A provider of last resort in Texas, or POLR, is the backup retail electric provider that keeps your lights on if your chosen provider stops serving you. On October 9, 2026, the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) approved the POLR list for the 2027-28 term, which begins in January 2027. Your power stays on, and you can leave POLR service at any time.

That safety net has existed since Texas opened retail electricity choice in 2002. What changed this month is who stands behind it for the next two years. As of October 10, 2026, POLR service costs about 20 to 21.5 cents per kWh at 1,000 kWh, depending on your utility area, according to the PUCT-posted POLR Electricity Facts Labels.

Key takeaways

• The PUCT approved the 2027-28 POLR designations on October 9, 2026, in Project No. 59209 (Notice of Approval, item 260). The new two-year term starts in January 2027.
• TXU Energy is the only volunteer POLR for 2027-28. Up to 15 large service providers (LSPs) per customer class and utility area stand behind it.
• If your provider fails, ERCOT moves you to a POLR provider automatically. There's no gap in service, and you don't pick which company catches you.
• As of October 10, 2026, the Oncor POLR price is 21.5 cents per kWh at 1,000 kWh. A flat 9-cent-per-kWh customer charge makes up about 42% of it.
• You can switch to any plan at any time. If you stay, an LSP must move you to a month-to-month product with no termination fee by about day 61.

What is a provider of last resort in Texas?

A provider of last resort is a retail electric provider (REP) that the PUCT designates to serve customers whose provider can't continue, plus any customer who asks for POLR service directly. Texas rule 16 TAC §25.43 sets up POLR service in every competitive utility area: Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP Texas Central, AEP Texas North and TNMP.

The rule covers four customer classes: residential, small non-residential, medium non-residential and large non-residential. It also creates two types of POLR providers:

• Volunteer retail electric providers (VREPs) ask to take transitioned customers and say how many they're willing to serve.
• Large service providers (LSPs) are designated by market share. In each area, for each customer class, the PUCT names up to 15 of them, starting with the REPs that sell the most electricity.

The PUCT is plain about what POLR service is for. "POLR service is a safety net for customers whose chosen REP is unable to continue service," the commission's Provider of Last Resort page says. "This service is intended to be temporary and used only under rare circumstances when a REP is unable to provide service, or when a customer requests POLR service."

POLR designations apply only where retail choice is in effect. Lubbock Power & Light runs its own POLR process (see the Lubbock LP&L rate change explainer), and city-owned utilities and most electric cooperatives don't offer retail choice at all.

Who are the Texas POLR providers for 2027-2028?

TXU Energy Retail Company is the only volunteer POLR for the 2027-28 term, and up to 15 LSPs per customer class back it up in each utility area. The PUCT approved the list in Commission Staff's September 18 final recommendation without modification, according to EnergyChoiceMatters (October 9, 2026).

The filings in PUCT Project No. 59209 show how the list came together:

• July 10, 2026: REPs filed customer counts and megawatt-hour sales by area, the deadline §25.43(h) sets for even-numbered years.
• August 31, 2026: Commission Staff filed its initial list of POLRs and VREPs (item 253).
• September 18, 2026: Staff filed its final recommendation (item 256).
• October 9, 2026: The PUCT filed its Notice of Approval (item 260).

TXU volunteered for residential and small non-residential customers in all five areas, and for medium non-residential customers everywhere except AEP Texas North, according to EnergyChoiceMatters. TXU's volunteer request, which includes how many customers it will take, was filed in redacted and confidential versions (items 247 and 249).

In each area, the LSP with the largest market share also files the monthly residential POLR Electricity Facts Label (EFL), under §25.43(j)(3). That label publishes the POLR rate for the area.

The label filers shown are the current 2025-26 filers listed on the PUCT's POLR page, and Staff's September 18 recommendation keeps the same companies first on the 2027-28 residential lists. The 2025-26 designations stay in place through December 2026, so nothing changes for customers on the day the new term starts unless a provider fails.

What happens to your electricity if your provider goes out of business?

Your electricity keeps flowing. When a REP can't serve its customers or fails its obligations to ERCOT, ERCOT runs a "mass transition" that moves every affected meter to a POLR provider. Your utility still delivers the power and restores outages. Only the company that bills you changes.

Texas has done this at scale. ERCOT transitioned 9,926 Griddy customers to POLR providers between February 26 and March 2, 2021, according to a PUCT filing. "It's going to be very important for customers who are shifted to the Provider of Last Resort to take a look at the plan that they're put on because they very likely might want to go ahead and change again," Tim Morstad, associate state director for AARP Texas, told NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth on March 1, 2021.

How does ERCOT decide which provider gets you?

ERCOT fills volunteer POLR slots first, then spreads the remaining customers across LSPs by market share. Section 25.43(l) sets the order:

1. ERCOT sorts affected meters (ESI IDs) by utility area, customer class and number.
2. It assigns meters to VREPs in a randomly generated order, up to the number each volunteer offered to serve.
3. Any meters left over go to LSPs in proportion to each LSP's share of megawatt-hour sales.

You don't choose your POLR provider, and neither does your old provider. For 2027-28, a transitioned household goes first to TXU, the only volunteer, until TXU's limit is reached. Customers beyond that limit are spread across the LSPs.

Which group you land in matters for your price on day one. A VREP must serve you on a market-based, month-to-month product, under §25.43(m)(1). An LSP can bill you at the POLR formula rate covered below. In February 2021, the PUCT reopened volunteer POLR applications for exactly that reason. "I don't want (consumers) to have to deal with getting put on a bad POLR plan," then-Commissioner Arthur D'Andrea said at the time, adding that "this outcome is all about protecting them," as reported by Texas Public Radio.

What notices will you get?

You'll get three notices. Section 25.43(t) requires one each from ERCOT, your old provider and your new POLR provider:

• ERCOT sends a postcard with the PUCT seal, plus an automated call and email where it has your contact information. The rule calls for this within two days of the point when ERCOT and the exiting provider know you must be moved and have your contact details.
• Your old provider explains why you were moved and either returns your deposit with interest or states that it will be returned within seven days. It also lists Power to Choose and the toll-free number 1-866-797-4839.
• Your POLR provider gives the date it starts serving you, describes its rate, explains any deposit and includes its Terms of Service and EFL. An LSP charging the POLR formula rate has to state that its price is generally higher than available competitive prices.

Residential bills from an LSP at the POLR rate also carry a PUCT message headed "An Important Message from the Public Utility Commission Regarding Your Electric Service."

How much does POLR electricity cost right now?

As of October 10, 2026, POLR service costs about 20 to 21.5 cents per kWh at 1,000 kWh. The PUCT posts one residential POLR EFL per utility area each month, filed by the largest LSP.

All prices are average cents per kWh from the PUCT-posted residential POLR EFLs. An October TNMP label couldn't be confirmed at publication, so check the PUCT POLR page for the current one.

For context, as of October 20, 2026, the latest U.S. Energy Information Administration Electric Power Monthly put the average Texas residential price at 15.88 cents per kWh for July 2026, up from 15.36 cents in July 2025. That average covers every kind of residential customer, so it's a rough yardstick. Even so, the Oncor POLR price at 1,000 kWh sits about 5.6 cents, or roughly 35%, above it. On a 1,000 kWh month, that's about $215 on POLR versus about $159 at the statewide average.

Why is POLR priced higher than a regular plan?

The POLR formula adds a fixed charge on top of last month's wholesale prices. Under §25.43(m)(2)(A), the residential LSP rate equals non-bypassable charges, plus an LSP customer charge of $0.09 per kWh, plus an LSP energy charge, all divided by the kWh you used:

• Non-bypassable charges are your utility's delivery charges plus ERCOT fees and applicable taxes. The guide to TDU delivery charges for Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP and TNMP breaks those line items down.
• The LSP customer charge is a flat 9 cents on every kWh.
• The LSP energy charge is the average real-time ERCOT price for your load zone in the prior calendar month, multiplied by 120%. It resets on the 10th of each month, and the rule caps it at 160% of the prior month's energy charge.

On a 1,000 kWh month, the customer charge alone comes to $90. The cap matters, too. Starting from the October Oncor energy charge of 5.19 cents, the November charge can't go above about 8.3 cents, whatever wholesale prices do in October. A wholesale spike reaches POLR bills a month late and in limited steps, which is one reason a Texas winter storm's effect on your electric bill depends so much on the plan you're on.

The PUCT gives its own reason for the higher price: "POLR service is relatively high-priced, due to the costs associated with planning and the risk of serving an uncertain number of customers with uncertain electricity loads."

Can you leave POLR service, and is there a fee?

Yes, you can leave POLR service at any time by enrolling in a plan with any provider. "Customers who are switched to a POLR are free to choose another provider or plan at any time," Reliant said in a written statement to Texas Public Radio in February 2021.

Two details help you move faster:

• Your notices must tell you that you can ask for a special or out-of-cycle meter read to speed up a switch.
• Power to Choose and 1-866-PWR-4-TEX list the providers serving your area.

Some AI-generated answers describe a "60-day fee-free window" for leaving POLR service. That reads the rule backward. The 60 days in §25.43 is a deadline for the LSP, not a window for you. It's when the LSP has to stop charging the POLR formula rate, which the next section covers. Leaving early doesn't depend on that date at all.

What happens on day 61 if you do nothing?

If you stay put, an LSP must move you off the POLR formula rate and onto its own market-based, month-to-month product by the 61st day of service, or the first billing cycle after day 60. Section 25.43(c)(8) bars a month-to-month product from carrying a termination fee or penalty.

• The LSP can tell you about the change in its first POLR notice or 14 days ahead of the switch.
• Every transitioned customer in the same class and area gets the same product terms.
• If you're behind on POLR charges at day 60, the LSP doesn't have to move you until you're current. Once you catch up, it must switch you on the next billing cycle that falls five business days later.

A month-to-month product beats the POLR formula, but its price isn't locked the way a fixed-rate contract's is. Shopping still pays.

Will you need a new deposit, and what happens to your old one?

Your old provider must return your deposit within seven calendar days of the start of the transition, under §25.43(p)(5). Your new POLR provider can ask for a deposit, but it must serve you in the meantime, and Texas rules limit when it can collect.

• Timing: A POLR provider can require a residential deposit after 15 calendar days of service, and only if you got 10 days' notice. It can't disconnect you before that period ends.
• Good credit means no deposit: If the POLR provider has enough data to find you have satisfactory credit, it must not request a deposit. Under 16 TAC §25.478, one way to show it is having been a customer of any Texas REP or utility in the past two years, with no delinquent balance and no more than one late payment in the last 12 months.
• Help for low-income customers: If the failed provider kept a current low-income customer list, the PUCT can use proceeds from that provider's letter of credit for deposit help, up to $400 per meter unless it finds good cause to set the amount higher.
• Later top-up: After 90 days, a POLR provider can ask you to bring your deposit up to what it would charge a similar customer.

If a deposit is a hurdle when you shop for a replacement plan, the guide to no-deposit light companies in Texas covers what you may qualify for.

The 60-Day POLR Exit Plan

The 60-Day POLR Exit Plan is a four-step checklist for leaving POLR service on your own terms, built around the deadlines in §25.43. The day-61 and price rows describe an LSP at the POLR formula rate. If you landed with the volunteer POLR instead, you start on its month-to-month market-based product, and the same four steps still get you onto a plan you chose.

For the comparison step, the walkthrough on how to read a Texas Electricity Facts Label shows the six numbers that decide what a plan really costs.

Can you request POLR service on purpose?

Yes, though few households would want to at current prices. Any residential customer can ask an LSP designated for their area to serve them at the POLR rate, under §25.43(p)(1), and the LSP can't refuse except where Texas rules allow it. At about 20 to 21.5 cents per kWh as of October 10, 2026, POLR works as a guaranteed fallback rather than a bargain.

What else changed for Texas retail providers this month?

The PUCT adopted updated retail provider certification rules on October 15, 2026, six days after it approved the POLR list. It adopted amendments to 16 TAC §25.107, the REP certification rule, in Project No. 59288. The order revises the REP letter of credit form, certification form and reporting instructions as part of an e-filing update. The Texas Register acknowledgment lists an effective date of November 4, 2026.

The rule reaches a large field. The PUCT counted 138 certificated REPs in 2024, according to its 2025 Biennial Agency Report.

Those letters of credit connect to households in one specific way. In a mass transition, §25.43(p)(9) directs available letter of credit proceeds first toward deposit help for the failed provider's low-income customers, when that provider kept a current low-income list.

Frequently asked questions

Is the provider of last resort the same as my utility?

No. Your utility (Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP Texas or TNMP) owns the poles and wires, delivers power and restores outages no matter who bills you. A POLR provider is a retail electric provider that sells you electricity and sends the bill.

Is TXU the provider of last resort for all of Texas?

No. TXU Energy is the only volunteer POLR for 2027-28, but each area also has up to 15 designated LSPs per customer class. Once volunteer capacity is used, ERCOT assigns customers to those LSPs by market share.

When does the 2027-28 POLR term start?

The new term begins in January 2027 and runs two years, under §25.43(g)(2). The 2025-26 designations cover any transition through December 2026.

Will my old provider still bill me?

Yes, for electricity used before the transfer. Under §25.43(p)(3), the exiting provider stays financially responsible for serving you until the transfer to the POLR provider is complete, and its notice may describe how it will collect any unpaid balance.

Does POLR apply in Lubbock or co-op areas?

Not through this list. The 2027-28 designations cover the five competitive utility areas. Lubbock Power & Light runs a separate POLR process, and most electric cooperatives and city-owned utilities don't offer retail choice.

Where can I see the current POLR price?

The PUCT's Provider of Last Resort page links the monthly residential EFL for each area, such as the Oncor residential POLR EFL. LSPs supply a new label by the 10th of each month.

The bottom line

POLR service keeps the lights on, and the October 9 approval settles who holds that job from January 2027. It's also a temporary price, about 20 to 21.5 cents per kWh as of October 10, 2026. The simplest protection is a plan you picked on purpose, with an EFL you've read at your real usage and a renewal date on your calendar. The guide to the best time to renew an electricity contract in Texas explains how to time that.

Rates in this article come from PUCT-posted POLR Electricity Facts Labels as of the dates shown. Plan details and rates subject to change, and an Electricity Facts Label is available for every plan.