June arrives in Texas and the meter starts spinning like a slot machine. By July, your electricity bill can easily double or triple compared to spring. For many households, July and August bills land between $250 and $400 - and some unlucky homeowners see $500+.
The good news: you have more control over your summer electricity costs than you probably think. Here are seven practical ways to bring that bill down, ranked from easiest to most impactful.
ERCOT, the Texas grid operator, recommends setting your thermostat to 78°F during summer. That might sound warm, but the math is compelling: every degree you set below 78°F costs roughly 3% more on your cooling bill.
Running your AC at 72°F instead of 78°F can increase your cooling costs by 18% or more. On a $300 summer bill where $200 is cooling, that's an extra $36/month - or over $100 across the summer.
Key move: Use a programmable or smart thermostat to bump the temperature up 2-3 degrees when you're away or sleeping. You won't notice the difference, but your bill will.Your dishwasher, washing machine, and dryer generate heat. Running them during the afternoon forces your AC to work harder to compensate.
Shifting these tasks to after 9 PM has two benefits: you reduce the heat load on your AC during peak hours, and if you're on a time-of-use plan like free nights, you pay zero energy charges for those appliances during nighttime hours.
Even on a flat-rate plan, running heat-generating appliances at night means your AC doesn't have to fight against them - saving real energy and real money.
This is the tip that saves more money than all the others combined, and it takes two minutes.
Log into your electricity provider's website or check your latest bill for your contract end date. If your contract has already expired, your provider has likely moved you to a month-to-month variable rate - typically 18-24¢/kWh all-in, when competitive plans are running 10-13¢/kWh.On 2,000 kWh of summer usage, that's the difference between a $260 bill and a $440 bill. That's $180 in a single month, just for being on an expired contract.
If your contract expires soon, start shopping now. Don't wait until after it expires - some providers charge early termination fees, but those are usually $100-$200 and can be worth paying if you're switching from a terrible rate.
Running a ceiling fan costs about 1-2 cents per hour. Running your AC costs roughly $1-$3 per hour depending on your system and home size. The math here is obvious.
But the real trick is this: ceiling fans don't cool rooms - they cool people. The wind-chill effect makes you feel 3-4 degrees cooler. So if you turn on ceiling fans, you can raise your thermostat by 2°F without any loss of comfort.
That 2-degree increase saves about 6% on cooling costs. On a $300 summer bill, that's $18/month in savings for pennies in fan operating costs.
Remember to turn fans off when you leave the room. They only work if you're there to feel the breeze.
Closing blinds, curtains, or shades on south-facing windows (midday sun) and west-facing windows (afternoon sun) is one of the most effective free measures you can take. Blackout curtains or cellular shades are even better.
If you want to go further, exterior shade solutions like awnings or solar screens block the heat before it even hits the glass - far more effective than interior blinds alone.
Your air conditioning system is doing the heaviest lifting of any appliance in your home during a Texas summer. A poorly maintained system works harder, runs longer, and costs more.
Schedule a tune-up in April or May (before every HVAC company is booked solid). A basic service visit typically includes:Here's a fact that surprises most people: a plan that's cheap at 1,000 kWh/month might be expensive at 2,000 kWh/month.
Many Texas electricity plans use tiered pricing or bill credits that create pricing cliffs. A plan might offer a $75 credit when usage is between 1,000 and 1,500 kWh. At 1,200 kWh, that credit makes the plan a bargain. At 2,000 kWh of July usage, the credit disappears and you're paying full freight on a mediocre base rate.
This is why your winter plan and your summer plan might need to be different - or why you need a plan that's consistently priced across all usage levels. For a deeper dive into how this works, check out our post on why tiered pricing is tricky for non-solar plans.
WattTrim runs every available plan against your actual 12 months of usage data, including those high-summer months. Instead of guessing how a plan performs at 2,000 kWh, you can see the exact projected cost for every month of the year.All of the tips above are worth doing. Ceiling fans, smart thermostat settings, and AC maintenance can realistically save you $30-$60 per month during summer.
But switching from a bad plan to a good plan can save $200-$500 per year - more than every behavioral change combined. If you're on an expired contract or a plan that doesn't match your usage pattern, no amount of thermostat adjustment will close that gap.
The most effective summer strategy is a combination: get on the right plan and use energy wisely. The plan switch saves the most money; the usage habits compound those savings.
Browsing plans is a great start - but every home uses electricity differently. WattTrim analyzes your actual Smart Meter usage data to find the cheapest plan for how you use power, not just a generic benchmark.
Run Your Personalized Audit →WattTrim reads your actual Smart Meter data and finds the cheapest plan for how you use electricity. No sales calls, no affiliate commissions. Savings found or your money back.
Trim My Bill