# Crystal City, Texas electricity: AEP Texas Central wires and 3,061 competitive homes

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

**In short:** ERCOT counts 3,061 active residential meters with a Crystal City address, all on AEP Texas Central's wires (October 5, 2026). Nearly every Crystal City address in our data is on AEP Texas Central's wires and can pick a retail provider.

## Moving to Crystal City

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

- **City hall (ask about water service):** City of Crystal City: City Hall (main line), 830-602-0247.
- **Public schools:** Crystal City ISD.
- **Driver license:** Texas DPS Driver License Office: Crystal City, 512-424-2600.

## Who delivers electricity in Crystal City?
ERCOT counts 3,061 active residential meters with a Crystal City address, all on AEP Texas Central's wires (October 5, 2026).

## Can every address in Crystal City choose?
No split flag on any ZIP code that holds Crystal City's 3,060 competitive homes; most streets here can shop.

## What is different about Crystal City?
- Population: 6,360 (2020 base) to 5,871 (July 2025), -7.7%, per Census Vintage 2025 estimates. The largest one-year change was -138 people, from July 2020 to July 2021. July 1 estimates in between: 6,213 (2021), 6,137 (2022), 6,108 (2023), 5,977 (2024). (Source: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/cities/totals/sub-est2025_48.csv)
- Crystal City covers 3.7 square miles of land (Census 2025 Gazetteer). That works out to about 1,601 residents and 597 occupied households per square mile of land, with roughly 2.7 residents for every Crystal City 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 Crystal City mailing area is bigger than the city: ERCOT lists 3,061 competitive homes under the Crystal City postal city, 1.4 for each of the city's 2,188 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/)
- Of the 810,296 homes AEP Texas Central serves on the competitive market, 0.4% have a Crystal City mailing address. (Source: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203)
- Move-ins show up as vacant-to-active switches in ERCOT's daily files: 13 of them in the ZIP codes most Crystal City homes use, Oct. 7-18, 2026. (Source: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203)
- Vacancy signal: 18.6 percent of residential meters in Crystal City's core ZIP codes were de-energized on October 5, 2026 (732 off, 3,209 on), per ERCOT. (Source: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203)
- One ZIP code, 78839, holds almost every Crystal City-addressed competitive home (3,060); it also carries 147 Winter Haven addresses. Taken whole, 78839 has 1.26 competitive meters per Census household: 3,209 meters, 2,544 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/)
- Mailing cities on the 3,209 competitive home meters in 78839, Crystal City's main ZIP code: Crystal City 3,060, Winter Haven 147. 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)
- Renting is most common in 78839, where the ACS 2020-2024 counts 31.8 percent of households as renters; in that part of Crystal City, electricity accounts change hands with each lease. (Source: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/)
- Electric bills over $250 a month: 45.1 percent of households in 78839, Crystal City's main ZIP code, per the ACS 2020-2024; the same survey puts median household income there at $37,365. (Source: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/)

## By the numbers
- Population (July 1, 2025 estimate): 5,871
- Population (2020 estimates base): 6,360
- Occupied households (ACS 2020-2024): 2,188
- Active residential meters with a Crystal City address: 3,061
- Active business meters with a Crystal City address: 717
- Residential meters per Census household: 1.4
- Delivery utilities (homes): AEP Texas Central 3,061
- Counties: Zavala
- ZIP codes touching Crystal City: 1
- Split ZIP codes (flagged below): 0

## Plan prices (median ¢/kWh at 500 / 1,000 / 2,000 kWh)
- AEP Texas Central: 12.7 / 12.1 / 12; delivery 5.6898¢/kWh + $3.24/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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 78839 | Crystal City 95%, Winter Haven 5% | 2% | 3,209 | 2,544 | 1.26 | Near-full coverage. Mostly outside Crystal City city limits. |

## Business electricity in Crystal City
717 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 Crystal City residents pick their own electric company?** Yes, where AEP Texas Central's wires reach the house, which in Crystal City is most of the city: 3,061 homes with a Crystal City mailing address were on the competitive market on October 5, 2026, 1.4 for each Census household. No Crystal City ZIP code carries a split flag, but only an address lookup is certain.
**Which Crystal City ZIP code has the most homes on the competitive market?** 78839. It holds 3,060 Crystal City-addressed competitive homes; counting every address in the ZIP, ERCOT has 3,209 meters for roughly 2,544 households, a 1.26 ratio.
**How much is electricity in Crystal City right now?** On October 19, 2026, the median fixed-rate Power to Choose listing on AEP Texas Central's wires was 12.1¢ per kWh at 1,000 kWh a month (164 listings); AEP Texas Central's delivery charge of 5.6898¢ per kWh plus $3.24 a month is included. A median is not a quote.
**I'm moving to Crystal City. How do I set up electricity?** Confirm the address is on AEP Texas Central's wires, then pick a plan and a start date. In 78839, 1.7% of residents moved in the past year (ACS); 13 meters in 78839 went vacant-to-active Oct. 7-18, 2026.
**Why are there more electric meters than households in Crystal City?** 3,061 Crystal City-addressed meters against 2,188 city households is 1.4 per household: the Crystal City 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.
**Who do I call in Crystal City when the power goes out?** Call AEP Texas Central (aeptexas.com/outages), the wires utility for Crystal City's 3,061 competitive homes; a retail provider can't fix lines.

## 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/
- AEP Texas (Central Division): https://www.aeptexas.com/
- AEP Texas Central delivery tariff (effective September 29, 2026): https://www.aeptexas.com/lib/docs/ratesandtariffs/Texas/AEP_TEXAS_TARIFF_Eff_Sept_29_2026v1.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 ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/
- 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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