Gimmick Watch · Case file № 7 · Bill-credit cliff
Smart 2000 Select 12 Reviewed TXU "Smart 2000 Select": a $100 credit parked at double the usage TXU says you have.
The advertised price and the credit that creates it live at 2,000 kWh a month. The same shop page selling the plan states the average home's usage: 848 to 1,132 kWh. Both numbers, one screen. We did the rest of the arithmetic.
The pitch
A reward for big usage — says the shop page
On TXU's online shop, Smart 2000 Select 12 pitches a milestone: "When your monthly usage reaches 2000 kWh, you'll receive a $100 bill credit, plus another $50 credit all summer long." The advertised price: "10.9¢ per kWh at 2000 kWh." It reads like a volume discount — use more, pay less.
Unlike the mail-only plan in our first TXU case file, this one discloses everything. The Electricity Facts Label is public and current — Oncor area, dated August 06, 2026 — and it prices the plan at 18.6¢ / 17.2¢ / 10.9¢ per kWh at 500 / 1,000 / 2,000 kWh.
Read that row again. This plan gets 6.3¢ cheaper between 1,000 and 2,000 kWh — not because electricity gets cheaper by volume, but because a flat $100 credit switches on at exactly 2,000. The entire question is whether your home crosses that line every month. And the strangest witness on that question is the shop page itself.
The receipts
The shop page on the left. The EFL on the right.
Marketing quoted verbatim from shopping.txu.com (ZIP 75205, checked August 6, 2026); fine print quoted verbatim from the plan's own Electricity Facts Label (Oncor Electric Delivery area, dated August 06, 2026, version ONXSMSL2KC12AB).
What the ad says
“When your monthly usage reaches 2000 kWh, you’ll receive a $100 bill credit, plus another $50 credit all summer long.”
What the fine print says
The EFL states the mechanism as a cliff, not a slope: “A bill credit of $100.00 will be applied for each billing cycle in which usage is 2000 kWh or more. A $50.00 summer bill credit will be applied for each billing cycle ending in July, August, and September in which usage is 2000 kWh or more.” Use 1,999 kWh and both credits are $0. There is no partial credit at any usage below the line.
Verdict 1/4 A tripwire, not a reward tier. 1,999 kWh earns nothing.
What the ad says
An advertised “10.9¢ per kWh at 2000 kWh.”
What the fine print says
The same EFL’s other two columns: 17.2¢ at 1,000 kWh and 18.6¢ at 500 kWh. And the 10.9¢ figure itself only reconciles with the EFL’s components if you clear 2,000 kWh every single month and collect the $50 summer credit in all three eligible months, averaged across the year. Even a credited non-summer month at exactly 2,000 kWh runs about 11.5¢; miss the threshold and the price climbs toward 17¢ and beyond.
Verdict 2/4 The advertised number is the plan’s best case, playing every month.
What the ad says
TXU’s own shop page, same screen: “Average Monthly Usage: 848 kWh (gas heat) or 1,132 kWh (electric heat).”
What the fine print says
That’s the seller’s own usage statistic — and the credit threshold is 2,000 kWh, roughly double both figures. By TXU’s own numbers, the average home on either heating type doesn’t come close to the line where this plan’s advertised price exists. At TXU’s stated averages, the EFL’s components price the plan at about 17.5¢ (848 kWh) and 17.0¢ (1,132 kWh).
Verdict 3/4 The seller’s own page says the average home can’t reach the price on the sticker.
What the ad says
A “Fixed Rate” product — 12 months, locked in.
What the fine print says
The rate components are fixed: a 9.8000¢ energy charge and a $9.95 base charge, per the EFL. But your effective price swings from 18.6¢ to 10.9¢ across the EFL’s own three usage points — a 7.7¢ range decided each month by whether one meter reading crosses 2,000. A $150 early cancellation fee holds you in place while the cliff decides what you pay.
Verdict 4/4 Fixed components, floating bill.
The math
The plan at your real usage
The EFL hands us the components: a 9.8¢ energy charge and a $9.95 monthly base charge. It prints "**" for Oncor's delivery charges — they pass through as billed — but its own averages let us solve for them: about 6.0¢ per kWh plus about $4.05 a month makes every printed number reconcile. Below 2,000 kWh there is no credit of any kind, so the bill is pure components. Let's price it at the two usage figures TXU's own shop page publishes — 848 kWh (gas heat) and 1,132 kWh (electric heat) — and at the edges of the cliff:
| Monthly usage | Who uses this | Effective price | That month's bill |
|---|---|---|---|
| 848 kWh | TXU’s stated average — gas heat | 17.5¢/kWh | $147.98 |
| 1,000 kWh | EFL benchmark | 17.2¢/kWh | $172.00 |
| 1,132 kWh | TXU’s stated average — electric heat | 17.0¢/kWh | $192.86 |
| 1,999 kWh | One kWh short of the cliff | 16.5¢/kWh | $329.84 |
| 2,000 kWh | The cliff — $100 credit lands | 11.5¢/kWh | $230.00 |
Arithmetic from the EFL's own components: 9.8¢ energy + implied Oncor delivery (≈6.0¢/kWh) + $14.00/month in base and fixed delivery charges, minus the $100 credit only at 2,000 kWh or more. The delivery figures are back-solved from the EFL's printed 500/1,000/2,000 averages and reconcile them exactly; the printed 10.9¢ additionally assumes the three $50 summer credits, averaged across the year.
Sit with the last two rows. At 1,999 kWh the month costs $329.84. Use one more kilowatt-hour — ten to fifteen minutes of central AC — and the bill falls to $230.00. That's a $100 swing on one meter tick — $150 in summer cycles, when the $50 credit rides the same threshold — in the plan's basic design. And at the usage TXU itself says an average home has, the plan never sees the credit at all: about 17.5¢ at 848 kWh, 17.0¢ at 1,132 kWh — against an advertised 10.9¢.
The sibling: Smart 1000 Select 12
The same shelf carries the trick at a second location. Per the state's Power to Choose database (Oncor area, checked August 6, 2026), Smart 1000 Select 12 prices at 22.9¢ / 10.9¢ / 15.5¢ at 500 / 1,000 / 2,000 kWh, with a $150 cancellation fee. Its credit terms, per the same listing: "A bill credit of $100.00 will be applied for each billing cycle in which usage is 1000 kWh or more. A $25.00 summer bill credit will be applied for each billing cycle ending in July, August, and September in which usage is 1000 kWh or more."
Same engine, cliff moved to 1,000 — and the same headline number, 10.9¢, now parked at the new threshold. Notice the right-hand column: at 2,000 kWh the plan costs more (15.5¢) than at 1,000, because a flat $100 spreads thinner as usage grows. The number in each plan's name isn't a feature tier. It's the location of the tripwire, and the advertised price follows it around.
Could it ever make sense?
The steelman: a genuinely large home — 3,500+ square feet, pool pump, electric everything — that clears 2,000 kWh every single month, including April and October, collects the $100 credit twelve times and the $50 credit three times. At that usage, this plan's numbers become genuinely competitive. But that's a narrow gate: TXU's own page puts the average electric-heat home at 1,132 kWh, and it's the spring and fall months that decide it. Pull your last twelve bills; if even one cycle dips below 2,000, that month quietly costs you the credit — about $100 — and the advertised price was never yours.
Live rates · updated August 7, 2026
What Dallas–Fort Worth homes can get instead, today.
The cheapest of the 117 live Oncor-area plans we list, priced at 1,000 kWh with TDU delivery and base fees included. Where a price leans on a bill credit, we say so on the card.
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Rates as of August 7, 2026 — always verify on the EFL before you enroll. See every Dallas plan we list →
The playbook
If this plan is on your screen right now
- Find your real usage first. Twelve months of bills, or your Smart Meter Texas history. Not your July number — your April number. The lowest month decides whether a 2,000-kWh cliff pays or punishes.
- Read the column that matches your home. The EFL prints three prices for a reason: 18.6¢ at 500, 17.2¢ at 1,000, 10.9¢ at 2,000. The ad quotes the third; TXU's own usage stat says most homes live near the second.
- Price a missed month. Every billing cycle under 2,000 kWh forfeits $100 (plus $50 in summer). Two soft shoulder-season months erase more than most plans' entire annual advantage.
- Watch for the name trick. "Smart 1000," "Smart 2000" — the number is where the cliff sits, and the same 10.9¢ headline follows it. A plan renamed around your usage bracket still has to beat a plain fixed rate at your actual kWh. Make it show that number.
Quick answers
TXU Smart 2000 Select — your questions, answered
Is TXU Smart 2000 Select 12 a good plan?
Only if you use 2,000 kWh or more every single billing cycle — including April and October. The EFL’s advertised 10.9¢ exists solely at that threshold, where a $100 monthly bill credit lands. At 1,000 kWh the same EFL prices the plan at 17.2¢, and at TXU’s own stated average usage (848–1,132 kWh) the components work out to roughly 17.0–17.5¢ — while plain fixed-rate Oncor-area plans price lower with no threshold to hit — today’s are in the live table on this page. Check twelve months of your own bills before considering it.
How does the TXU Smart 2000 Select $100 bill credit work?
Per the EFL: “A bill credit of $100.00 will be applied for each billing cycle in which usage is 2000 kWh or more.” A separate $50 summer credit applies to billing cycles ending in July, August, and September — again only if that cycle hits 2,000 kWh or more. It is all-or-nothing: 2,000 kWh qualifies, 1,999 kWh gets zero.
What happens if I use less than 2,000 kWh on Smart 2000 Select?
No credit — and the plan reverts to its underlying components: a 9.8¢ energy charge, a $9.95 monthly base charge, and Oncor delivery charges passed through as billed. At 1,000 kWh that averages 17.2¢ per kWh, per the EFL itself. One mild month below the line erases roughly $100 of the plan’s promised advantage.
What is the real rate on TXU Smart 2000 Select at 1,000 kWh?
17.2¢ per kWh — printed on the plan’s own EFL (Oncor area, dated August 06, 2026), which lists 18.6¢ at 500 kWh, 17.2¢ at 1,000 kWh, and 10.9¢ at 2,000 kWh. The 10.9¢ figure people see advertised is the 2,000-kWh column only.
What is TXU Smart 1000 Select 12?
The same design with the cliff moved down. Per the state’s Power to Choose database (Oncor area, checked August 6, 2026): 22.9¢ at 500 kWh, 10.9¢ at 1,000 kWh, 15.5¢ at 2,000 kWh, with a $100 bill credit for cycles at 1,000 kWh or more, a $25 summer credit, and a $150 cancellation fee. Note the shape: the plan gets more expensive at 2,000 kWh than at 1,000, because the flat credit dilutes as usage grows. The number in the plan’s name is the tripwire’s location, not a feature.
Does TXU Smart 2000 Select have a cancellation fee?
Yes — the EFL lists an Early Cancellation Fee of $150.00 on the 12-month term. If your usage drops below 2,000 kWh for a season and the plan stops performing, leaving early costs $150 on top of the credits you already missed.
How this case was built
Everything above comes from three places: TXU's own online shop at shopping.txu.com (ZIP 75205, checked August 6, 2026), the plan's own Electricity Facts Label — "TXU Energy Smart 2000 Select 12," Oncor Electric Delivery service area, dated August 06, 2026 (version ONXSMSL2KC12AB) — and the PUCT's powertochoose.org database (Oncor area, same date) for the Smart 1000 Select 12 figures. All are quoted verbatim. The EFL passes Oncor delivery charges through as billed rather than printing them; the ≈6.0¢/kWh and ≈$4.05/month figures used in the bill reconstruction are back-solved from the EFL's own published averages and reconcile them exactly. TXU Energy and Smart 2000 Select are trademarks of their owner; quotes are reproduced for consumer education and commentary. ChooseMyPower is independent and doesn't sell TXU plans — providers we do list pay the same flat fee, so no plan can buy a kinder read.
Enri Zhulati
Consumer AdvocateEnri knows the regulations, the fine print, and the tricks some retail electricity providers use. He's spent nearly a decade learning how to spot hidden fees, misleading teaser rates, and contracts that sound good but cost more. He writes the guides that show you what they're hiding — his goal is to help Texans avoid the traps and find plans that actually save money.
Sources
- TXU Energy Smart 2000 Select 12 — Electricity Facts Label, Oncor Electric Delivery service area, dated August 06, 2026 (version ONXSMSL2KC12AB)
- shopping.txu.com plan listings for ZIP 75205, checked August 6, 2026
- powertochoose.org (PUCT) plan database, Oncor area, checked August 6, 2026 — TXU Energy Smart 1000 Select 12 listing
- ChooseMyPower — live Texas provider rate data (Oncor area)
Sources are cited for informational purposes. Data may have been updated since publication.
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