Lubbock electricity rates change on November 1, 2026, when Lubbock Power & Light (LP&L) adds a $2.50 monthly base charge and cuts its per-kWh residential delivery rate from 6.312 cents to 6.008 cents. Homes that use less than about 822 kWh a month will pay slightly more for delivery. Homes that use more will pay slightly less.

The change applies to every LP&L residential meter, no matter which retail electric provider you buy power from, and it starts with the meters LP&L bills on or after November 1. The swing is small. At 500 kWh a month, delivery charges rise $0.98. At 2,000 kWh, they fall $3.58. Every dollar figure in this article is LP&L delivery charges only, as of October 8, 2026, before taxes and before your provider's energy charge, under the City of Lubbock FY 2026-2027 System Delivery Tariff effective November 1, 2026.

Key takeaways

• As of October 8, 2026, the City of Lubbock tariff moves LP&L's residential delivery charge on November 1, 2026 to a $2.50 monthly base charge plus 6.008 cents per kWh, replacing 6.312 cents per kWh with no base charge.
• The break-even point is 822 kWh a month, or 9,868 kWh a year. Below it you pay more for delivery. Above it you pay less.
• The Lubbock City Council approved the new rates 5-2 on September 8, 2026. LP&L's cost study showed a $6.1 million shortfall, and staff chose to restructure rates instead of raising them.
• Switching providers does not avoid the base charge. Retail electric providers pass LP&L delivery charges through at cost.
• At 1,000 kWh, Lubbock's new delivery cost of $62.58 sits below Oncor ($72.73) and CenterPoint ($69.03) and above AEP Texas North ($58.99), as of October 8, 2026.

What exactly changes on Lubbock electric bills on November 1, 2026?

Under the tariff on file as of October 8, 2026, LP&L's residential delivery charge changes on November 1 from a purely per-kWh rate to a two-part rate: a $2.50 monthly base charge plus 6.008 cents per kWh. Only one piece of the per-kWh rate drops. The delivery system charge falls from 5.628 cents to 5.324 cents, while the transition charge and franchise fee stay exactly where they are.

The new figures come from section 5.3.H of the tariff (page 48). The 6.312-cent current total and the 6.008-cent new total both appear in LP&L's September 8, 2026 presentation to the Lubbock City Council. The current 5.628-cent delivery system charge is the 6.312-cent total minus the two unchanged charges.

A base charge is a fixed monthly fee a utility bills for each meter, whatever the meter records. LP&L's transition charge recovers the cost of moving Lubbock into the ERCOT grid and the competitive retail market. "The transition cost is to pay off the stranded debt and assets in closing off the business and moving to the competitive model," LP&L representative Matt Rose told KCBD in January 2024. The franchise fee pays the City of Lubbock for the use of public rights of way.

Who pays more and who pays less under LP&L's new base charge?

Lubbock homes that use less than 822 kWh in a month pay more for delivery under the new structure, and homes above 822 kWh pay less. The $2.50 base charge is offset by a 0.304-cent cut on every kWh, and $2.50 divided by $0.00304 is 822 kWh.

For context, the average Texas home used 1,096 kWh a month in 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). A Lubbock household at that average would save about $0.83 a month on delivery. The households most likely to pay more are apartments, small homes and mostly empty properties such as a vacant rental. Large homes, homes running pool pumps and households charging an electric vehicle come out ahead.

Why do some savings estimates come out too high?

A common misreading of LP&L's council slide compares the new 5.324-cent delivery system charge with the old 6.312-cent total. An AI search answer reviewed for this article on October 8, 2026 made exactly this mistake. That sets a partial rate against a full one. The transition charge (0.167 cents) and franchise fee (0.517 cents) still apply after November 1, so the real per-kWh cut is 0.304 cents, not nearly a full cent. At 1,000 kWh, the mistake shows a new delivery cost of $55.74 instead of the correct $62.58, and it pushes the break-even down to about 253 kWh instead of 822 kWh.

The mix-up is understandable. The slide lists the new residential rate as a $2.50 monthly base charge and a 5.324-cent kWh charge, with a footnote that the kWh charge does not include the transition charge and franchise fee. Read the footnote and the totals line up.

The 822-kWh Break-Even Test: how do you find your own number?

The 822-kWh Break-Even Test is a four-step check that tells you whether LP&L's new structure raises or lowers your yearly delivery cost. You need your last 12 months of usage, which is printed on each bill and stored in your provider's online account.

1. Add up 12 months of kWh. Use the "kWh used" or "usage" line on each bill.
2. Compare the total with 9,868 kWh. That is the annual break-even, 822 kWh times 12. Above it you save. Below it you pay more.
3. Calculate your exact yearly change. Take $30.00 (twelve $2.50 base charges) and subtract your annual kWh times $0.00304. A household that used 14,000 kWh last year gets $30.00 minus $42.56, a $12.56 reduction in delivery charges for the year.
4. Check your Electricity Facts Label. Find the lines for "Lubbock Power & Light Monthly Charges" and "Lubbock Power & Light Delivery Charges" on your plan's Electricity Facts Label to confirm your plan passes LP&L charges through.

The test works on the annual total because the new structure is linear, with no usage tiers. A home that uses 600 kWh in April and 1,600 kWh in August pays a little more in the mild months and a little less in the hot ones, and the 12-month total decides the result. If your summer usage runs high, the guide to how many kWh a Texas home uses per day in summer shows where those peaks come from.

Why did Lubbock Power & Light add a base charge?

LP&L added the base charge to steady its revenue, not to raise it. The utility's cost-of-service study found a $6.1 million gap between what it needs to collect and what current rates bring in, and staff chose to restructure rates instead of asking for an increase.

According to LP&L's September 8, 2026 council presentation, the delivery business has a revenue requirement of $143,396,971 against $137,292,568 in revenue at current rates. That $6,104,403 deficit would have justified a 4.45 percent rate increase. The staff proposal was no rate revenue increase.

The gap comes from selling fewer kWh. LP&L's presentation shows degree days, a measure of how far daily temperatures stray from 65 degrees, falling from 5,467 in fiscal 2021-22 to a forecast 4,662 in fiscal 2025-26, a 14.7 percent drop. Milder weather means less air conditioning and heating, and a utility paid entirely by the kWh feels that directly.

According to KCBD's report on the vote, Chief Administrative Officer Joel Ivy blamed falling revenue on weather patterns and more energy-efficient appliances. He said the base charge would account for 6 percent of total revenue. "It's not going to push us over the top or anything, but it solidifies a certain amount of money so that we can count on having that," Ivy said. He also noted that Oncor and CenterPoint have always billed a base charge.

Rose framed the result as holding the line. "We can still hold our rates the same, but at this point in time, we're not able to lower our rate," he said.

Who approved the new rates, and who voted no?

The Lubbock City Council approved the FY 2026-2027 delivery rates 5-2 on September 8, 2026, with Mayor Mark McBrayer and Councilman Gordon Harris voting against. McBrayer argued that LP&L should have trimmed spending once it saw usage falling. "If you saw that going down, then you need to go into your budget and start cutting in your budget," McBrayer said.

That local vote is the key difference from the rest of the competitive Texas market. The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) sets delivery rates for Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP Texas and TNMP. LP&L is a city-owned utility, so its Electric Utility Board recommends delivery rates and the City Council approves them, as the tariff's own introduction states.

How do LP&L delivery charges compare with Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP Texas and TNMP?

Even with the new base charge, Lubbock's residential delivery cost lands in the middle of the Texas competitive market. At 1,000 kWh, LP&L's new rate costs $62.58 a month, below Oncor, CenterPoint and TNMP and above both AEP Texas zones, as of October 8, 2026.

Non-LP&L rates come from BKV Energy's historical TDU delivery charge tracker, compiled from PUCT and utility tariffs and updated October 2026. LP&L's $2.50 is still the smallest fixed delivery fee in the group.

The comparison also explains LP&L's talking point. Oncor's per-kWh delivery charge rose from 5.6183 cents on March 1, 2026 to 6.8673 cents on October 4, 2026, per the same tracker. "We have been able to maintain our rate when we've seen the other light providers across the state going up by a pretty substantial amount," Rose told KCBD in August 2026. For a line-by-line look at those other utilities, see the guide to TDU delivery charges for Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP and TNMP.

How have Lubbock delivery charges changed since retail choice began?

Lubbock's residential delivery charge has moved three times since retail competition opened in 2024: 6.442 cents at launch, 6.312 cents after a 2 percent cut in November 2024, and 6.008 cents plus a $2.50 base charge from November 1, 2026.

Retail choice is still new in Lubbock. The City Council passed an irrevocable resolution opting into retail competition on February 22, 2022, according to the tariff. Customers shopped from January 5 to February 15, 2024, and anyone who did not choose was randomly assigned to Octopus Energy, Reliant or TXU Energy, KCBD reported. The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported the 2 percent cut in September 2024, ahead of its November start. For the bigger picture, here is how Texas deregulated electricity works.

When will the new LP&L charge show up on your bill?

The new rates apply to meters LP&L bills on or after November 1, 2026, so for most households the first bill with the $2.50 base charge arrives in November. The tariff keys on LP&L's billing date, not on the day you used the power, so that first bill may cover some October days at the new rates.

Section 5.3.G of the tariff says the rates apply "for all Meters billed by LP&L on or after November 1, 2026." EnergyChoiceMatters reported that the new rates apply to all new 810 billing transactions, the invoices LP&L sends to retail providers, created on and after November 1. The tariff does not promise to split one billing cycle between the old and new rates. LP&L posts its 2026 meter reading schedule on the City of Lubbock website if you want to see your cycle date.

Can switching electricity providers help you avoid the LP&L base charge?

No. Every retail electric provider in LP&L territory passes the same LP&L delivery charges through at cost, so the $2.50 base charge follows your meter, not your plan. What you can still shop is the energy charge, the part your provider sets, along with any provider base charge or bill credit layered on top.

Some LP&L-area Electricity Facts Labels already carry a line for this fee. A Reliant EFL for the LP&L service area dated November 1, 2024 lists "Lubbock Power & Light Monthly Charges: $0.00 per month" and states that LP&L delivery charges are "passed through without mark-up." On plans that itemize LP&L charges, that line becomes $2.50. Texas rules allow a fixed-rate plan's price to move when utility delivery charges change, so your EFL and terms of service tell you whether your plan passes LP&L's change through.

The base charge also nudges the average prices printed on every EFL. Under the new tariff, delivery alone works out to 6.508 cents per kWh at 500 kWh, 6.258 cents at 1,000 kWh and 6.133 cents at 2,000 kWh, versus a flat 6.312 cents today, as of October 8, 2026. That raises each pass-through plan's 500 kWh price by about 0.2 cents and lowers its 2,000 kWh price by about 0.18 cents. Because every plan moves by the same amount, the change does not reshuffle which plan is cheapest.

What should low-usage households watch for now?

Fixed charges stack. A plan with its own monthly base charge or a minimum-usage fee now sits on top of LP&L's $2.50. For example, an apartment using 500 kWh on a plan with a $9.95 provider base charge would pay $12.45 in fixed fees before a single kWh is billed, adding about 2.5 cents to the cost of each kWh. Small households should compare plans at the 500 kWh column of the EFL, not the 1,000 kWh headline. If your contract is ending soon, the guide on when to renew a Texas electricity contract covers the timing.

Does the new LP&L base charge apply to every Lubbock address?

No. The change applies only to residential customers on LP&L's delivery system. Some addresses inside Lubbock city limits get power from South Plains Electric Cooperative or Southwestern Public Service Company, which the tariff names as the other two utilities serving the city, and those addresses are not affected.

LP&L was established in 1916, owns and operates more than 107,000 electric meters, and is the largest municipal electric system in West Texas and the third largest in the state, according to the tariff. Your bill or EFL names your delivery utility. If it says Lubbock Power & Light, the new structure applies to you. Business rate classes have their own base charges under the same tariff.

What comes next for Lubbock electricity rates in 2027?

The next change is on LP&L's revenue side. Starting in January 2027, LP&L begins receiving its full ERCOT transmission revenue after a five-year period in which ERCOT withheld $110 million, about $22 million a year, to hold other Texas ratepayers harmless from Lubbock's grid connection, KCBD reported in August 2026.

Rose said the returning revenue will go straight into infrastructure, with about $47 million a year in upgrades planned starting in 2027. McBrayer objected to spending money freed up from the ERCOT arrangement on capital projects such as a new substation and the demolition of the retired Massengale Substation. LP&L has set new delivery rates each fall, effective November 1, so the next look at Lubbock delivery charges will likely come with the fiscal 2027-28 budget. For now, run the 822-kWh Break-Even Test, check your EFL, and compare plans on the energy charge, the part of Lubbock electricity rates you still control.

Frequently asked questions

How much is LP&L's new base charge?

LP&L's new residential base charge is $2.50 per month per meter. It applies to meters LP&L bills on or after November 1, 2026, alongside a delivery rate of 6.008 cents per kWh under the tariff as of October 8, 2026.

Will my Lubbock electric bill go up in November 2026?

Your delivery charges go up only if you use less than 822 kWh in a month. The change ranges from an extra $0.98 at 500 kWh to a $3.58 saving at 2,000 kWh. Your provider's energy charge is separate and does not change because of this tariff.

Who sets LP&L delivery rates?

The Lubbock City Council approves LP&L's delivery rates on the recommendation of the Electric Utility Board. The PUCT sets rates for Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP Texas and TNMP, but not for city-owned LP&L.

Can I avoid the LP&L base charge by switching providers?

No. LP&L delivery charges, including the $2.50 base charge, apply to every LP&L residential meter regardless of provider. Switching changes your energy charge, not your delivery charge.

What are the transition charge and franchise fee on a Lubbock bill?

As of October 8, 2026, the transition charge is 0.167 cents per kWh and the franchise fee is 0.517 cents per kWh. The transition charge recovers the debt and costs of moving LP&L into ERCOT and retail competition, and the franchise fee pays the City of Lubbock for use of public rights of way. Neither changes on November 1, 2026.

Plan details and rates subject to change. LP&L delivery figures reflect the City of Lubbock FY 2026-2027 System Delivery Tariff as of October 8, 2026, and other utilities' delivery rates reflect published tariffs as of the same date.