The Oncor delivery charge on North Texas electric bills went up this month. In a filing with the Public Utility Commission of Texas, Oncor said it would put new transmission and distribution cost recovery rates into effect on a temporary basis for bills rendered on and after Oct. 4. For a home using 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month, the two charges together add about $8.38, according to Never Late News calculations from Oncor’s tariff sheets.
A few miles away, Garland residents are moving the other way. Garland Power & Light, the city-owned utility, cut its rate on Oct. 1. The city says a typical home using 1,200 kilowatt-hours will pay $12 less a month.
Same month, same region, two very different bills. Here is what changed, why, and how to check your own.
What changed in the Oncor delivery charge
Oncor owns the poles, wires and substations that carry power to most homes in Dallas, Fort Worth and much of the surrounding area. It does not sell electricity to households. Retail electricity providers do, and they pay Oncor a delivery charge that is usually passed along on customer bills.
Two pieces of that charge changed on Oct. 4. Both are billed per kilowatt-hour.
The transmission cost recovery factor, which covers the cost of high-voltage lines, rose for residential customers from 1.9046 cents to 2.1669 cents per kilowatt-hour. That is an increase of about 0.26 cents.
The distribution cost recovery factor, which covers investment in local lines and equipment, went from zero to 0.5755 cents per kilowatt-hour. It had been set to zero on June 1.
Together, the two charges rose about 0.84 cents per kilowatt-hour. By our math, that works out to:
- 500 kWh a month: about $4.19 more
- 1,000 kWh a month: about $8.38 more
- 1,200 kWh a month: about $10.05 more
- 2,000 kWh a month: about $16.76 more
Those figures cover only these two charges. Other parts of a bill, including the energy rate you agreed to with your provider, are separate.
Why the rates went up now
Oncor’s Aug. 20 letter to the PUC, signed by Matthew Troxle, vice president of regulatory, says the company is implementing the requested rates on a temporary basis under a section of state utility law that allows it. The letter was filed in PUC Docket 59249. According to the filing, Oncor’s April 22 application combined updates to its distribution and transmission cost recovery charges into one case, and the distribution charge includes costs deferred under Oncor’s System Resiliency Plan, the grid hardening program Texas utilities file with the commission.
Temporary means the commission has not finished its review. The final rates could differ.
There is also a longer view. Oncor’s tariff sheets show the same two charges were higher a year ago. In September 2025, the residential transmission factor was 2.358 cents and the distribution factor was 0.5772 cents, for a combined 2.9352 cents. The new combined rate is 2.7424 cents. Compared with that point, these two charges are about 0.19 cents per kilowatt-hour lower, or about $1.93 less at 1,000 kWh. The jump this month looks large mainly because the distribution charge spent four months at zero.
Oncor has been building new lines and substations to keep up with growth, including the Collin County grid upgrades Never Late News covered in August. Those investments are the kind of costs these charges recover.
How Garland cut its rate
Garland Power & Light is one of a handful of North Texas utilities owned by a city, which means it sets its own rates and is not part of the Oncor delivery system for its customers.
On Sept. 15, the city announced that GP&L would lower its Recovery Adjustment Factor by one cent, from 8.19 cents to 7.19 cents per kilowatt-hour, starting Oct. 1. For a residential customer using an annual average of 1,200 kWh a month, the city says the average bill falls from $163.10 to $151.10. That is $12 a month, or $144 a year.
The city gave three reasons: lower prices in the ERCOT wholesale market, which it tied to new solar and battery storage resources; ongoing cost management; and revenue from expanded operations.
“This rate decrease keeps us highly competitive with electricity prices in the deregulated areas of North Texas,” GP&L General Manager and CEO Darrell Cline said in the release.
The cut applies to all residential customers and to commercial customers whose rates include the Recovery Adjustment Factor.
The two changes side by side
At the same usage of 1,200 kWh a month, the two changes run in opposite directions:
- Oncor area, delivery charges only: about $10.05 more a month
- Garland, full city utility bill: $12 less a month
Never Late News is not comparing full bills here, because Oncor-area customers pay an energy rate set by their chosen provider, and those vary widely. What the comparison shows is that wholesale power prices, which Garland credits for its cut, are not what sets the delivery side of Oncor-area bills. The cost of the wires is.
Garland residents are also watching the city’s property taxes, after the council cut the tax rate to 67.99 cents and set a November vote on shifting part of it to operations.
How to check your own bill
If you live in the Oncor area, look at your next bill for a line labeled delivery, TDU or TDSP charges. Compare the per-kilowatt-hour amount with a bill from September.
Then check your plan documents. Your Electricity Facts Label and terms of service say whether your provider passes delivery charge changes through to you. Some plans do; the terms will tell you.
Natural gas bills changed this month too. Atmos Energy raised rates for bills rendered on or after Oct. 1, so homes with both services may notice two increases at once.
How Never Late News reported this
This report is based on these public records:
- Oncor letter and tariff sheets in PUC Docket 59249, Item 105, filed Aug. 20, 2026, listing residential transmission and distribution cost recovery factors from December 2024 through Oct. 4, 2026
- City of Garland release, “GP&L Announces Electric Rate Reduction”, posted Sept. 15, 2026
The per-kilowatt-hour changes, monthly amounts at each usage level, the year-over-year comparison and the side-by-side figures are Never Late News calculations from those records. No interviews were conducted for this report. To report an error, email editor@neverlatenews.com.