# Athens, Texas electricity: Oncor wires, 2 split ZIP codes to check

_Updated October 19, 2026. Data: ERCOT Oct 5, 2026; Power to Choose Oct 19, 2026, 7:59 AM CT._

**In short:** ERCOT counts 8,132 active residential meters with an Athens address, all on Oncor's wires (October 5, 2026). 2 of Athens's ZIP codes are split, so most addresses can shop, but yours needs a check.

## Moving to Athens

Local numbers for setting up a home in Athens, each checked on the official source. More contacts: https://powerhopper.energy/texas-electricity/athens/move-in-information

- **City hall (ask about water service):** City of Athens: City Hall (main line), 903-675-5131.
- **Natural gas:** Atmos Energy: customer service, 888-286-6700.
- **Public schools:** Athens ISD.
- **Driver license:** Texas DPS Driver License Office: Athens, 512-424-2600.

## Who delivers electricity in Athens?
ERCOT counts 8,132 active residential meters with an Athens address, all on Oncor's wires (October 5, 2026).

## Can every address in Athens choose?
Split ZIP codes holding Athens homes: 75752, 75770. They carry 1,513 of the 8,130 competitive homes with an Athens address (19%); on those streets a neighbor's utility can differ from yours.

## What is different about Athens?
- Population: 12,851 (2020 base) to 13,870 (July 2025), +7.9%, per Census Vintage 2025 estimates. The largest one-year change was +549 people, from July 2022 to July 2023. July 1 estimates in between: 13,108 (2021), 13,118 (2022), 13,667 (2023), 13,823 (2024). (Source: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/cities/totals/sub-est2025_48.csv)
- Athens covers 17.8 square miles of land and 2.4 square miles of water (Census 2025 Gazetteer). That works out to about 777 residents and 263 occupied households per square mile of land, with roughly 3.0 residents for every Athens household. (Source: https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/cities/totals/sub-est2025_48.csv, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/)
- The Athens mailing area is bigger than the city: ERCOT lists 8,132 competitive homes under the Athens postal city, 1.73 for each of the city's 4,698 Census households. (Source: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/)
- Athens-addressed homes make up 0.2% of the 3,564,530 residential meters on Oncor's competitive system. (Source: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203)
- Move-ins show up as vacant-to-active switches in ERCOT's daily files: 27 of them in the ZIP codes most Athens homes use, Oct. 7-18, 2026. (Source: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203)
- Vacancy signal: 11.0 percent of residential meters in Athens's core ZIP codes were de-energized on October 5, 2026 (1,026 off, 8,290 on), per ERCOT. (Source: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203)
- 81 percent of Athens's competitive homes (6,617 of 8,130) are in 75751; counting every address in that ZIP, ERCOT has 1.01 meters for each Census household. (Source: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/)
- Athens is 1 of 15 on a Henderson County list of cities and towns ranked by postal-city competitive homes; second place is Gun Barrel City, at 4,745. (Source: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203)
- By the Census Bureau's 2025 estimates, Athens is the number 1 city or town by population among the 21 that reach into Henderson County, one place ahead of Mabank (7,294 residents). (Source: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/cities/totals/sub-est2025_48.csv)
- Mailing cities on the 6,682 competitive home meters in 75751, Athens's main ZIP code: Athens 6,617, Caney City 37. A mailing city is not a city limit, so the service address, not the postal name, settles which utility serves a home. (Source: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203)
- Coverage gap: 75770, home to 118 Athens-addressed meters, has 0.21 ERCOT meters for each household the Census counts there. That fits co-op service: EIA's 2024 lists for the counties tied to the ZIP include 2 co-ops, such as the Trinity Valley and Farmers co-ops. Co-op homes stay off the competitive market unless their co-op opts in. (Source: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/, https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia861/)
- Renting is most common in 75751, where the ACS 2020-2024 counts 34.4 percent of households as renters; in that part of Athens, electricity accounts change hands with each lease. (Source: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/)

## By the numbers
- Population (July 1, 2025 estimate): 13,870
- Population (2020 estimates base): 12,851
- Occupied households (ACS 2020-2024): 4,698
- Active residential meters with an Athens address: 8,132
- Active business meters with an Athens address: 2,773
- Residential meters per Census household: 1.73
- Delivery utilities (homes): Oncor 8,132
- Counties: Henderson
- ZIP codes touching Athens: 3
- Split ZIP codes (flagged below): 2

## Plan prices (median ¢/kWh at 500 / 1,000 / 2,000 kWh)
- Oncor: 14.1 / 13.4 / 13.2; delivery 6.8673¢/kWh + $4.06/mo

## ZIP codes
**Not every address in these ZIP codes has retail choice; check your exact address.**

| ZIP | Postal cities | Land in city | Competitive homes | Households | Ratio | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 75751 | Athens 99% | 8% | 6,682 | 6,630 | 1.01 | Near-full coverage. Mostly outside Athens city limits. |
| 75752 | Athens 100% | 2% | 1,395 | 2,787 | 0.5 | Split. Partial coverage. Mostly outside Athens city limits. |
| 75770 | Athens 55%, Larue 27%, Poynor 17% | 0% | 213 | 1,033 | 0.21 | Split. Partial coverage. Mostly outside Athens city limits. |

## Business electricity in Athens
2,773 active business meters. Power Hopper compares offers from retail electric providers and direct suppliers; for high-consumption businesses we can run a competitive bid. No savings or bidder count is promised. Businesses in Texas retail-choice areas can request a rate review online.

## Questions
**Can Athens residents pick their own electric company?** Yes, where Oncor's wires reach the house, which in Athens is most of the city: 8,132 homes with an Athens mailing address were on the competitive market on October 5, 2026, 1.73 for each Census household. Addresses in 75752, 75770 (all split) need an exact-address check before you shop.
**Where do most Athens electricity customers live?** That is 75751, home to 6,617 of the competitive meters with an Athens address. ZIP-wide: 6,682 ERCOT meters, about 6,630 Census households, 1.01 per household. At the other end, 75770 shows 0.21.
**How many Athens households have a $250 electric bill?** 75752 has the highest share of $250-plus monthly electric bills among Athens's core ZIP codes (37.3 percent of households, ACS 2020-2024); 75751 has 30.9 percent. Bigger and all-electric homes push the share up.
**I'm moving to Athens. How do I set up electricity?** 14.6% of 75751 residents moved within a year (ACS), and 22 meters in 75751 turned from vacant to active Oct. 7-18, 2026. Check that your Athens address is on Oncor's wires, then choose a plan and start date.
**Why are there more electric meters than households in Athens?** 8,132 Athens-addressed meters against 4,698 city households is 1.73 per household: the Athens postal area extends past city limits, and new homes get meters before the Census counts them. It doesn't mean every nearby address can choose.
**Where do I report a Athens power outage?** Oncor, at oncor.com/outages: it carries power to all 8,132 Athens-addressed competitive homes, whatever retail provider bills them.

## Sources
- ERCOT TDSP ESIID Extract (report 203): full extract as of Oct 5, 2026; daily files Oct 7-18, 2026: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203
- Census ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates (B25003 households, B01003 population): https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/
- Census Vintage 2025 city and town population estimates: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/cities/totals/sub-est2025_48.csv
- Census 2020 ZCTA-to-place and ZCTA-to-county relationship files: https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/rel2020/zcta520/
- EIA-861 (2024) utility service territories by county: https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia861/
- PUCT Power to Choose residential offer export, Oct 19, 2026, 7:59 AM CT: https://www.powertochoose.org/en-us/Plan/ExportToCsv
- PUCT: Choosing an Electric Plan: https://www.puc.texas.gov/consumer-help/electricity/electric-plan/
- PUCT broker directory (BR260201): https://www.puc.texas.gov/industry/electric/directories/brk/alpha_brk/
- Oncor Electric Delivery: https://www.oncor.com/
- Oncor delivery tariff (effective October 4, 2026): https://interchange.puc.texas.gov/Documents/59249_105_1676040.PDF
- Census Bureau Vintage 2025 city and town population estimates: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/cities/totals/sub-est2025_48.csv
- Census Bureau 2025 Gazetteer Files, Texas places (land and water area): https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html
- Census Bureau Vintage 2025 city and town population estimates: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/cities/totals/sub-est2025_48.csv
- Census ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/
- ERCOT TDSP ESIID Extract (report 203), Oct 5, 2026: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203
- Census ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/
- ERCOT TDSP ESIID Extract (report 203), Oct 5, 2026: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203
- ERCOT daily TDSP ESIID Extract files, Oct 7-18, 2026, via Power Hopper's Oct 18 ZIP study: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203
- ERCOT TDSP ESIID Extract (report 203), Oct 5, 2026: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203
- ERCOT TDSP ESIID Extract (report 203), Oct 5, 2026: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203
- Census ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/
- ERCOT TDSP ESIID Extract (report 203), Oct 5, 2026: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203
- Census Bureau Vintage 2025 city and town population estimates: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/cities/totals/sub-est2025_48.csv
- ERCOT TDSP ESIID Extract (report 203), Oct 5, 2026: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203
- ERCOT TDSP ESIID Extract (report 203), Oct 5, 2026: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203
- Census ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/
- EIA-861 (2024) utility service territories by county: https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia861/
- Census ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/

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