Whoever you buy from, the electricity is the same electricity and it arrives on the same wires. Your utility still owns the poles, still reads the meter and is still the one who restores your power in an outage; the retailer's name on the bill does not change any of that. What a retailer actually controls is what they charge you, how long they lock it, and how they treat you when something goes wrong.
Rating
Lowest complaint rate in Texas
Five stars is the lowest complaint rate in Texas; one is the highest. The Public Utility Commission counts every informal complaint it investigates against a retailer, divides by how many customers that retailer has, and averages it over six months. This is the sheet published for January 1, 2026 through June 30, 2026, and it is republished periodically, so a rating can move.
Two things this does not mean. The Commission sorts every licensed retailer by complaint rate and then cuts the list into five groups of roughly equal size, so one star means bottom fifth of Texas retailers rather than a failing grade, and somebody lands there even in a year when everyone behaves well. And a complaint is counted whether or not the retailer turned out to be at fault.
Source: the Commission's complaint scorecard. We matched this company to the sheet because they are listed on the scorecard under this name.
| ★★★★★5/5 | Lowest complaint rate in Texas |
| ★★★★☆4/5 | Lower than average |
| ★★★☆☆3/5 | Average |
| ★★☆☆☆2/5 | Higher than average |
| ★☆☆☆☆1/5 | Highest complaint rate in Texas |
The company
- PUC certificate
- 10264
- License issued
- May 22, 2019 (the date on the state license, which can be older than the brand, because licenses change hands)
- Phone
- (844) 644-0474
- Website
- southernfederal.com
- Plans on offer
- 36 plans, sold across 6 utility territories
How their prices land
Their cheapest plan against the cheapest plan anyone sells in the same area, both priced for the same reference house: 1,000 kWh in an average month, shaped across the year for that region, including utility delivery charges, before taxes.
| Utility area | Their cheapest, a year | Against the whole market |
|---|---|---|
| AEP Texas Central Corpus Christi and the coastal bend | $1,302 | the cheapest plan in this area is theirs |
| AEP Texas North Abilene and the Big Country | $1,302 | the cheapest plan in this area is theirs |
| CenterPoint Houston and the Gulf Coast | $1,231 | $3 a year more than the cheapest plan here, which is True Power |
| Lubbock Power & Light Lubbock | $1,437 | $76 a year more than the cheapest plan here, which is True Power |
| Oncor Dallas, Fort Worth and much of north Texas | $1,342 | $3 a year more than the cheapest plan here, which is True Power |
| Texas-New Mexico Power pockets around Houston, Lewisville and the Gulf | $1,474 | $25 a year more than the cheapest plan here, which is Energy Texas |
A reference house is nobody's house. The cheapest plan for you depends on how much you actually use and when, and the ranking changes with it, sometimes a lot. Run your own numbers.
Every plan they sell
Priced for the same reference house as above, in AEP Texas Central. The cancellation fee is what they charge to leave early.
| Plan | Term | A year | To leave early | Sold in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranchero Power Ranchero Variable Advantage | 1 mo | $1,392 | not read yet | CenterPoint |
| Variable Advantage not a fixed rate | 1 mo | $1,413 | nothing | AEP Texas Central, AEP Texas North, CenterPoint, Lubbock Power & Light, Oncor, Texas-New Mexico Power |
| Variable Advantage AEP TCC | 1 mo | $1,437 | or any fees associated with No | AEP Texas North |
| Variable Advantage AEP TNC | 1 mo | $1,464 | or any fees associated with No | AEP Texas North |
| Variable Advantage Help by Phone | 1 mo | $1,416 | or any fees associated with No | CenterPoint, Oncor |
| SoFed Better Rate - 3 AEP TCC | 3 mo | $1,387 | or any fees associated with Yes | AEP Texas Central |
| SoFed Better Rate - 3 AEP TNC | 3 mo | $1,502 | or any fees associated with Yes | AEP Texas Central |
| Ranchero Power Ranchero Smart & Fixed - 5 | 5 mo | $1,416 | not read yet | CenterPoint, Oncor |
| Ranchero Power Ranchero Smart & Fixed - 5 AEP TCC | 5 mo | $1,486 | not read yet | AEP Texas Central |
| Ranchero Power Ranchero Smart & Fixed - 5 AEP TNC | 5 mo | $1,476 | not read yet | AEP Texas North |
| SoFed Better Rate - 5 | 5 mo | $1,302 | $249.00 | AEP Texas Central, AEP Texas North, CenterPoint, Lubbock Power & Light, Oncor, Texas-New Mexico Power |
| SoFed Better Rate - 5 (LP&L) | 5 mo | $1,490 | or any fees associated with Yes | Lubbock Power & Light |
| SoFed Better Rate - 5 AEP TCC | 5 mo | $1,437 | or any fees associated with Yes | AEP Texas Central, AEP Texas North |
| SoFed Better Rate - 5 AEP TNC | 5 mo | $1,427 | or any fees associated with Yes | AEP Texas North |
| SoFed Better Rate - 6 (LP&L) | 6 mo | $1,710 | or any fees associated with Yes | Lubbock Power & Light |
| SoFed Better Rate - 10 | 10 mo | $1,449 | $249.00 | AEP Texas Central, AEP Texas North, CenterPoint, Lubbock Power & Light, Oncor, Texas-New Mexico Power |
| SoFed Better Rate - 10 (LP&L) | 10 mo | $1,490 | or any fees associated with Yes | Lubbock Power & Light |
| SoFed Better Rate - 10 AEP TCC | 10 mo | $1,449 | or any fees associated with Yes | AEP Texas Central |
| SoFed Better Rate - 10 AEP TNC | 10 mo | $1,427 | or any fees associated with Yes | AEP Texas North |
| Ranchero Power Ranchero Renewal - 12 AEP TCC | 12 mo | $1,866 | not read yet | AEP Texas Central |
| Ranchero Power Ranchero Smart & Fixed - 12 | 12 mo | $1,428 | not read yet | CenterPoint |
| SoFed Better Rate - 12 | 12 mo | $1,502 | or any fees associated with Yes | CenterPoint, Oncor |
| SoFed Better Rate - 12 AEP TCC | 12 mo | $1,621 | or any fees associated with Yes | AEP Texas Central |
| SoFed Better Rate - 12 AEP TNC | 12 mo | $1,623 | or any fees associated with Yes | AEP Texas North |
| SoFed Digital Saver Plus - 12 | 12 mo | $1,513 | $99.00 | AEP Texas Central, AEP Texas North, CenterPoint, Lubbock Power & Light, Oncor, Texas-New Mexico Power |
| SoFed Digital Saver Plus - 12 AEP TCC | 12 mo | $1,511 | or any fees associated with Yes | AEP Texas Central, AEP Texas North |
| SoFed Digital Saver Plus - 12 AEP TNC | 12 mo | $1,562 | or any fees associated with Yes | AEP Texas North |
| SoFed Renewal - 12 AEP TNC | 12 mo | $1,886 | or any fees associated with No | AEP Texas North |
| SoFed Renewal - 12 Help by Phone | 12 mo | $1,876 | or any fees associated with No | Oncor |
| Ranchero Power Ranchero Smart & Fixed - 16 | 16 mo | $1,514 | not read yet | CenterPoint |
| Ranchero Power Ranchero Smart & Fixed - 36 AEP TCC | 36 mo | $1,755 | not read yet | AEP Texas Central |
| Ranchero Power Ranchero Smart & Fixed - 36 AEP TNC | 36 mo | $1,845 | not read yet | AEP Texas Central |
| SoFed Better Rate - 36 | 36 mo | $1,687 | $249.00 | AEP Texas Central, AEP Texas North, CenterPoint, Lubbock Power & Light, Oncor, Texas-New Mexico Power |
| SoFed Better Rate - 36 AEP TCC | 36 mo | $1,707 | or any fees associated with Yes | AEP Texas Central |
| SoFed Better Rate - 36 AEP TNC | 36 mo | $1,795 | or any fees associated with Yes | AEP Texas North |
| SoFed Try Us Out - 48 | 48 mo | $1,893 | or any fees associated with No | CenterPoint |
None of this tells you what to do
It tells you who they are. What you should actually pay depends on your own house, and that takes about twenty seconds.
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