Arlington, TX Business Electricity Rates
ElectricChoice Energy Research · Updated
- Arlington is on the same Oncor grid as Dallas. Same rates and providers.
- Most Arlington businesses end up paying 10–12¢ per kWh all-in.
- Larger accounts get better rates. Comparing providers is free.
Usage Swings Near the Stadiums
Two stadiums, a theme park, a water park, a convention center and a university sit inside a few square miles of Arlington. If your business is anywhere near them, you already know the rhythm: some weeks you are slammed, some weeks the parking lot is empty. Electricity contracts are not built for that, and almost nobody selling you one will mention it.
Home game, concert or tournament. Full kitchen, full HVAC, extended hours, every cooler and fryer running. This is when your peak demand gets set for the month.
Regular hours, regular traffic. This is the figure a supplier uses to build your quote, and it is the week your business has least often.
Nothing scheduled and cool weather. Your bill drops, but not proportionally, because fixed monthly charges get spread across far fewer kilowatt-hours.
Twelve Months at a Restaurant Near the Stadiums
This is a modeled year for a mid-sized restaurant in the Entertainment District, built from typical seasonal and event patterns. Look at the last column: the effective cost per kilowatt-hour is worst in the months when the business is slowest, which is exactly backwards from what you would want.
Usage, bill and effective rate by month
At a 6.05¢ energy rate plus current Oncor delivery
| Month | kWh | vs. average | Bill | Effective rate | What is happening |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 8,200 | -47% | $923 | 11.25¢ | Quiet. Nothing at either stadium. |
| Feb | 8,600 | -45% | $968 | 11.25¢ | Quiet. |
| Mar | 11,400 | -27% | $1,280 | 11.23¢ | Baseball opens, spring events start. |
| Apr | 15,800 | +2% | $1,772 | 11.22¢ | Full baseball calendar, patio season. |
| May | 17,200 | +11% | $1,928 | 11.21¢ | Concerts and graduations. |
| Jun | 21,500 | +38% | $2,409 | 11.20¢ | Peak cooling plus peak events. |
| Jul | 22,800 | +47% | $2,554 | 11.20¢ | Highest month of the year. |
| Aug | 21,900 | +41% | $2,454 | 11.20¢ | Still hot, football preseason. |
| Sep | 19,600 | +26% | $2,197 | 11.21¢ | Football and baseball overlap. |
| Oct | 16,100 | +4% | $1,806 | 11.21¢ | Football weekends carry it. |
| Nov | 12,400 | -20% | $1,392 | 11.23¢ | Fewer home dates. |
| Dec | 10,800 | -30% | $1,213 | 11.23¢ | Holiday parties, then dead. |
Highlighted rows are months outside a ±20% band around the annual average of 15,525 kWh. That is 9 of 12 months where a standard bandwidth clause could be triggered. The annual high is 2.8 times the annual low.
The trap is not the high months. It is both ends.
Most owners assume a bandwidth clause only bites when they use too much. It cuts both ways. Under-consuming means the supplier bought power on your behalf that you did not take, and they can charge you for unwinding that position. A quiet January in Arlington can trigger the same clause as a busy July.
Volume Tolerance in Your Contract
It has a few names — bandwidth, swing, tolerance band, volume tolerance. It is usually two or three sentences buried past the signature line. It says your rate applies only while your usage stays within a range of the forecast, and the supplier gets to price the rest.
What it costs when it triggers
A 22,800 kWh July against a 14,000 kWh forecast with a ±20% band
| kWh | Priced at | Cost | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inside the band | 16,800 | 6.05¢ | $1,016 |
| Outside the band | 6,000 | 9.20¢ at market | $552 |
| Oncor delivery | 22,800 | 5.1227¢ | $1,175 |
| Total | 22,800 | 12.03¢ effective | $2,743 |
| Same month with a wide band | 22,800 | 11.20¢ effective | $2,554 |
One month, one clause, about $189 difference. Across a summer it compounds. Note that the market price on out-of-band volume is not capped in most contracts, so in a genuinely tight ERCOT month it can be far worse than the 9.20 cents modeled here.
Ask for the number, in writing, before you compare rates
"What is the volume tolerance on this contract?" If the answer is vague, that is your answer. A supplier who will not commit to a band in writing is keeping the option to reprice you.
Push for a band that matches your actual history
If your high month is 2.5 times your low month, a 20 percent band is not a fit and no amount of good intentions changes that. Bring twelve months of bills and ask for a band that covers your real range. Suppliers will widen it, often at a small premium that is much cheaper than the alternative.
Make sure the band is annual, not monthly
A band measured against your annual total is far friendlier than one measured month by month, because your busy and quiet months cancel out. This single change fixes most of the problem for an event-driven Arlington business and costs nothing to ask for.
Find out how out-of-band volume gets priced
Day-ahead market, real-time market, or index plus an adder? Real-time exposure in a Texas August is the scariest version. If they will not cap it, at least know which one you signed for.
Advertised Rates vs. Your Actual Bill
Every commercial quote is built on an assumed usage level. Change the usage and the advertised number stops describing reality, even when the supplier has done nothing wrong and charged exactly what the contract says.
Same contract, same energy rate, three very different bills. Roughly a cent of the difference is the state-set Oncor delivery charge, which appears in none of these advertised rates. The rest is the monthly fixed charges spreading across fewer units.
The energy-only quote
The number in the ad is usually the energy component alone, with Oncor's 5.1227¢ and $6.70 passed through separately. That is legitimate, but it means the advertised figure is about 60 percent of your real cost.
The usage assumption
Ask what monthly kWh the quote was built on. If it is well above what you actually use in a slow month, the rate was never going to hold for you. Give them your twelve months and ask for the quote to be rebuilt on your numbers.
The month it starts
A twelve-month contract that starts in June covers one summer. One that starts in April covers two. Suppliers price accordingly, and that alone can move your rate more than a round of negotiating.
The Half of Your Bill Nobody Competes On
Arlington is Oncor territory. These charges are approved by the Public Utility Commission of Texas, reset twice a year, and are identical no matter which retail provider you pick. Knowing them means you can check whether a quote is complete or missing pieces.
Oncor charges in Arlington
Effective
| If your peak demand is | Fixed monthly | Per kWh | Per kW of demand |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 kW or less Most Arlington retail, restaurants, offices |
$6.70 | 5.1227¢ | None |
| Above 10 kW, standard meter Larger restaurants, small industrial |
$44.99 | 0.0546¢ | $12.97 |
| Above 10 kW, interval meter Hotels, big-box, manufacturing |
$44.99 | 0.0546¢ | $7.95 plus a separate transmission charge |
The jump from the first row to the second is the thing to watch. A growing Arlington business that adds a walk-in cooler, a second rooftop unit or a kitchen line can cross 10 kW without noticing, and then a demand charge appears on the bill for the first time. See our breakdown of the 10 kW threshold for what changes and when.
Which Contract Actually Fits a Lumpy Year
There are four common structures in Texas. For an Arlington business with a swingy calendar they are not equally good, and the one most often sold is not the one that fits best.
A demand charge cap, if you are demand metered
Arlington hotels and large restaurants near the stadiums can set an unusually high peak on one event day and then carry it all month. Ask for a written cap on monthly billed demand, or at minimum ask about interval metering, which drops the distribution demand rate to $7.95. Neither gets offered unless you raise it.
If You Are Not an Event Business, Ignore Most of This
Arlington is not only the Entertainment District. There is a large manufacturing and light industrial base along the 360 corridor and in south Arlington, plus warehousing, medical offices and auto suppliers. If your load is steady, the advice inverts almost completely.
Take the tight band and the lower rate
The premium for a wide band is real money, and you do not need the protection. Steady load is the easiest thing for a supplier to hedge, so tell them your usage is flat, show the history, and ask for their best fixed price.
Go longer than twelve months
Predictable industrial load prices well over 24 and 36 months, because the supplier's risk is low. This is the opposite of the advice for a restaurant, where a long term locks in an ill-fitting structure.
Push on demand, not on energy
At an Arlington manufacturing site, demand and transmission charges often outweigh the energy rate. Interval metering, power factor correction and startup staggering move more dollars than another round of rate negotiation.
Check the manufacturing sales tax exemption
If more than half the electricity through a meter goes to manufacturing or processing goods, Texas allows that meter to come off state sales tax, and it can be claimed retroactively for up to four years. For an Arlington plant this is frequently the largest single saving available.
Related reading: Fort Worth business electricity goes deeper on load factor, which is the number suppliers use to grade a steady account. Restaurant electricity costs covers kitchen equipment load in more detail.
Questions We Get From Arlington
How much do Arlington businesses pay for electricity?
Delivery is set by the state at 5.1227 cents per kWh plus $6.70 a month, because Arlington is in Oncor territory. The part you control is the energy rate, which for small commercial accounts is running roughly 5.45 to 6.05 cents in October 2026. Add the two together and most Arlington businesses land in the ten to twelve cent range all-in.
Why was my first bill higher than the rate I signed up for?
Almost always because the advertised rate was quoted at a usage level you did not hit, or because the monthly fixed charges get spread across fewer kilowatt-hours than the quote assumed. A 4.89 cent headline rate priced at 20,000 kWh a month does not hold up at 8,000 kWh. The energy rate is the same but the fixed costs land twice as hard per unit.
What is a bandwidth or swing clause?
It is the part of a commercial contract that says how far your usage can move from the forecast before the supplier can reprice. Typical tolerance is plus or minus 20 percent. Stay inside it and your rate holds. Go outside it and the volume beyond the band gets settled at market, which in a hot Texas summer can be several times your contract rate. It is the most important clause in an Arlington contract and the one least often read.
Which contract type is best for a business with a lumpy calendar?
Usually a fixed rate with a wide band, or a block-and-index structure where you lock a predictable base layer and buy the variable part at market. A pure fixed contract with a tight band is the worst fit for an event-driven Arlington business, because you get the downside of a fixed commitment without protection when your usage moves. Ask for the band in writing before you compare rates.
Does Arlington have cheaper electricity than Dallas or Fort Worth?
No, and anyone claiming otherwise is guessing. All three cities are served by Oncor at the same state-approved delivery rate, and all three buy energy out of the same ERCOT North zone. The city line does not change your price. Your usage pattern and your contract terms do.
Who do I call for an Arlington power outage?
Oncor at 1-888-313-4747, or report it through the Oncor outage map. Call Oncor rather than your retail provider, because Oncor owns the poles, wires and meter and is the only one who can restore service. Your retail provider handles billing and the contract, nothing physical.
Can I get out of a contract if my usage changes a lot?
Not without a termination fee, and commercial termination fees are usually calculated as the difference between your contract rate and current market on the remaining volume. If market has fallen, that number can be large. The better move is negotiating the band and the term up front rather than planning to exit. If you are already stuck, a bridge term at renewal is often cheaper than breaking early.
My Arlington location is in a shopping center. Who signs the contract?
Check your lease. If you have your own meter and your own ESI ID, you sign and you control the rate. If electricity comes through the landlord as part of common area charges, you do not sign anything and you also cannot shop. Some Arlington retail leases sit in between, with a submeter and a pass-through, and in those cases it is worth asking the landlord what rate they are paying.
Oncor delivery charges are from the Public Utility Commission of Texas monthly TDU rate report effective September 1, 2026. The twelve-month usage profile is modeled from typical seasonal and event patterns for an Entertainment District restaurant and is illustrative, not a specific account. Energy rates reflect competitive offers in the Oncor North zone during October 2026.
