What is an ESI ID in Texas?

An ESI ID (Electric Service Identifier) is a 17-22 digit number that uniquely identifies a residential or commercial electric meter on the Texas grid. Every premise served by a Transmission and Distribution Utility (Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP Texas, TNMP, or Lubbock P&L) has an ESI ID. It's the primary key the deregulated electric market uses for enrollment, plan switching, billing, Smart Meter Texas data access, and any TDU coordination.

Where can I find my ESI ID?

Your ESI ID is printed on every Texas electricity bill, usually labeled as "ESI ID," "ESIID," "Premise Number," or "Service Identifier." If you don't have a recent bill, you can look it up by address using a tool like this one. Solar installers and energy advisors typically need the ESI ID to enroll a customer or pull Smart Meter Texas usage data.

Do I need an ESI ID to switch electricity providers?

Not directly. Most retailers will look it up for you when you sign up using your service address. Having it on hand speeds up the enrollment, ensures the new retailer activates the right meter (especially helpful if you have multiple properties), and avoids any address-matching errors.

Is the ESI ID the same as my account number or meter number?

No. Your account number is assigned by your retailer (TXU, Reliant, Meter, etc.) and changes when you switch providers. Your meter number is a physical identifier on the meter itself. The ESI ID is assigned by the TDU and stays with the premise. It never changes when you switch retailers, only if a new meter is installed at a different service point.

How long is a Texas ESI ID?

Texas ESI IDs are typically 17 to 22 digits. The format depends on the TDU: Oncor and AEP Texas usually issue 17-digit IDs starting with "1008901" or similar, while CenterPoint Energy issues 22-digit IDs starting with "1008901XXXXXXX". The ID is numeric only, with no letters or dashes.

Does my ESI ID change when I move or switch providers?

Your ESI ID stays the same when you switch retailers, which is the whole point. It changes only if you move to a new physical address (different ESI ID at the new premise) or if your TDU installs a new meter at a different service point on the same property (rare).

Can I look up someone else's ESI ID?

Technically yes. ESI IDs are tied to addresses, not people, and address-based lookup is how solar installers and energy advisors validate service points. But ESI IDs combined with addresses are sensitive data and shouldn't be enrolled, transferred, or used to pull meter data without the property owner's authorization. Smart Meter Texas requires a signed agreement before any historical usage data is released.

Texas ESI ID Lookup by Address

Find the Electric Service Identifier (ESI ID) for any Texas residential address. Free, no signup, no API key. Backed by Light API.

Try it

Enter any Texas residential address. We’ll return the ESI ID and serving utility (Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP, TNMP, or Lubbock P&L).

What is an ESI ID and why do you need one?

Every Texas residential meter has a 17-22 digit Electric Service Identifier (the ESI ID). It’s the primary key for everything in the deregulated electric market: enrollment, plan switching, billing, Smart Meter Texas data access, and any coordination with your Transmission and Distribution Utility (TDU).

Customers usually find their ESI ID printed on their electricity bill. Solar installers, energy advisors, and AI agents that don’t have a bill in hand need to look it up by address. That’s what this tool does.

The lookup is fuzzy: pass a partial address (street + city OR street + ZIP) and the tool returns up to 5 matches with full address normalization. Each match includes the ESI ID and the serving utility (Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP Texas Central, AEP Texas North, TNMP, or Lubbock Power & Light).

PII note: The tool returns real residential service points. We don’t log raw addresses or ESI IDs in our application logs (PostHog only captures the count of matches, not the matches themselves). Treat results as sensitive and confirm with the end user before enrolling or pulling usage data.

Frequently asked questions

What is an ESI ID in Texas?: An ESI ID (Electric Service Identifier) is a 17-22 digit number that uniquely identifies a residential or commercial electric meter on the Texas grid. Every premise served by a Transmission and Distribution Utility (Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP Texas, TNMP, or Lubbock P&L) has an ESI ID. It's the primary key the deregulated electric market uses for enrollment, plan switching, billing, Smart Meter Texas data access, and any TDU coordination.
Where can I find my ESI ID?: Your ESI ID is printed on every Texas electricity bill, usually labeled as "ESI ID," "ESIID," "Premise Number," or "Service Identifier." If you don't have a recent bill, you can look it up by address using a tool like this one. Solar installers and energy advisors typically need the ESI ID to enroll a customer or pull Smart Meter Texas usage data.
Do I need an ESI ID to switch electricity providers?: Not directly. Most retailers will look it up for you when you sign up using your service address. Having it on hand speeds up the enrollment, ensures the new retailer activates the right meter (especially helpful if you have multiple properties), and avoids any address-matching errors.
Is the ESI ID the same as my account number or meter number?: No. Your account number is assigned by your retailer (TXU, Reliant, Meter, etc.) and changes when you switch providers. Your meter number is a physical identifier on the meter itself. The ESI ID is assigned by the TDU and stays with the premise. It never changes when you switch retailers, only if a new meter is installed at a different service point.
How long is a Texas ESI ID?: Texas ESI IDs are typically 17 to 22 digits. The format depends on the TDU: Oncor and AEP Texas usually issue 17-digit IDs starting with "1008901" or similar, while CenterPoint Energy issues 22-digit IDs starting with "1008901XXXXXXX". The ID is numeric only, with no letters or dashes.
Does my ESI ID change when I move or switch providers?: Your ESI ID stays the same when you switch retailers, which is the whole point. It changes only if you move to a new physical address (different ESI ID at the new premise) or if your TDU installs a new meter at a different service point on the same property (rare).
Can I look up someone else's ESI ID?: Technically yes. ESI IDs are tied to addresses, not people, and address-based lookup is how solar installers and energy advisors validate service points. But ESI IDs combined with addresses are sensitive data and shouldn't be enrolled, transferred, or used to pull meter data without the property owner's authorization. Smart Meter Texas requires a signed agreement before any historical usage data is released.

Use it from your app

Same lookup, available as a JSON API. Free, rate-limited per IP.

curl -X POST https://meterplan.com/api/v1/lookup-esi-id \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "5500 Greenville Ave, Dallas 75206", "maxResults": 5}'

MCP tool name: lookup_esi_id

Inputs

querystringrequired
Address query. Most reliable: full street address + city OR street address + 5-digit ZIP. Examples: '123 Main St, Austin 78701' or '5500 Greenville Ave Dallas TX'. Light's matcher is fuzzy and tolerates apartment numbers, abbreviations, and minor typos.
maxResultsnumber
Maximum number of address matches to return. Defaults to 10. Lower this if you want to force the agent to be more specific in its query.

Outputs

querystring
Echo of the original query.
matchCountnumber
Total matches Light returned (before maxResults truncation).
matchesarray<object>
Address matches with ESI IDs. Empty array if Light returned no matches.

Related tools

Texas TDU Lookup by ZIP
Resolve any Texas residential ZIP code to its Transmission and Distribution Utility (TDU): Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP Texas Central, AEP Texas North, TNMP, or Lubbock Power & Light. Returns the canonical utility code, full display name, short name, and whether the ZIP is in a deregulated retail electric market. Backed by Light API's eligibility check (private API made public via this tool).
Texas TDU Delivery Rates
Get current TDU delivery rates for one or all six Texas utilities (Oncor, CenterPoint, AEP Texas Central, AEP Texas North, TNMP, Lubbock Power & Light). Returns per-kWh delivery rate and fixed monthly base fee for each utility — these charges appear on every Texas electricity bill regardless of which retailer the customer chose. Backed by Light API rate sheets.
Texas Electricity Plan Finder
For a Texas homeowner, find Texas retail electricity plans available in their ZIP code. Returns up to 6 plans ranked by effective rate at the user's monthly usage level, including retailer name, energy rate (¢/kWh), monthly bill estimate, contract term, base fee, ETF, renewable %, Google rating, and EFL link. Backed by Meter's broad-market plan index covering every major TDU (ONCOR, CenterPoint, AEP Texas, TNMP, Lubbock).