To start an electric bill dispute in Texas, contact your retail electric provider first and put the dispute in writing. Your provider has 21 days to investigate and report back. If that does not fix it, file a complaint with the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT). The one big change: starting October 21, 2026, the PUCT no longer offers a formal complaint against your provider.

On October 1, 2026, the PUCT filed its order adopting amendments to 16 TAC §25.485 in Project No. 59557, the "Streamlined Complaint Process" rulemaking. The Texas Register acknowledgment filed the same day lists October 21, 2026 as the effective date. Most of the protections Texas households rely on during a billing dispute did not move at all. This guide separates what changed from what did not, then walks through the dispute one step at a time.

Key takeaways

• On October 1, 2026, the PUCT adopted a rule in Project No. 59557, effective October 21, 2026, that ends formal, docketed complaints against retail electric providers. One investigation by the PUCT Office of Consumer Assistance becomes the only PUCT complaint path.
• Your provider still has 21 days to investigate your complaint, 10 business days to finish a supervisory review, and 15 days to answer a complaint the PUCT forwards to it. None of those deadlines is new.
• Your provider cannot disconnect you over disputed charges until it or the PUCT decides whether they are accurate and tells you. While a PUCT complaint is pending, it also cannot send the disputed amount to collections or report it to a credit bureau. You still owe the undisputed portion.
• Billing was the largest complaint category against Texas retail electric providers from April 1 to September 30, 2026: 1,107 of 2,254 complaints, or 49.1 percent, according to PUCT complaint statistics.
• If you still disagree after the PUCT closes your complaint, the next stop is a Texas court. Justice courts hear civil claims of up to $20,000.

What changed in the PUCT complaint process?

The PUCT eliminated the formal complaint for customers of retail electric providers. Starting October 21, 2026, a complaint to the PUCT about your provider gets one investigation by the Office of Consumer Assistance (OCA). It ends with a closing letter. If the OCA finds a possible rule violation, the complaint goes to the Division of Compliance and Enforcement (DICE).

Before this change, the PUCT process had two tracks. You filed an informal complaint first. If you were not satisfied, the old rule let you "file a formal complaint with the commission within two years of the date on which the commission closes the informal complaint." That formal complaint was a docketed legal case, according to the rule text EnergyChoiceMatters reported in April 2026. That second track is what is gone. The amended rule also drops the word "informal" from the process.

Three practical changes follow from the adoption order:

1. One PUCT investigation instead of two tracks. The OCA, formerly called the Consumer Protection Division, investigates your complaint. It also tries to help you and your provider reach a resolution.
2. The closing letter ends the PUCT process. The letter summarizes the complaint, any remedies taken, and whether the documents suggest a rule violation. PUCT staff wrote in the recommended order, "Critically, this is not a formal legal decision made by the commission." The letter does exhaust your administrative remedies, which lets you go to court sooner.
3. Enforcement can act for everyone affected. DICE can find the same billing error across a provider's whole customer base. It can also seek escalating penalties for repeat violations.

PUCT staff described the old formal track as "protracted and resource intensive contested cases, often involving claims requesting relief the commission is incapable of granting." The adoption order's stated goal: "the commission expects the amended process to produce significantly better results for consumers and to be significantly more user friendly."

Not everyone agreed. The Office of Public Utility Counsel (OPUC) is the state agency that represents residential and small commercial utility customers. In June 19, 2026 comments signed by Chief Executive and Public Counsel Benjamin Barkley, OPUC argued that "to the extent the PFP relies upon Senate Bill (SB) 790 as the basis for the extensive changes made to the Commission's complaint process, this interpretation should be rejected as it greatly exceeds the bill's rulemaking scope." (PFP is the proposal for publication.)

Paul Ring, who covers Texas retail electricity for EnergyChoiceMatters, summed up the outcome on October 2, 2026: "Essentially, the final rule makes a process similar to the prior informal complaint process the only PUC complaint process available to REP customers."

What stays the same when you dispute an electric bill?

Almost every protection a household uses in an electric bill dispute predates this rule and survives it. The provider deadlines, the shutoff protection for the disputed amount, and the ban on forced arbitration for residential customers all stay in place. None of them is a 2026 change, and some have been in the rule for years.

Sources: 16 TAC §25.485, 16 TAC §25.483 and the Project No. 59557 adoption order.

One detail is worth knowing before you file. OPUC asked the commission to state that the customer's reading of the disputed amount controls, and the commission declined. Write down the exact dollar amount you dispute, and put it in every message, so there is no argument later about which portion is protected.

How do you dispute an electric bill in Texas, step by step?

The 21-10-15 Dispute Ladder is a five-step sequence for an electric bill dispute, named for the three deadlines in 16 TAC §25.485 that run the process: 21 days for your provider's investigation, 10 business days for supervisory review, and 15 days for your provider to answer the PUCT. Each rung has its own clock. You climb to the next one only when the rung below runs out or fails.

1. Rung 0, diagnose before you dispute. Pull the bill, your Electricity Facts Label, and your usage history on Smart Meter Texas. Decide whether the problem is the price, the usage, or a fee, then write down the exact dollar amount you dispute.
2. Rung 1, write to your provider (21 days). Call the customer service number on your bill, then follow up by email or letter so there is a dated record. Include your account number, ESI ID, billing period, disputed amount, reason, and the fix you want. Your provider must investigate and tell you the results within 21 days. Pay the undisputed portion by the due date.
3. Rung 2, ask for supervisory review (10 business days). If you do not accept the answer, ask whether the provider offers supervisory review. If it does, a decision is due within 10 business days. If it does not, the provider must tell you how to complain to the PUCT.
4. Rung 3, file with the PUCT (15 days). File online, by phone at 1-888-782-8477, or by mail to P.O. Box 13326, Austin, TX 78711-3326. The PUCT forwards your complaint to the provider, which has 15 days to respond. The OCA then sends you and the provider a closing letter.
5. Rung 4, go to court if you still disagree. The closing letter exhausts your PUCT remedies. A Texas justice court hears civil claims of up to $20,000.

The provider-first order is what the PUCT asks for, not a legal precondition. The PUCT complaint page tells customers to contact their provider first "and allow them to investigate your complaint." The Texas REP Coalition, a group of retail electric providers, asked the commission to make that step mandatory "unless the complaint is related to a disconnection of service." The commission declined. You can go straight to the PUCT when you need to, especially if a disconnection notice is on the way.

These steps apply to every retail electric provider in the competitive market, Ambit Energy included.

How do you check whether the bill itself is wrong?

Most electric bill disputes come down to one of three things: the price charged, the kilowatt-hours billed, or a fee. Check each one against a document you can point to.

• Price. Compare the energy charge and base charge on your bill with your Electricity Facts Label, the PUCT-required disclosure for your plan. The line-by-line guide to reading a Texas electricity bill shows where each charge appears.
• Usage. Log in to Smart Meter Texas, the portal run by the state's transmission and distribution utilities. Compare the kWh on your bill with your meter's 15-minute interval data and daily reads. Smart Meter Texas keeps up to two years of that history. If your bill shows an estimated read, ask for the actual read.
• Delivery charges. TDU delivery charges pass through from your local utility and are the same on every plan in a service area. A rate change from Oncor, CenterPoint Energy, AEP Texas or TNMP can raise a bill without any billing error.
• Fees and credits. Look for late fees, a usage-based bill credit you expected but did not get, or a charge you never authorized.

For context, the average Texas home used 1,096 kWh a month in 2024, with an average monthly bill of $163.72, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. A bill far above your own history deserves a usage check before anything else.

Can you ask for a meter test in Texas?

Yes. Under 16 TAC §25.124, the electric utility must test your meter when you ask, ordinarily at no charge. If you ask again within four years of a prior requested test and the meter meets ANSI accuracy standards, the utility can charge its tariffed testing fee. If the meter fails, the usage data is corrected and adjusted bills follow. In the competitive market, start the request with your retail electric provider, which works with your local utility.

Can your electricity be shut off while you dispute a bill?

Not over the amount in dispute. Under 16 TAC §25.483(e)(5), a provider cannot authorize a disconnection for failure to pay disputed charges, except the amount not under dispute, until the provider or the PUCT has decided whether the charges are accurate and notified you. You still have to pay the undisputed portion. After proper notice, the provider can disconnect you for failing to pay that part.

A pending PUCT complaint adds a second layer. Under 16 TAC §25.485, while the PUCT complaint is open, your provider cannot pursue collection, disconnect service, or report delinquency to a credit agency over the disputed portion. The timing matters here. The first protection runs until your provider makes its determination and tells you. If the provider rules against you and you still disagree, file with the PUCT right away so the broader protection covers you.

What happens after you file a complaint with the PUCT?

A PUCT Consumer Assistance Specialist reviews your complaint and sends it to your provider. The provider has 15 days to respond. Either side may be asked for more information. The OCA then sends you and the provider a letter with its findings, which can recommend corrective action. The PUCT complaint page adds: "Regardless of the findings, your complaint will then be reviewed by the PUCT's Division of Enforcement and Compliance to determine if further action is warranted." That is the same division this guide calls DICE, the Division of Compliance and Enforcement.

The new rule builds a more direct pipeline. When the OCA identifies a possible violation, it refers the complaint to DICE. PUCT staff gave an example in the recommended order: one customer seeking a refund for a billing error could lead to an investigation that "might uncover dozens or hundreds of consumers that experienced that same error."

The PUCT complaint process does return money to households. In the second quarter of fiscal year 2025, December 2024 through February 2025, the PUCT reported $95,196 in refunds and bill credits for electric customers, out of $105,906 across all utility types, according to its quarterly release. The agency concluded 8,545 complaints in fiscal year 2025, according to its performance measures report.

What if you still disagree after the PUCT closes your complaint?

You go to court. After October 21, 2026, the OCA's closing letter concludes the PUCT process and exhausts your administrative remedy. You can file a civil case without first litigating a formal complaint at the commission. PUCT Chairman Thomas Gleeson filed a memo on September 30, 2026 asking the commission to clarify how exhaustion works. The adopted rule states that the OCA's closure of a complaint concludes the process and exhausts the administrative remedy, after which you may pursue remedies in court.

For most household billing disputes, that court is a Texas justice court, which hears civil cases with up to $20,000 in controversy under Texas Government Code §27.031. The $20,000 limit took effect September 1, 2020. Bring the closing letter, your bills, your written complaints, and your Smart Meter Texas data.

What are Texans complaining about most?

Billing. From April 1 to September 30, 2026, the PUCT logged 2,254 complaints against 58 retail electric providers, and 1,107 of them, 49.1 percent, were billing complaints. The table below totals the PUCT's customer complaint statistics across all providers, as published on October 6, 2026.

Shares may not sum to exactly 100 percent because of rounding. Billing complaints outnumbered the next-largest category by more than 2.5 to 1. Most billing disputes trace back to one of three documents: the Electricity Facts Label, the meter data, or a TDU charge. That is why Rung 0 of the ladder matters most.

What if your provider overbilled or underbilled you?

If you were overbilled, 16 TAC §25.480 requires your provider to correct the overbilling for the entire period. If it does not fix the error within three billing cycles, it owes you interest at the commission-set rate.

If you were underbilled, your provider generally can charge you only for underbilling billed within 180 days of the bill in which it happened. Exceptions apply for meter tampering and certain utility meter errors. When the underbilled amount is $50 or more, the provider must offer a deferred payment plan covering the same length of time as the underbilling, and it generally cannot charge interest on that amount.

Can your electricity contract force you into arbitration?

No, not as a residential customer. 16 TAC §25.485 prohibits terms of service that require residential and small commercial customers to agree to alternative dispute resolution. The Texas REP Coalition asked the commission to let customers agree to arbitration for disputes that would otherwise go to court. PUCT staff responded that these provisions "were initially adopted as important customer protections that were not noticed for amendment in this project," and the commission left them unchanged.

Does the PUCT complaint process cover every Texan?

No. These rules cover customers of retail electric providers in the competitive ERCOT market, served by Oncor, CenterPoint Energy, AEP Texas, TNMP and similar utilities. If your power comes from a city-owned utility or an electric cooperative, start with that utility directly. The PUCT keeps a "Utilities Not Regulated" page listing the providers it does not oversee. Outages and meter hardware belong to your local utility, not your retail provider, as the guide to how Texas deregulated electricity works explains.

Frequently asked questions

How long does an electric company have to respond to a complaint in Texas?

Your retail electric provider has 21 days to investigate a complaint you make directly and report the results. If the PUCT forwards a complaint, the provider has 15 days to respond. A supervisory review, where offered, must be decided within 10 business days.

Can you still file a formal complaint with the PUCT?

Not against a retail electric provider once the rule takes effect on October 21, 2026. The PUCT Office of Consumer Assistance investigation is the only PUCT path, and individual remedies beyond it go to court.

Do you have to pay your electric bill while you dispute it?

Pay the undisputed portion by the due date. Your provider cannot disconnect you over the disputed charges until it or the PUCT decides whether they are accurate and tells you. While a PUCT complaint is pending, it also cannot send the disputed amount to collections or report it to a credit bureau.

Where do you file a complaint against an electric company in Texas?

File with the PUCT through its online electricity complaint form, by phone at 1-888-782-8477 (512-936-7120 in Austin), or by mail at P.O. Box 13326, Austin, TX 78711-3326. Contact your provider first unless a disconnection is imminent.

What is the fastest way to prove a usage error?

Download your 15-minute interval data from Smart Meter Texas for the exact billing period. Compare the total kWh with the kWh on your bill. A gap between the two is the strongest single piece of evidence you can attach to a complaint.

A billing error is frustrating, but the Texas process is built around documents and deadlines. Keep every bill, every message, and your meter data, and the 21-10-15 Dispute Ladder will take you from the first phone call to a closing letter, and past it if you need to.

Plan details and rates subject to change. Rule dates, deadlines and complaint figures in this article are as of October 6, 2026, from the PUCT sources linked above.