Please note:  We don’t promote, encourage, or recommend customers break the agreement they sign with their electric company.  An agreement is an obligation that should be fulfilled for the duration of said agreement by all parties.  That being said, there can be rare, unforeseen circumstances or life changes that may force customers to look into early termination fees with their electric provider. 

When a customer signs up for services with an electricity provider, that customer typically signs an agreement or contract that includes many different terms. An important element to the contract is that it indicates the length of time during which the customer will receive services from that electricity provider.

If a customer wants to break out of their contract prior to its end date, many electricity providers will allow them to do so. However, many electricity providers also charge early termination or cancellation fees to customers that don’t want to fulfill the length of the contract.

There are two major types of early termination fees. The first is a flat rate that the customer will need to pay, no matter how many months or days are left in the contract. Let’s say the early termination fee is $100. If a customer cancels services today, and their contract ends tomorrow, they would have to pay the $100 early termination fee. The second type is a monthly rate that will apply to the customer based on how many months are left to fulfill in the contract. For example, let’s say that a customer signed contract that has an early termination fee of $25/month. If the customer has a contract from January to December and wants to cancel in June, they will be charged for 6 months ($150.00).

For customers searching for an electricity provider, it is important to understand that there are a wide range of early termination fees that can apply, based on the plan or contact signed. This termination fee can range from $0, nothing, to $300.

That being said, depending on whether you are a residential or commercial consumer these fees can change or get higher — commercial customers typically have higher early termination fees.  Therefore, it is very important to contact the electricity provider for more information and to confirm that the early termination fee you see online is, in fact, what you get.

The chart below consolidates information regarding different electricity providers across the United States. Electricity providers with N/A indicated do not charge any early termination fees.

So, how much are early termination fees at electric companies?  Here’s a small sample:

These early termination fees are current as of this article’s publishing = — please check with your electric provider for more up-to-date terms, and to verify the accuracy of the information provided here.