Complaints Against Electricity Providers in Texas Were Down in 2022
Complaints against electric companies in Texas dropped in 2022 compared to 2021. In the second half of 2022 there were a total of 3,084 complaints submitted to the Texas PUC against retail electricity providers. This represented an increase of 970 complaints compared to the same period of 2021.
The Texas PUC tracks complaints against Retail Electricity Providers in Texas and publishes the totals monthly showing the total complaints for each company over the preceding 6 month period. It categorizes complaints into seven different categories. They are:
- Slamming – Slamming is the practice of switching a customer’s electric service to a new provider without the customer’s consent. It is a deceptive and unethical practice that can result in customers being unknowingly switched to a new provider and potentially paying higher rates for their electricity. Slamming can occur when a customer is contacted by a representative from a different electricity provider who misrepresents themselves as being from the customer’s current provider, or who uses high-pressure sales tactics to convince the customer to switch providers.
- Cramming – Cramming is the practice of adding unauthorized or unwanted charges to a customer’s electric bill. This can happen when a customer is enrolled in a service or program without their knowledge or consent, or when a third party is allowed to place charges on the customer’s bill for services that the customer did not request or use. Cramming can result in customers paying for services or products that they did not want or need.
- Billing – In the Texas deregulated electricity market, billing is done by the electricity provider the consumer chooses to provider their electricity service. Responsibility for delivering the power and addressing any power outages is the responsibility of the regional utility know as the TDU or TDSP. Electricity plans in Texas can sometimes be confusing or misleading. This can lead to frustration among consumers. Most complaints filled with the Texas PUC are about billing.
- Quality of Service – This category is always empty. This is probably because the retail electricity providers consumers choose are not responsible for the delivery of electricity or resolving power outages. This job is done by the local utility such as Oncor or Centerpoint. This means there is no difference in the quality of electric service between retail electricity providers in Texas.
- Discontinuance of Service – Electric companies can turn off your power for a number of reasons. Any complaints from customers who feel they have unfairly had their power disconnected fall into this category.
- Provision of Service – Provision of service pertains to complaints from customers related to getting their power turned on.
- All Other – This is the catch-all category for complaints that don’t fit within the other categories.
TXU, Reliant and Pulse have Largest Number of Complaints in 2022
The three companies with the largest number of complaints in the second half of the year were TXU, Reliant, and Pulse. A large number of complaints isn’t necessarily indicative of a problematic company. TXU and Reliant have the largest customer base in the state of Texas. It’s not surprising then that they would have a large number of complaints.
The Texas PUC complaint score is a better indicator of how often customers have a problem with a particular company. The PUC complaint scorecard looks at the number of customer complaints per 1000 customers. This tends to rank companies more fairly based on their size. Both TXU and Reliant have a 5 out of 5 which is the highest score. Pulse has a 1 of 5 in the most recent release of data published in December 2022.
Billing Complaints
Complaints about billing usually make up the majority of complaints. For the second half of the year, billing complaints represented more than half of all complaints. It’s not surprising that billing is the largest driver on complaints since billing represents the majority of interactions consumers have with their electric company.
Billing complaints where down in 2022 compared with 2021. This is because the first half of 2021 saw a spike of billing complaints related to the catastrophic winter storm in February of 2021. Many people received incredibly high electricity bills as a result of the unprecedented impact the storm had on wholesale electricity rates.
The company that accounted for the largest share of billing complaints after the storm is no longer operating in the state of Texas. The company, called Griddy, offered consumers direct access to wholesale electricity prices. This worked out well for consumers until wholesale rates jumped 100-fold during the winter storm event. This resulted in electricity bills that were over $5,000 in some cases and understandably lead to many complaints being filled with the Texas PUC.
Total Complaints Filed with Texas PUC June – December 2022
| Company | Total | Slamming | Cramming | Billing | Quality of Service | Discont. Service | Provision of Service | All Other | Other Names This Company Operates Under |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TXU ENERGY RETAIL COMPANY LLC | 345 | 20 | 3 | 189 | 0 | 66 | 67 | 11 | Assurance Energy, TXU Energy |
| RELIANT ENERGY RETAIL SERVICES LLC | 332 | 19 | 1 | 210 | 0 | 53 | 49 | 6 | NRG Home, Reliant, Reliant Energy, Reliant Energy Business Services |
| PULSE POWER LLC | 255 | 28 | 2 | 145 | 0 | 44 | 36 | 5 | Energy To Go, Lone Star Energy, New Power Texas, Powernext |
| GEXA ENERGY LP | 235 | 15 | 0 | 164 | 0 | 27 | 29 | 1 | Gexa Corp, Gexa Energy, Gexa Energy Corp, Gexa Energy.Com |
| VALUE BASED BRANDS LLC | 176 | 10 | 2 | 109 | 0 | 33 | 22 | 0 | 4Change, 4Change Energy, Express Energy, Veteran Energy |
| CONSTELLATION NEWENERGY INC | 175 | 16 | 2 | 107 | 0 | 16 | 34 | 7 | Constellation, Newenergy, Startex Power |
| FRONTIER UTILITIES LLC | 172 | 12 | 0 | 116 | 0 | 28 | 16 | 1 | Frontier Utilities, Rodeo Energy, Sol Energy |
| JUST ENERGY TEXAS LP | 170 | 53 | 0 | 65 | 0 | 21 | 31 | 0 | Just Energy, Just Energy Rgv, US Energy Savings Corp |
| AMBIT TEXAS LLC | 154 | 2 | 1 | 91 | 0 | 43 | 17 | 7 | Ambit, Ambit Energy |
| GREEN MOUNTAIN ENERGY COMPANY | 124 | 8 | 0 | 89 | 0 | 12 | 15 | 0 | Green Mountain, Green Mountain Energy |
| US RETAILERS LLC | 116 | 7 | 0 | 82 | 0 | 10 | 17 | 0 | Cirro Energy, Cirro Energy Services, Compassion Energy, Discount Power, Pennywise, Pennywise Power |
| DIRECT ENERGY LP | 97 | 2 | 3 | 60 | 0 | 13 | 19 | 5 | Direct Energy, Direct Energy Business Services, Direct Energy Multi-Family, New Leaf Energy |
| CHAMPION ENERGY SERVICES LLC | 59 | 6 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 2 | Champion Energy Industrial Services I, Champion Energy Industrial Services Ii, Champion Energy Industrial Services Iii, Hello Energy |
| TRIEAGLE ENERGY LP | 57 | 3 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 14 | 17 | 0 | Eagle Energy, Energy Rewards, Power House Energy, Trieagle Energy Services, Viridian Energy |
| FULCRUM RETAIL ENERGY LLC | 49 | 8 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 0 | Amigo Energy, Tara Energy Resources, Tara Power |
| TEXPO POWER LP | 48 | 3 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 13 | 3 | 0 | Nova Electric Co, Rio Power & Light, Southwest Power & Light, Texpo Energy, Yep |
| YOUNG ENERGY LLC | 44 | 4 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 3 | Cost Plus Power, Mio Electric, Payless Power, Smartricity, Uno Energy |
| SUMMER ENERGY LLC | 43 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 11 | 8 | 6 | Epiq Energy, Pronto Power |
| POGO ENERGY LLC | 35 | 8 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 6 | Pogo Energy |
| RHYTHM OPS LLC | 34 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 2 | Rhythm, Rhythm Energy |
| STREAM SPE LTD | 32 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 2 | SG&E, Stream, Stream Energy |
| TRUE COMMODITIES LLC | 29 | 3 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | True Power, True Prepaid |
| MP2 ENERGY TEXAS LLC | 29 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | Cost Plus Energy, Shell Energy Solutions |
| SPARK ENERGY LLC | 28 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 2 | |
| DECLARATION ENERGY LLC | 26 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 0 | Energy Texas |
| AP GAS & ELECTRIC (TX) LLC | 25 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 0 | Ap Commercial, APG&E, APG&E Energy Solutions, Zip Energy |
| TARA ENERGY LLC | 23 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 | Smart Prepaid Electric, Tara Energy |
| JP ENERGY RESOURCES LLC | 23 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | Almika Solar, Ampra Energy, Beyond Energy, Peso Power, Prepay Power |
| BROOKLET ENERGY DISTRIBUTION LLC | 18 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 3 | Acacia Energy, Now Power, Snap Energy Latino, Vital Power |
| XOOM ENERGY TEXAS LLC | 14 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | |
| ENGIE RETAIL LLC | 14 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 0 | Think Energy |
| Octopus Energy LLC | 10 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | Evolve, Evolve Energy, Octopus, Octopus Energy |
| MI TEXAS REP 1 LLC | 10 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | Abacus Energy Retail Electricity, Flagship Power, Juice, Mothership |
| HERITAGE POWER LLC | 9 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| HUDSON ENERGY SERVICES LLC | 8 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Amigo Commercial, Just Energy Commercial, Tara Commercial |
| CAPITAL ENERGY PA LLC | 8 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | Sunrise Power, Sunrise Power & Gas Texas, Value Energy, Value Power |
| 174 POWER GLOBAL RETAIL TEXAS LLC | 8 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | Chariot Energy, Tristar Energy |
| SOUTHERN FEDERAL POWER LLC | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | Ranchero Power, Watt Bro |
| TITAN GAS LLC | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Cleansky Energy, Titan Gas And Power |
| ENTRUST ENERGY INC | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| BULB US LLC | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bulb |
| TOMORROW ENERGY CORP | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| NEC Co-op Energy | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Nec Retail, Nueces Electric Cooperative (Distribution Service Provider) |
| VARSITY ENERGY LLC | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| IRONHORSE POWER SERVICES LLC | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| FIRST CHOICE POWER LLC | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | First Choice Power |
| V247 POWER CORPORATION | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| GOOD CHARLIE & CO LLC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Good Charlie Ops Llc |
| OUR ENERGY LLC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| OHMCONNECT TEXAS LLC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ohmconnect Energy, Powerpass |
| INFUSE ENERGY LLC | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| ELIGO ENERGY TX LLC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| CLEARVIEW POWER INC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Accel Energy, Brightstar Power, Clearview Energy |
| BRANCH ENERGY (TEXAS) LLC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Branch Energy |
| 3000 Energy Corp | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Penstar Power, Penstar Power Llc, Penstar Power Llc 1 |
| YENTA ENERGY LP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| WTU RETAIL ENERGY LP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | WTU, WTU Retail Energy |
| World Power & Gas LP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Milestone Energy, Texans Energy |
| SMARTENERGY HOLDINGS LLC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| SFE ENERGY TEXAS INC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| REVOLUTION ENERGY LLC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| PRO POWER PROVIDERS LLC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Circular Energy |
| POWER OF TEXAS HOLDINGS INC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Power Of Texas |
| ONPOINT ENERGY TEXAS LLC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| NORTH AMERICAN POWER AND GAS LLC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | North American Power Business Llc |
| NATIONAL GAS & ELECTRIC TEXAS LLC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| MIDAMERICAN ENERGY SERVICES LLC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| MI TEXAS REP 2 LLC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| DAVID ENERGY SUPPLY (TEXAS) LLC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| CPL RETAIL ENERGY LP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | CPL, CPL Retail Energy |
| CALPINE ENERGY SOLUTIONS LLC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| BKV-BPP RETAIL LLC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| AXON POWER & GAS LLC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Axon Power |
| ARROW ENERGY TX LLC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| ACCENT ENERGY TEXAS LP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Accent Energy, Dynowatt, Dynowatt Powered By Accent Energy, IGS Energy |
| Totals: | 3084 | 251 | 15 | 1840 | 0 | 517 | 461 | 73 | |
How to File a Complaint
In Texas, you can file a complaint against an electric company with the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC). Here’s how:
- First, try to resolve the issue with your electric company. Many issues can be resolved by contacting the company’s customer service department.
- If you are unable to resolve the issue with the company, you can file a complaint with the PUC by doing one of the following:
- Filing a complaint online through the PUC’s website: https://www.puc.texas.gov/consumer/complaints/complaints.aspx
- Filing a complaint by phone: call the PUC’s customer protection hotline at 1-888-782-8477 (toll-free in Texas) or 512-936-7120 (Austin area).
- Filing a complaint by mail: send a letter detailing your complaint to:
Public Utility Commission of Texas
1701 N. Congress Ave.
PO Box 13326
Austin, Texas 78711-3326
It’s important to include as much information as possible in your complaint, including your account number, the dates of the events in question, and any documents or evidence that may be relevant. The PUC will review your complaint and work with the electric company to try to resolve the issue.