Oncor Delivery Charge Increase (October 2026)
2 minute readOn October 4, 2026, Oncor’s per kWh delivery charges increased from 6.0295¢/kWh to 6.8673¢/kWh. The per month charge remains unchanged
Why Oncor Delivery Charges Are So High
5 minute read • Last update October 2026
Why are Oncor TDU delivery charges so high?
At $4.06 per month and 6.8673¢/kWh, Oncor delivery charges are the highest they’ve ever been.
Oncor has announced plans to spend over $47 billion to enhance the grid over the next five years. They are increasing TDU (transmission and distribution utility) charges to help cover the costs of their investments in improving and repairing transmission and distribution infrastructure across Texas.
TDU delivery charges exist to help Oncor manage, maintain, repair, and upgrade the infrastructure that delivers power to homes and businesses across much of North Texas, Dallas-Fort Worth, Waco, Temple, Midland, and Odessa.
Oncor is responsible for over 145,000 miles of power lines that deliver power to over 400 communities and over 14 million people.
Oncor provides several reasons to explain the sharp increase in costs to Texas homeowners and renters.
- Recovering storm-related costs
- Adjusting for rising costs and inflation
- Investing in the grid
The quick answer is that Oncor’s investment needs are growing faster than they can pay off their previous projects. To help cover the growing costs of managing, maintaining, repairing, and upgrading the grid, they increase TDU delivery charges in order to increase revenue.
Oncor submits requests to adjust delivery charges, called rate cases, to the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT). The PUCT reviews the request before approving any adjustments to delivery fees.
Let’s dive into some of the specifics of Oncor’s growing TDU pass-through charges.
Recovering storm-related costs
According to Oncor, the region they serve has experienced an average of 31 major storm events per year, or one storm somewhere within their service area every 12 days.
A 2025 report from the Office of the Texas State Climatologist notes that Texas is the only state to consistently experience all types of extreme weather: heatwaves, freezes, tropical storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, hailstorms, droughts, floods, blizzards, and wildfires.
In a 2024 report from the same office, historical weather data and trends predict that severe weather in Texas will increase in frequency and intensity.
When extreme weather strikes Texas, power lines, transformers, and other delivery infrastructure are often damaged badly enough that homes and businesses lose power.
When this happens, Oncor steps in to evaluate and repair damage. This can mean repairing fallen poles and wires, or replacing equipment entirely.
Additionally, Oncor proactively trims trees near lines to prevent future damage through their vegetation management mission.
Due to increases in storm frequency and intensity, Oncor has to spend more recovering from and preparing for extreme weather.
They estimate that approximately 45% of the recent increases are dedicated to costs related to storms.
How much does Oncor spend on vegetation management compared to other TDUs?
Each year, TDU companies share their scheduled and actual costs for vegetation management across the state of Texas, along with how many delivery points (aka customers) they are servicing.
We can use this data to calculate how much each TDU spends on vegetation management per customer.
Oncor planned to spend over $56 million on vegetation management in 2025 to help service their over 4 million customers. That equals a cost per customer of $13.76.
They actually spent over $226 million in 2025, bringing the average cost per customer on vegetation management up to $55.04. They ended up spending over $80 million on post-storm emergencies and more than $87 million on unscheduled overhead line projects, which is why they overshot their plan by around $160 million.
TDU Vegetation Management Cost per Customer (Scheduled 2025 Costs)
| TDU | Delivery Points | Scheduled Maintenance | Cost per Customer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oncor | 4,110,944 | $56,630,000 | $13.76 |
| CenterPoint | 2,898,292 | $45,538,325 | $15.71 |
| AEP Texas | 1,122,118 | $11,539,624 | $10.28 |
| Texas-New Mexico Power | 282,586 | $4,413,879 | $15.62 |
TDU Vegetation Management Cost per Customer (Actual 2025 Costs)
| TDU | Delivery Points | Scheduled Maintenance | Cost per Customer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oncor | 4,110,944 | $226,267,000 | $55.04 |
| CenterPoint | 2,898,292 | $56,447,527 | $19.47 |
| AEP Texas | 1,122,118 | $14,922,924 | $13.30 |
| Texas-New Mexico Power | 282,586 | $4,476,250 | $15.84 |
Adjusting for rising costs and inflation
Oncor claims that previous rates were tied to wages and other costs from 2021. Since then, inflation has pushed costs much higher, interest rates have increased, and their insurance premiums have grown by over 500%.
According to their explanation, Oncor has absorbed these costs since 2021, but found it critical to request a rate increase in 2025 to “reflect current economic realities.” The PUCT approved the request in April 2026.
They estimate that approximately 20% of the rate increases are tied to growing costs and inflation.
Investing in the grid
The final reason Oncor offers to explain the TDU delivery charge increases is their execution of the largest investment plan in their history.
Oncor’s 2026-2030 capital plan is the largest in their history, calling for over $47 billion to fund projects to support growth in population and energy demand in Texas. This plan is more than four times as costly as the plan from 2018 and over twice as costly as the plan from 2022.
Oncor will spend the $47+ billion on the first ever System Resiliency Plan, projects to support reliability in the Permian Basin, transmission projects in the Delaware Basin, interconnection of additional generation and large commercial and industrial customers, and upgrades to distribution infrastructure.
This unprecedented investment is estimated to account for 25% of the increases in Oncor’s TDU rates.
What is the System Resiliency Plan?
The System Resiliency Plan was approved by the PUCT in November 2024 and is meant to accelerate upgrades to the grid that reduce the impact of outages caused by severe weather.
Here are some examples of the resiliency plan in action:
- Clearing powerlines of encroaching vegetation
- Installing fire-safe devices to prevent ignition during wildfires
- Clearing ground vegetation around poles
- Replacing old poles with newer, more resilient designs
- Wrapping poles in fire-retardant material to reduce risk of ignition
- Upgrading and modernizing overhead and underground delivery systems
- Installing smart tech that can automatically sense power flow, redistribute load, and even restore power without human intervention
Is Oncor a for-profit company?
Yes, Oncor is an investor-owned, for-profit company. They operate as a highly regulated monopoly, which means they are the only utility company that provides transmission and delivery services within their service areas.
Who owns Oncor?
Oncor is mainly owned by two investors: Sempra and Texas Transmission Investment LLC. Sempra holds a majority stake in the company.
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