Manufacturing
Texas factories run on reliable, competitively priced electricity.
Why Competition Matters
Competition. Investment. Reliability.
Powering Texans supports free-market energy policies that promote investment, encourage competition, and strengthen the grid Texans rely on.
Competitive market signals help attract private investment, support new generation, and deliver a stronger grid for Texans, their businesses, and their families.
Market Explainer
How competition powers Texas.
Clear market signals help attract private investment, support new generation, and deliver a stronger grid for Texans, their businesses, and their families.
Market Explainer
Competitive Market Signals
In ERCOT's competitive market, prices reflect real-time supply and demand. Those signals tell investors where new generation is needed and reward resources that show up when the grid is tight.
Transparent price signals and competition help guide where capital flows.
In ERCOT's competitive market, prices reflect real-time supply and demand. Those signals tell investors where new generation is needed and reward resources that show up when the grid is tight.
What Helps
Predictable rules, investment certainty, and competition.
What Can Slow Progress
Policy uncertainty, distorted market signals, and excessive government intervention.
Market Structure
How the Texas electricity market works.
A high-level look at the roles that keep power flowing across Texas — from the generators that compete to produce it to the customers who use it every day.
01
Generation
Generators compete to provide power across Texas.
02
ERCOT
ERCOT manages the grid and balances supply with demand.
03
Transmission & Distribution
Regulated utilities maintain the wires that move power.
04
Retail Providers
Retail providers compete for customers in most of Texas.
05
Customers
Texans benefit from choice, reliability, and innovation.
Predictability vs. Uncertainty
Predictable rules encourage investment. Uncertainty can slow it.
Smart rules are necessary. Excessive intervention and distorted signals can discourage the investment Texas needs to keep pace with rising demand.
What Helps
- Competitive market signals
- Predictable rules
- Investment certainty
- Transparent market design
- Reliability standards that support performance
- Private capital for new generation
What Can Slow Progress
- Policy uncertainty
- Distorted market signals
- Excessive government intervention
- Price controls
- Unclear investment rules
- Market designs that discourage new generation
The Right Role for Policy
Smart policy protects reliability without weakening competition.
The answer is not no rules. Texas needs clear, predictable policies that support reliability, protect consumers, and preserve the competitive market signals that attract private investment in new generation.
Reliability Standards
Clear performance expectations that hold resources accountable when the grid is tight.
Weatherization & Preparedness
Operational readiness for winter storms, summer peaks, and hurricane season.
Transparent Market Rules
Stable, clearly written rules that investors and operators can plan around.
Consumer Protection
Guardrails that protect customers without distorting the price signals that drive investment.
Investment Certainty
A predictable policy environment that attracts the capital Texas needs for new generation.
Competitive Generation
Market signals that reward resources that show up and perform when Texans need them.
Powering Growth
Powering Texas growth.
Reliable, competitively priced electricity is essential to Texas' continued growth. As demand increases from population growth, manufacturing, data centers, and electrification, Texas needs market rules that encourage investment in generation and reliability.
Petrochemicals
The Gulf Coast industrial corridor depends on dependable, around-the-clock power.
Data Centers & AI
New AI and cloud infrastructure is locating in Texas — and adding significant new load.
Small Businesses
Main Street businesses need affordable energy to grow and hire.
Homes & Families
Reliable power keeps Texas families safe in every season.
Local Tax Base & Jobs
Generation facilities anchor jobs and tax revenue in communities across the state.
Related Resources
Go deeper on Texas market policy.
Take Action
Help keep the Texas market competitive.
Support policies that encourage competition, attract investment, and deliver more reliable and affordable power for Texans.