"Shop a cheaper supplier" is the wrong advice for an FEC member.
Most Texas electricity articles assume you live in the deregulated market, that you can browse plans on Power to Choose and switch to whichever REP looks cheapest. If your meter is on Farmers Electric Cooperative, that advice does not apply.
FEC is a member-owned electric cooperative, formed in 1937 under the federal REA programme to bring power to rural Northeast Texas. Texas Senate Bill 7 (1999) deregulated investor-owned utilities like Oncor and CenterPoint, it left coops and municipal utilities the choice of whether to open to retail competition. FEC has not opted in. There is no supplier for an FEC member to switch to.
Second, FEC is not regulated by the PUCT like an IOU would be. Coop rates are set by the cooperative's elected board of directors, voted on by members at the annual meeting. The lever you have as an FEC member is participation in coop governance, not market shopping.
How an FEC bill is built. Three layers.
Unlike a deregulated Texas bill, all three layers are bundled into a single bundled rate set by your coop's board. Knowing the layers still tells you where the money goes.
Layer 1, Wholesale
Power supply
FEC buys its power wholesale from Rayburn Electric Cooperative, its G&T coop. Rayburn sources from the ERCOT wholesale market.
Layer 2, Delivery
Wires & poles
FEC owns and maintains the distribution wires, poles, transformers and meters from the substation to your house across all 12 counties it serves.
Layer 3, Fixed
Service charge & riders
A monthly customer service charge plus pass-through riders like the PCRF that recovers movement in wholesale power cost.
A retail customer in Dallas (Oncor + an REP) sees these three layers split across two companies on the bill. An FEC member sees them rolled into one coop bill, with the coop returning any surplus back to members as capital credits.
Every charge on your FEC bill, decoded.
A coop bill looks different from a deregulated Texas bill. This table maps the lines you see back to what they really are and who sets them.
| Line on your FEC bill | What it really is | Who sets it | Shoppable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy charge (per kWh) | Wholesale power + delivery, bundled | FEC board | No |
| Customer service charge | Fixed monthly fee (meter, billing, account) | FEC board | No |
| PCRF / Power Cost Adjustment | Pass-through of Rayburn wholesale costs | FEC board (formula) | No |
| State sales tax | 6.25% state + local (varies by city) | State of Texas / local | No |
| Capital credits | Your share of coop margins; refunded later | FEC board (annual allocation) | Refund |
"PCRF" is what FEC and most Texas coops call the rider that moves with wholesale power cost. A deregulated REP would bundle that risk into the contract rate instead; a coop charges members at cost and shows the swing on the bill.
100% of your FEC bill is set by your coop. 0% is shoppable.
In a deregulated Texas ZIP, only the energy line of your bill moves when you switch REP, roughly 60% of the total. The TDU charges and taxes stay put.
On FEC, there is no REP layer. Energy + delivery + wholesale risk are bundled into one coop rate. There is no "shop and switch" lever to pull.
The flip side: because FEC is a non-profit, surplus dollars come back to members as capital credits over time. A coop member is paying at-cost, not at-market-clearing-price-plus-margin.
estimated all-in FEC bill at 12.7¢/kWh + $27.50 service (UNVERIFIED, check your last statement)
How the FEC rate is actually assembled.
Four moving parts decide what an FEC member pays per kWh.
Member-elected board
FEC's board of directors is elected by member-owners at the annual meeting. The board sets retail rates, approves the budget, and hires the general manager. One member, one vote, the structural difference between a coop and an investor-owned utility.
General manager & staff
The general manager runs day-to-day operations from FEC's headquarters at 2000 E I-30 in Greenville and through its branch offices, including the Wylie branch at 108 W Marble St.
Wholesale: Rayburn Electric Cooperative
FEC buys its bulk power from Rayburn Electric Cooperative, the G&T coop that aggregates demand from several NE Texas distribution coops and contracts in ERCOT. When Rayburn's wholesale cost moves, that flows through the PCRF rider on member bills.
Grid: ERCOT
All of NE Texas sits inside ERCOT, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which runs the Texas-only grid covering about 90% of the state. ERCOT's scarcity-pricing events (Winter Storm Uri in Feb 2021, summer heat alerts) hit Rayburn's wholesale cost, and therefore FEC's retail rate, in the months that follow.
Two facts that distinguish a coop from a deregulated Texas REP: members own the wires the coop runs, and the PUCT does not approve coop rates the way it approves an IOU's rates.
How FEC members quietly overpay.
Five recurring patterns in coop-member bills. Each costs real money. Each is fixable.
If the power goes out in 75098.
FEC operates its own outage map for members at outageviewer.fecelectric.com. It shows active outages by feeder and estimated restoration times.
For life-threatening situations, a down line, a fire, anyone hurt, call 9-1-1 immediately. Then report the outage to FEC so a crew is dispatched.
What to actually do if FEC serves you.
Confirm your service area
A 75098 ZIP straddles FEC and Oncor territory. Check your last bill: if the company name is Farmers Electric Cooperative, you are on FEC, not a deregulated REP.
Use SmartHub
FEC's member portal lets you pay the bill, see month-by-month kWh, set up paperless billing, and report outages from your phone.
Attend the annual meeting
FEC's board is the body that sets your rate. The annual meeting is when members elect directors and approve bylaws. That is the actual lever you have on price.
Apply for CEAP if eligible
Texas LIHEAP is delivered as CEAP through local community-action agencies. Search "CEAP Hunt County" or "CEAP Collin County" for the agency serving your home.
Cut usage where it matters
Coop or not, the biggest lever is the kWh meter. Heat pump, attic insulation, smart thermostat and an Energy Star fridge move the bill more than any rate fight ever will.
Use the Wylie branch
The Wylie branch at 108 W Marble St handles in-person new service, deposits and payment drop-offs. Phone 903-455-1715, the headquarters in Greenville handles everything else.
Common questions about FEC service in 75098.
No. The 108 W Marble Street office in Wylie is a branch / member service location of Farmers Electric Cooperative. The headquarters is in Greenville, Texas, at 2000 E I-30, ZIP 75402. Everyday transactions like new service, deposits and bill drop-off can be handled at the Wylie branch (phone 903-455-1715); board meetings, large account changes and most back-office functions are run from Greenville.
No. Farmers Electric Cooperative is a member-owned electric cooperative and has not opted into Texas retail competition. If your meter is on FEC, you cannot enrol with a competitive REP. Some 75098 addresses are on Oncor (deregulated) rather than FEC, check the company name on your last bill to know which one you are on.
Farmers Electric Cooperative serves 12 Northeast Texas counties: Dallas, Collin, Rockwall, Hunt, Kaufman, Rains, Hopkins, Delta, Franklin, Fannin, Van Zandt and Wood. The Wylie branch covers parts of Collin and Dallas counties.
FEC buys its wholesale power from Rayburn Electric Cooperative, its generation and transmission (G&T) cooperative. Rayburn sources the power from the ERCOT wholesale market, which covers about 90% of Texas. When ERCOT wholesale prices move (heat waves, winter storms, plant outages), Rayburn passes the cost change through to FEC, which passes it through to members on the Power Cost Recovery Factor (PCRF) line of the bill.
Check the live map at outageviewer.fecelectric.com first, your outage may already be logged with an estimated restoration time. If not, report it through the SmartHub app, the FEC website, or the 24/7 outage phone line listed on your bill. For downed lines or any life-safety situation, call 9-1-1 first, then notify FEC.
Because FEC is a non-profit cooperative, any surplus over operating cost is allocated back to members in proportion to how much electricity they bought that year, this is called a capital credit. The coop retains the funds for several years for infrastructure and working capital, then refunds older allocations as the board approves retirements. If you move away from FEC territory, update your forwarding address on SmartHub so the refund check finds you.
More U.S. states with energy choice
Same playbook, different utility. Pick another deregulated state to compare utilities, suppliers and switching rules.
