natural gas from its delivery. The local utility still owns and maintains the wires or pipes, while eligible customers can buy their supply from a competing company. Each state decides who qualifies.

The Bottom Line

Nationally, business energy choice covers 16 states plus D.C. for electricity and 27 plus D.C. for natural gas, and several of those states restrict who can use it. In Texas, the question is narrower and more practical. Which utility owns the wires at this address, and has it opted in? For Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP Texas, TNMP, Lubbock Power & Light and Nueces Electric Cooperative, the answer is yes. For city-owned utilities, most co-ops and the four utilities outside ERCOT, it's no.

If you run sites in more than one Texas city, don't sort them by city name. Sort them by meter.