What air conditioning costs to run in Texas
Texas homes use 3,979 kWh a year on air conditioning. Priced on top of the rest of the bill, that costs $270.43 to $716.16 a year across 17 published Texas plans — a $445.73 gap. Checked September 2, 2026.
Every priced plan, average
| Plan | Per year | vs cheapest | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|
| RESIDENTIAL ELECTRIC SPACE HEATING SERVICEtime-of-use · needs electric heating | $258.68 | −$11.75 | 7.2¢ |
| RS - TOD✓ cheapesttime-of-use | $270.43 | — | 7.4¢ |
| Residential Time-of-Use Pilot Program - Outside Austintime-of-use · pilot programme | $279.25 | +$8.82 | 7.9¢ |
| Residential servicetime-of-use | $283.20 | +$12.77 | 7.8¢ |
| RA - Residential All-Electrictime-of-use · tiered · needs an all-electric home | $317.36 | +$46.93 | 9.3¢ |
| RE - Residential Servicetime-of-use · tiered | $383.36 | +$112.93 | 10.1¢ |
| Residential Net Metering Servicetime-of-use · tiered · needs on-site generation | $388.64 | +$118.21 | 11.5¢ |
| Residential Service - TOUtime-of-use · demand charge | $401.97 | +$131.54 | 10.9¢ |
| Residential Time-of-Use Pilot Programtime-of-use · pilot programme | $454.39 | +$183.96 | 12.8¢ |
| Residential - Outside Austintiered | $471.24 | +$200.81 | 12.4¢ |
| Residential Service - TOU (Alternative)time-of-use | $486.09 | +$215.66 | 13.0¢ |
| Residential Servicetime-of-use · tiered | $505.08 | +$234.65 | 13.4¢ |
| Residential Low Incometiered · low-income rate | $506.04 | +$235.61 | 19.0¢ |
| Residentialtiered | $524.28 | +$253.85 | 13.1¢ |
| Residential LSP POLR(McAllen Service Area)flat rate | $532.56 | +$262.13 | 14.1¢ |
| Residential Service Low Incometime-of-use · tiered · low-income rate | $539.04 | +$268.61 | 13.4¢ |
| Residential LSP POLRflat rate | $716.16 | +$445.73 | 18.9¢ |
Cost across usage levels
The cheapest plan at each consumption level, showing whether the ranking holds as usage changes.
- Lighter use — cheapest $130.45 (RS - TOD), dearest $345.48, a $215.03 spread
- Average — cheapest $270.43 (RS - TOD), dearest $716.16, a $445.73 spread
- Heavier use — cheapest $356.73 (RS - TOD), dearest $944.64, a $587.91 spread
What air conditioning costs here
Across 17 plans priced in Texas, air conditioning adds $270.43 to $716.16 a year — $22.54 to $59.68 a month. The median plan puts air conditioning at $478.66 a year.
Cheapest for air conditioning: RS - TOD, El Paso Electric Co (New Mexico). Dearest: Residential LSP POLR, Sharyland Utilities LP.
Those 3,979 kWh are billed at 6.8¢–18.0¢, against a 12.7¢ whole-bill average on the median plan: they land in the last tier the household reaches, so the average rate understates them by up to 5.3¢ per kWh.
What Texas homes use
EIA's 2020 residential survey found 3,979 kWh a year across 970 sampled homes that run one, 1.72× the national 2,318 kWh. The middle half spans 1,920 kWh to 5,249 kWh, so air conditioning varies by 3,329 kWh between one household and another.
All electricity used for cooling — central systems, heat pumps in cooling mode, and window or wall units — plus the air handler that runs with them. That average covers homes with air conditioning — 95% of homes here.
That makes air conditioning about 30% of the electricity a Texas home uses. The remaining 9,461 kWh is what air conditioning is billed on top of, and on a tiered or time-of-use plan that is what sets the rate it meets.
By provider
On each Texas provider's cheapest plan: El Paso Electric Co (New Mexico), $270.43; City of Lubbock, Texas (Utility Company), $283.20; City of San Antonio, Texas (Utility Company), $383.36; El Paso Electric Co, $401.97; Austin Energy, $471.24; Sharyland Utilities LP, $532.56.
Sharyland Utilities LP charges $262.13 a year more than El Paso Electric Co (New Mexico) on RS - TOD for the same 3,979 kWh.
Light and heavy use of air conditioning
A household in the lighter quarter runs air conditioning for 1,920 kWh a year and pays $130.45 on the cheapest plan. One in the heavier quarter runs it for 5,249 kWh and pays $356.73 — $226.28 more for air conditioning on the same tariff.
Limits
A 2020 survey average for Texas, not a measurement of any one home, priced against the 17 Texas tariffs WattClear has ingested — not every plan sold there.
New to these terms? The methodology page explains tiered bands, time-of-use periods and fixed charges, and sets out exactly what the rate engine assumes.
Estimate — your actual bill may differ.
Tariff structures from NREL/OpenEI Utility Rate Database (CC0 1.0), retrieved September 2, 2026.
Location resolved through the US Census Bureau Geocoder (Public domain) at 26.2034, -98.2300.