Why Your Texas Meter Read Schedule Matters
In much of the Texas ERCOT competitive electricity market, the company that delivers
electricity is different from the retail electric provider that sells your electricity plan and sends your bill.
Your transmission and distribution utility (also called a TDU or TDSP) operates the local poles, wires and meter,
and it is responsible for collecting or reporting meter usage data for your service address.
Knowing your delivery company and meter read cycle can help you understand why billing periods do not always line
up perfectly with the first and last day of a calendar month. A scheduled meter read marks an important point in
the usage-information process that ultimately supports billing by your retail electric provider.
Why the delivery company matters
Your delivery company is tied to the physical service territory for your address. It is also the company responsible
for local electric-delivery infrastructure, meter operations and many outage-related functions. Your retail electricity
provider may change when you shop plans, but the delivery company for the address generally does not change simply
because you choose a different retail provider.
How to use this schedule
1
Identify your delivery company. Use the delivery-company name associated with the service address.
2
Find your meter cycle. Select the cycle assigned to the meter or account.
3
Review the monthly read dates. The tool displays the scheduled dates available for that company and cycle.
Important: A scheduled meter read date is a planning date, not a guarantee that every meter will be
processed at the exact same moment. Utility operating conditions, holidays and other factors can affect timing.
When there is a billing or meter-data question, check with the appropriate utility or your retail electric provider.
Texas Meter Read Schedule FAQs
Is my delivery company the same as my electricity provider?
Usually not in competitive areas of Texas. Your delivery company maintains the local electric-delivery system and meter,
while your retail electric provider sells the electricity plan, handles most billing questions and sends your bill.
What is a meter read cycle?
A meter read cycle is the schedule grouping assigned to a meter. The cycle helps the delivery company organize when
meter data is collected or processed during each billing period.
Why can my billing period be longer or shorter than a calendar month?
Electricity billing periods follow meter-read and market-processing dates rather than always running from the first
through the last day of a month. Weekends, holidays and utility schedules can also affect the number of days in a billing period.
Where can I find my delivery company?
Your electric bill typically identifies the transmission and distribution utility. You can also use Energy Ego's
Texas delivery company lookup to help identify the utility for a service address.
Does a smart meter still have a meter read date?
Yes. Smart meters can transmit usage electronically, but utilities still use scheduled meter-read or billing-cycle dates
for market and billing processes. The exact handling varies by utility and meter type.