We combine our user submitted reviews along with other reviews from Google, Facebook, Yelp, and the Public Utility Commission to grade providers.
4Change Energy is one of the more heavily advertised low-rate brands in Texas, and the advertised rates are genuinely low. The catch is how you get them.
Most 4Change plans are built around usage-based bill credits — you hit a monthly kWh threshold, you get the credit, and the effective rate lands where the marketing said it would. Miss the threshold and your actual cost per kWh can climb well above what you signed up for. This is the single most common thread in their negative reviews, and it's a plan-design issue rather than a service failure. If your household usage is steady and predictable, 4Change can be a legitimately cheap option. If it swings month to month, read the Electricity Facts Label closely before you enroll and check where the credit thresholds sit.
On the regulatory side they perform better than the field. As of July 2026, third-party analysis puts 4Change at roughly 99 PUC complaints over a trailing 12 months against an industry average near 120. Their PUC complaint score held at 3 of 5 in our latest review.
Worth knowing: 4Change, Express Energy, and Veteran Energy are the same company wearing three logos. If you're comparing all three, you're comparing marketing, not service.
4Change Energy is a Dallas-based retail electricity provider serving residential customers across the deregulated Texas market. The company launched in 2001 and is one of three brands operated by Value Based Brands, alongside Express Energy and Veteran Energy. Value Based Brands is a subsidiary of Vistra Corp, which also owns TXU Energy — making 4Change and TXU corporate siblings competing for the same customers.
The brand's differentiator is charitable: 4% of profits are donated to charities including the American Cancer Society, Heroes for Children, Feeding Texas, and the American Red Cross, with customers selecting where their share goes.
4Change serves all major Texas utility territories — Oncor in Dallas–Fort Worth, CenterPoint in Houston, and AEP Texas North and Central in West and South Texas. Plans are primarily fixed-rate with bill-credit structures. PUC certificate #10041, verified July 2026.
Our mission is to provide accurate and helpful data and content to help you make an informed decision when comparing energy providers.
Plans and Rates:
We review all available plans from every licensed energy provider. Then we rank the lowest available rate from each provider. Providers then receive a rating based on what percentile their lowest plan ranks.
For example, Provider A has the 3rd lowest-priced plan, while Provider B has the 45th lowest-priced plan out of 46 providers who submitted plans to PUC. Provider A will have a rating of 5, while Provider B will have a rating of 1.
Customer Service:
We scrape online reviews from Google, Yelp, BBB, and Trust Pilot to determine what customers are saying about the provider. The rating reflects the aggregate of all online reviews.
Renewable Options:
The rating system is based on the availability of renewable energy options. A 5-star rating is awarded to entities that offer a fully renewable option, signifying 100% renewable energy usage. A 4-star rating is given to those that provide a mix of energy sources, with more than 50% coming from renewable sources. Entities with renewable energy options exceeding the state average of 31.1% receive a 3-star rating, while those offering less than 31.1% renewable options are rated with 2 stars. Lastly, a 1-star rating is assigned to those with no renewable energy options, indicating a lack of commitment to sustainable energy practices.
PUC Rating:
The Public Utility Commission publishes a rating for each provider based on the number of formal complaints filed against the provider in comparison to how many customers they have.
For example, a provider with 10 formal complaints out of 10,000 customers would have a 1-star rating whereas a provider with 10 complaints and 1,000,000 customers would have a 5-star rating.
The GridHacker rating uses a weighted average that prioritizes rates and customer service over renewable options and PUC rating. We do this because we feel that for most customers price and service are the two most important factors when they are shopping for an electricity plan.
In Texas, your electricity provider is the company that you buy your electricity from, i.e., they send your electricity bill. Texas's well-known electricity providers include TXU Energy, Reliant Energy, and Direct Energy.
On the other hand, your utility company handles the delivery of electricity to your home. This includes the powerlines, transformers, and all the different hardware needed to get your home powered up. The two largest electric utilities in Texas are Oncor and CenterPoint.
To pay a 4Change Energy bill online, you can log in to your account and click Pay My Bill before the EZ Pay draft date. You can also pay by phone by calling (855) 784-2426 and following the automated payment system prompts.
You can also use your 4Change Energy login to: Set up automatic payments, Manage your account, and Go paperless.
If you need to cancel your 4Change Energy plan, you can call customer service at (855) 784-2426 during business hours. You can also cancel by faxing (866) 346-1812 or emailing service@4ChangeEnergy.com.
4Change Energy also has a mobile app that allows you to manage your account.
