Texas Restaurant Electricity Costs: Benchmarks by Concept

A Texas restaurant uses far more electricity per square foot than almost any other commercial building. On the federal benchmark, the median fast-food building uses 58.6 kWh per square foot a year and the median restaurant or cafeteria, the closest federal category to full-service, uses 36.7. The median commercial building uses 8.6, so a quick-service kitchen runs at nearly seven times the typical building. What that costs depends on the location's size, contract, delivery charges and demand peak, which is why one "average restaurant bill" misleads.

The figures below are national usage data from EIA's 2018 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS), the latest with published results, not Texas prices or a quote. The contract sections apply to Texas's retail-choice areas, not Austin Energy, CPS Energy or co-op territory.

Restaurant Electricity Benchmarks by Concept

CBECS splits food service into fast food, restaurant or cafeteria, and other food service. It has no "QSR" or "full-service" label, so matching concepts to rows is our editorial call.

Source: U.S. EIA, 2018 CBECS Table C22, released December 2022. Medians and 25th–75th percentiles of building-level intensity; national, not Texas-specific.

The spread matters as much as the median: the middle half of fast-food buildings runs from 41.8 to 82.0, nearly double, so two locations of one concept can sit far apart. Restaurants are not the single most intensive building type, though. Food sales buildings such as grocery stores average 53.3, above food service's 43.8; fast food is the most intensive food-service subcategory.

The Concepts Without Their Own Federal Row

• Fast casual. No separate category; depending on classification it sits in fast food or restaurant or cafeteria, so compare against both. Landing between them is a reasonable expectation, not a measurement.
• Café-bakery. CBECS counts coffee shops as food service but bakeries as food sales, in a row too small to publish. The nearest row is other food service, and a café with ovens and display cases can land well above it. No primary benchmark exists.
• Bar-tavern. Counted in other food service. ENERGY STAR's U.S. National Median Table (August 2024) puts median site energy at 130.7 kBtu per square foot for a bar or nightclub, against 325.6 for a restaurant. That is all fuels, not electricity, so it does not convert to kWh, but bars use well under half a restaurant's total energy per square foot.
• Ghost kitchen. No public benchmark of any kind. With little dining room, the fast-food row is the nearest comparison, but that is reasoning, not data; track the site against its own history.

What That Means for One Location

Calculated from CBECS 2018 Table C22: average annual kWh per building (260,000; 214,000; 120,000) divided by 12. Averages, not medians, so large buildings pull them up.

To put a dollar figure on it once: a hypothetical 3,000-square-foot quick-service location at the fast-food median uses 3,000 × 58.6 = 175,800 kWh a year, about 14,650 kWh a month. EIA's preliminary average commercial retail price for Texas in June 2026 was 8.66¢ per kWh (Electric Power Monthly Table 5.6.A, released August 26, 2026), which puts that usage at about $1,270 a month. That is EIA's statewide all-in commercial average, revenue divided by sales. It is a public statistic, not a rate Elite or any supplier is offering; an actual bill depends on the contract, delivery charges and demand.

Two cautions. Commercial-building electricity intensity fell 14% from 2012 to 2018 (EIA Today in Energy, September 29, 2022), so a newer kitchen may sit lower than 2018 data. And the data is national, while Texas's climate shifts load toward cooling. For other business types, see the average commercial electric bill in Texas by business type.

The Other Frame: Utilities as a Share of Sales

Operators budget in percentage of sales, and here the public data is thin. ENERGY STAR says that when a commercial kitchen's budget is on target, its "energy costs will typically be about 3%-5% of sales" (ENERGY STAR, February 22, 2024), with no method, no concept split, and gas included. The National Restaurant Association's paid operations data includes utilities, but its public commentary does not give the figure, so treat 3% to 5% as a sanity check, not a benchmark. For scale, the NRA's 2024 medians put occupancy at 5.7% of sales for full-service and 5.2% for limited-service operators (NRA, September 3, 2025).

Why the percentage swings: the kitchen moves the numerator a little; sales volume moves the denominator a lot. Picture two hypothetical locations with identical electric bills: a high-volume QSR selling $2.4 million a year and a slow full-service room selling $600,000. With four times the sales, the QSR's bill is one quarter the percentage, though its kitchen is no more efficient. Compare locations on kWh per square foot; budget on share of sales.

Where a Restaurant's Electricity Actually Goes

Most operators would guess the cooking line. On the electric bill, it isn't:

Calculated from U.S. EIA, 2018 CBECS Table E5 (released December 2022), food-service buildings, national; rounded to whole billions of kWh, so shares are approximate.

Refrigeration and HVAC together are about 56% of the electricity, more than three times cooking. That fits EIA's finding that cooking is 40% of food-service energy across all fuels (Today in Energy, August 28, 2023): much cooking runs on gas, a different bill. Even in buildings that cook with electricity, EIA's Table E6 puts cooking at 12.4 kWh per square foot, roughly level with refrigeration at 11.9. More on these loads is on our restaurant and food-service electricity page.

Demand Charges in a Restaurant

A full kitchen in Oncor or CenterPoint territory is almost always on a demand-billed delivery rate. Under Oncor's tariff effective June 1, 2026, a recorded demand above 12 kW, or above 10 kW three times in a rolling 12 months, moves a premise to Secondary Service Greater Than 10 kW (Oncor tariff). Under CenterPoint's current tariff, a peak above 10 kVA moves a premise to Secondary Service Greater Than 10 kVA for at least 12 months (CenterPoint Houston Electric tariffs). By our estimate from the CBECS averages, the average restaurant-or-cafeteria building's 214,000 kWh a year is an average draw of about 24 kW (÷ 8,760 hours), and fast food about 30 kW. Peaks sit above that, so an average-sized kitchen is well past either line.

Both TDUs bill demand on the month's highest 15-minute interval, and in a restaurant that is often the morning startup: walk-in compressors, rooftop units, hood fans, fryers and ovens coming on within the same 15 minutes. On Oncor, that peak can outlast the month. For a premise that peaked above 20 kW in the prior 11 months and has an annual load factor above 25%, distribution demand bills at the higher of this month's peak or 80% of the highest peak in those 11 months. CenterPoint's Secondary Greater Than 10 kVA schedule bills distribution on the current month's peak, with no ratchet. For the mechanics, see what a demand charge is and load factor.

Why August Bills Look Different

Cooling and ventilation account for about 14 of every 61 kWh a food-service building uses nationally (CBECS Table E5), and a Texas summer pushes cooling harder while the kitchen adds its own heat. A July, August or September bill overstates annual usage, so don't benchmark on one alone.

Summer matters for demand too: on Oncor, a summer peak can set the ratchet for the next 11 months. For the wider picture, see why Texas heat waves spike business electric bills.

Are You Above Benchmark? A 10-Minute Self-Check

You need one recent bill and the location's square footage. Our guide to how to read a commercial electricity bill in Texas shows where each line sits.

1. Usage. Add up 12 months of kWh if the bill prints a history, or multiply one month by 12 (a summer bill runs high). Divide by square footage and compare with the table for your concept.
2. Rate type and contract end date. Fixed, indexed, month-to-month or holdover? If the contract has ended, read what happens when a commercial contract expires.
3. TDU line. The delivery section names the utility and often the rate class, such as "Secondary > 10 kW".
4. Demand versus energy. Find the peak kW or kVA and the charges billed on it, separate from charges billed per kWh. Load factor is kWh ÷ (peak kW × days × 24).
5. All-in cost per kWh. Total bill ÷ kWh. Track it month to month and across locations, not against an advertised rate.

Above the middle-half range for your concept points to usage or equipment. Normal usage with a high demand line or low load factor points to startup and load shape. Normal on both, with a high all-in cost or a lapsed contract, is a contract question, where a bill review helps most. Opening a new site? See our new-location electricity checklist.

What to Do About It

Procurement first, operations second. Contract timing, holdover exposure and rate class cost no capital to check. Operational changes such as startup sequencing are covered in our companion guide, how restaurants in Texas can cut electricity costs. Elite works with Texas food-service operators across the state's competitive-choice areas.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the average electric bill for a restaurant in Texas?

No reliable Texas-specific average is published. The federal benchmark is usage: a median of 58.6 kWh per square foot a year for fast food and 36.7 for a restaurant or cafeteria (EIA CBECS 2018). In this article's illustrative example, a hypothetical 3,000-square-foot quick-service location uses about 14,650 kWh a month, about $1,270 at EIA's June 2026 all-in Texas commercial average. That average is a public statistic, not a rate Elite offers.

What percentage of restaurant costs is utilities?

ENERGY STAR says a commercial kitchen's energy costs are typically about 3% to 5% of sales. The figure includes gas and is not split by concept, so treat it as a rough check. The same bill is a smaller percentage at a busier location.

Why is my restaurant's bill higher than a similar one nearby?

Usually the concept and its equipment, a higher demand peak from equipment starting together, a different rate class, an Oncor demand ratchet carrying an earlier peak forward, or a contract that has lapsed into holdover pricing.

Do restaurants pay demand charges?

Most do. Oncor's small-account delivery schedule is for demand of 10 kW or less and CenterPoint's for 10 kVA or less. By our estimate from EIA data, the average restaurant-or-cafeteria building draws about 24 kW averaged over the year, and its peaks run higher.

Can a restaurant with 5 locations get one contract?

Often, but not automatically. Suppliers can price several meters, each with its own ESI ID, on one agreement, on terms that depend on the supplier and the combined load. Start with an inventory of each location's ESI ID, utility and contract end date, because locations under different contracts cannot all move on the same day.

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