Setting up electricity when you move in Texas
In most of Texas you choose your own electricity provider, which means moving involves a decision that residents of most other states never have to make. It is not difficult, but it has a deadline.
The first question is whether you have a choice at all
Most of Texas has a competitive retail electricity market and you pick the company that sells you power. Several large cities do not: Austin and San Antonio are served by city-owned utilities, as are Denton, Garland, Brownsville and a number of smaller places; El Paso is served by a regulated utility outside the competitive market; and much of rural Texas is served by member-owned electric cooperatives.
In those areas there is no shopping decision — you contact the local utility and set up service. Everywhere else you choose a retail provider, and the choice is worth a few minutes because the range between plans is real.
This site asks for a ZIP code before showing plans, because which of those two situations applies depends on where you live.
When to arrange it
Aim for a few days before your move-in date rather than the morning of. Service starts are routine and are usually scheduled without a technician visit, but a same-day request depends on your delivery utility's timing and on getting the enrolment right first time.
You will normally be asked for the service address and, in many cases, the ESI ID for the meter — an identifier that names the specific meter rather than the street address. Your landlord, the seller, or the previous bill will have it, and most enrolment flows can look it up from the address.
If the property is currently occupied, your service starts when theirs ends. That is coordinated between the retailers and the utility rather than something you arrange directly.
What not to do under time pressure
Do not sign a three-year contract for a twelve-month lease. A move out of the service area generally releases you from a Texas fixed-rate contract without an early termination fee, but a move within it may not, and the conditions are in your terms of service rather than being universal.
Do not choose on the advertised cents-per-kilowatt-hour figure alone. That number describes one usage level, and a plan with a low rate and a minimum-usage charge can be the expensive option for a small apartment.
And do not let the property sit on whatever plan is convenient and forget about it. The plan you start on runs for its full term.
Before you have an address to type in
Whether you choose a provider at all follows from the address rather than from the city name, and somebody comparing two or three addresses has not checked any of them yet.
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