The premium is usually 0.3¢/kWh

We pulled every 100% renewable plan in the Texas market as of March 2026 and matched each one against a grey-power plan from the same provider with the same term length. The median premium was 0.31¢/kWh, about $3.70/month on a 1,000 kWh home.

In 28% of cases, the 100% green plan was actually cheaper than the grey equivalent. This usually happens when a provider is pushing new renewable capacity and wants to move signups.

What a "100% renewable" plan actually buys you

The electrons in your house don't change. Every Texas home pulls from the same shared grid, so the power running your AC is whatever the grid is generating at that moment: wind, gas, nuclear, all mixed together. Your retail provider can't route clean electrons to your meter and dirty ones to your neighbor's.

What a green plan does is match your usage with renewable generation through Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). One REC represents one megawatt-hour of electricity put onto the grid by a wind or solar farm. When you buy a 100% renewable plan, your provider retires enough RECs to cover what you used. You're funding renewable generation equal to your consumption, even if the specific electrons heating your coffee came from a gas plant down the road.

That's not a gimmick. It's how clean-energy accounting works everywhere. The question is whether the RECs come from real, nearby generation or from cheap paper credits bought from another state.

Why Texas green is legit-ish

Texas is the largest wind producer in the country and the second-largest solar producer. Unlike some markets where “green” plans rely heavily on unbundled RECs from other states, many Texas renewable plans source from in-state wind and solar farms.

  • Green Mountain Energy sources the majority of its load from Texas wind.
  • Rhythm Energy publishes its generation mix quarterly.
  • Reliant and TXU offer green-labeled plans that rely more on RECs than direct sourcing.

The practical takeaway: a green label tells you a provider retired RECs on your behalf. It doesn't tell you where those RECs came from. Two plans can both claim "100% renewable" while one funds a wind farm in West Texas and the other buys credits hundreds of miles away. The EFL is where that difference shows up.

How to pick a legitimate green plan

  1. Read the EFL. It discloses the actual generation mix plus the REC source.
  2. Prefer plans that source ≥80% from in-state renewables.
  3. Check the premium math at your real usage. It might surprise you.

That third step trips up most people. The advertised rate you see on a plan card is almost always quoted at 1,000 kWh, a tidy average that almost nobody actually hits. Run hot in August or stay low in spring and your real cost per kWh shifts, because base charges and minimum-usage credits don't scale with your usage. A 0.3¢ premium is a rounding error on one bill and real money over a year, but only your own 12-month usage tells you which.

The mistakes that cost the most

A few traps show up again and again when people shop green:

  • Comparing rates at 1,000 kWh when you don't use 1,000 kWh. The premium can flip in either direction once you plug in your real numbers.
  • Assuming "green" means "expensive." In 28% of cases above, it didn't. The renewable plan undercut the grey one.
  • Skipping the EFL. It's the only document that states the generation mix and REC source. The marketing page won't.
  • Ignoring the contract term. A green plan that looks great today can roll to a punishing variable rate when the term ends. Note your contract length and set a reminder.

Who should pick green, and who shouldn't

If you want your dollars funding Texas wind and solar and the premium pencils out at your usage, a renewable plan is an easy call. The switch causes no service interruption: same poles, same wires, same meter, same TDU (Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP Texas, TNMP, or LP&L depending on where you live). Only the retail provider on your bill changes, and the lights never flicker during the handoff.

If you're stretched thin and a green plan carries a real premium at your usage, lead with price. You can choose a cheaper grey plan now and revisit when your contract ends. Renewable energy will still be there.

The climate math is real. The economic math is closer than you think.