What Happens When Your Fixed-Rate Plan Expires — July 2026

What “expires” means, contractually

This only applies where a competing supplier exists to sign a contract with in the first place — the 14 deregulated jurisdictions where residential supply choice is legal (see which states those are). Inside one, a fixed-rate offer is a term contract: a set price per kWh for a set number of months. Most suppliers do not auto-renew you into a new fixed term at expiry — they move you onto a variable month-to-month rate that the supplier can reset on its own schedule, often the same rate new customers without a promotional offer would pay. Some suppliers send a renewal notice before this happens; many rely on the original contract terms, mailed once, as sufficient notice.

The other side of the same mechanism: leaving before the term ends can trigger an early-termination fee, which is exactly why so many customers ride out an expired, overpriced variable rate rather than switch immediately — the fee calculus flips the moment the fixed term is actually over.

How to check your own contract

The supply section of your bill (separate from the delivery section, in a deregulated state) names your current supplier, your current rate, and — on most statements — the contract end date or term. If you cannot find the end date on the bill itself, your original enrollment confirmation or contract summary (usually emailed at signup) has it. The single most useful number to compute once you have both: your current rate against your utility's own default/standard-offer supply rate, published on the utility's website. If your “fixed-rate” line is now meaningfully above that default, the term has very likely already ended.

The checklist, before it happens again

• Set a calendar reminder for the month before expiry. This is the single highest-leverage habit here — a fixed rate only stays fixed if you re-lock it before the rollover, not after you notice the bill.
• Compare against the default rate, not the old headline offer. The default/standard-offer rate is what you pay if you do nothing, so it is the honest baseline — a new promotional rate below it is a real saving; one merely below your expired rate may not be.
• Read what happens at the end of the NEW term too. The plan you are shopping for will eventually expire the same way — ask what it rolls onto before you sign, not after.
• Watch for monthly and early-termination fees. A small per-kWh saving can be erased by a monthly service fee; an early-termination fee matters only if you plan to leave before the new term ends.
• If you are not in a deregulated state, none of this applies to you. Regulated-market rates are set by your state commission on a schedule, not by a contract term — see deregulated vs. regulated states for what still moves your bill where you live.

See where your bill stands

Enter your state and bill: the calculator places you against your state's average, so you can tell whether an expired contract is pushing you well above it. Nothing you type is stored.

Keep going

• Why did my electric bill double? — the five other realistic causes of a true 2x jump.
• Fixed vs variable electricity rates — the trade-off to weigh before you sign the next term.
• Deregulated vs. regulated states — whether any of this applies where you live.