A price that cannot or will not be changed. Fixed pricing in the energy industry usually refers to an energy rate which must be paid regardless of the actual free-market value of energy at the time it is delivered to the customer. Residential customers are frequently billed for energy at fixed-price rates which are set monthly, quarterly or annually as a means of insuring that customers can accurately manage their electricity bills even if spikes in energy costs or drastic price cuts occur. If energy prices drop, customers paying fixed-cost rates won't usually receive the benefits of the lower price until the fixed price is reset or renegotiated, but in return they are protected from the potential hardships of unexpectedly large rate increases.

Fixed price energy is not usually as fixed as the name implies. Utilities typically apply mechanisms referred to as escalators and redeterminations to allow for variations in price under some conditions. Among these may be rewards in the form of lower energy prices for consumers who reduce consumption or shift consumption to off-peak periods, or allowances for increases in the event of extreme changes in a utility's provision costs.

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