Salado, Texas electricity: Oncor wires and 4,474 competitive homes
Oncor wires and 4,474 competitive homes: the Salado numbers.
Reviewed by Brent Ward, founder, on 2026-10-19. Updated .
Salado at a glance: 4,474 Salado-addressed homes, all wired by Oncor (ERCOT, Oct. 5, 2026). Salado's 4,474 placed homes sit in unsplit ZIP codes; a lookup still confirms each address.
Salado wires and choice
Oncor outages: oncor.com/outages. Oncor
Salado's 4,474 placed homes sit in unsplit ZIP codes; a lookup still confirms each address.
Non-choice utilities listed by EIA (2024) for Bell: 3.
Moving to Salado
Local numbers for setting up a home in Salado, each checked on the official source. More contacts, and a printable list, are on Salado helpful move-in information.
- Public schools: Salado ISD.
- Driver license: Texas DPS Driver License Office: Temple, 512-424-2600.
You enter your address on the next screen, and we confirm there whether you can choose an electricity provider at that address.
Have a High Light Bill or Electric Bill?
If your electricity bill in Salado came in higher than you expected, upload or enter it and see whether another plan could lower your electricity costs, or whether staying where you are makes more sense.
Weather and electricity in Salado
Typical weather near Salado, from the nearest NOAA station with a complete 1991-2020 record: Stillhouse Hollow Dam, about 6 miles from the city center (station elevation 706 ft). These are normals for that station, not readings at your address. August is the warmest month on average, with a normal daily high of 96°F; January has the coolest average low, 36°F. Average daily highs reach 90°F or more in June to September. No month averages a daily low at or below freezing.
For electricity, the normals point to two seasons that can lift a household's usage: cooling-degree days (a measure of how far each day's mean temperature sits above 65°F) peak in August at 586 for the month, and heating-degree days (below 65°F) peak in January at 534. How much that matters to a bill depends on the home, its insulation, its heating fuel and the household, so use your own usage history, not a regional average, when you compare plans.
| Month | Avg high °F | Avg low °F | Precipitation (in) | Cooling degree-days | Heating degree-days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 60 | 36 | 2.6 | 3 | 534 |
| Feb | 64 | 39 | 2.3 | 8 | 379 |
| Mar | 71 | 46 | 3.3 | 31 | 237 |
| Apr | 78 | 54 | 3.1 | 101 | 74 |
| May | 85 | 63 | 4.9 | 275 | 10 |
| Jun | 91 | 70 | 3.4 | 461 | 0 |
| Jul | 95 | 72 | 1.9 | 578 | 0 |
| Aug | 96 | 72 | 2.5 | 586 | 0 |
| Sep | 90 | 66 | 3.7 | 390 | 3 |
| Oct | 81 | 56 | 4.0 | 163 | 62 |
| Nov | 69 | 46 | 2.6 | 29 | 254 |
| Dec | 61 | 38 | 2.8 | 6 | 478 |
Historical weather records for Bell County
The Texas Railroad Commission's county table lists a record low of -5°F (1989) and a record high of 112°F (2018), and a regional estimate of 24 consecutive hours as a typical longest freezing or frozen-precipitation period for Bell County. These are historical county extremes, not Salado's monthly averages and not a forecast; the normals above describe ordinary months.
Reference only: the U.S. Energy Information Administration's 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey puts the average Texas household at about 13,440 kWh a year (about 1,120 kWh a month if spread evenly). That is a statewide average for 2020, not Salado, and not an estimate for your home. EIA source.
Sources: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, station USC00418646; Texas Railroad Commission, Historical Weather Data by County (2022).
Salado electricity, in numbers and sources
- Land: 3.1 sq mi; 827 residents and 297 households per sq mi; 2.79 people per Salado household. [Gazetteer; PEP; ACS]
- Heating fuel, Salado homes (ACS 2020-2024): electricity 93.2% (±4), utility gas 1.4%, propane 5.4%; Bell County overall: 86.0% electric. All-electric homes feel winter rates more. [ACS]
- Of Salado homes paying a power bill, 32.4% report $250 or more a month and 8.7% under $100 (Bell County: 32.4% at $250+). [ACS]
- Housing stock: 81.8% detached houses, 6.8% in 5+ unit buildings; median year built 1992, 20.6% built 2010 or later. [ACS]
- Salado-addressed home meters on Oct. 5, 2026: 4,474 active, 392 inactive, 426 de-energized, so 15.5% were not in use (ERCOT). [ERCOT]
- ACS 2020-2024: 13.3% of Salado housing units vacant (±6), with 12.1% of vacant units held for seasonal use. Vacant homes keep meters that are not counted as households. [ACS]
- 4,474 home meters use the Salado postal name, against 920 households inside city limits (4.86 per household): the mailing area runs well past the boundary. [ERCOT; ACS]
- New home meters, Oct. 7-18, 2026, Salado ZIP codes: 26 (top: 76513, 20); vacant-to-active: 49. [ERCOT]
- 76571 carries 4,242 of 4,474 Salado-addressed homes (95%); ratio across the whole ZIP 1.21, from 4,255 home meters in all and 3,505 households. [ERCOT; ACS]
Salado homes: heating fuel, bills, housing
| Salado | Estimate |
|---|---|
| Heat with electricity | 93.2% |
| Heat with utility gas | 1.4% |
| Bill $250 or more | 32.4% |
| Built 2010 or later | 20.6% |
| Renter households | 12.6% |
| Median year built | 1992 |
ACS 2020-2024, the city (Census boundary). Bill rows are shares of homes that pay an electric bill.
Salado meters and households
| Count | Salado |
|---|---|
| Residents, July 2025 | 2,565 |
| Residents, 2020 base | 2,390 |
| Households (ACS) | 920 |
| Active home meters | 4,474 |
| Inactive home meters | 392 |
| De-energized home meters | 426 |
| Active small-business meters | 1,084 |
| Active large-business meters | 1 |
| Home meters per household | 4.86 |
| ZIP codes listed | 2 |
| Split ZIP codes | 0 |
| County | Bell |
ERCOT report 203, Oct. 5, 2026 (Salado postal city) and Census. CSV · Method
Salado plan prices, October 19, 2026
Median fixed-rate Power to Choose listings. Oncor (170 listings): 14.1¢ / 13.4¢ / 13.2¢ per kWh at 500 / 1,000 / 2,000 kWh, delivery 6.8673¢ + $4.06/mo included. Not a quote.
Salado ZIP codes, row by row
Not every address in these ZIP codes has retail choice; check your exact address.
| ZIP code | Salado homes | All ZIP homes | Salado share | ZIP households | Share of Salado land | Meters per household | Flags |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 76571 | 4,242 | 4,255 | 100% | 3,505 | 100% | 1.21 | none |
| 76513 | 232 | 19,402 | 1% | 15,904 | 0% | 1.22 | none |
Salado split ZIP codes: none.
Towns around Salado
| From Salado | Town (2,000+) | Homes vs Salado | Wires | Per household | Competitive homes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 mi | Belton | 3.7× | Oncor | 2.01 | 16,718 |
| 10 mi | Nolanville | 0.7× | Oncor | 1.24 | 3,338 |
| 10 mi | Harker Heights | 2.7× | Oncor | 0.98 | 12,170 |
| 11 mi | Jarrell | 1.2× | Oncor | 4.84 | 5,436 |
| 11 mi | Little River-Academy | 0.2× | Oncor | 1.22 | 913 |
| 14 mi | Temple | 10.2× | Oncor | 1.32 | 45,527 |
Salado businesses
1,085 Salado-addressed business meters; 8 large-class meters across its main ZIP codes (ERCOT). Request a business rate review.
Compare Salado plans
Salado questions
Can Salado homes choose an electric provider?
Mostly. ERCOT counts 4,474 competitive Salado home meters, all on Oncor's system, against 920 households. An address lookup settles it.
Do Salado homes heat with electricity?
93.2% of Salado homes heat with electricity (ACS 2020-2024, margin ±4) and 1.4% with utility gas; 32.4% of bill-paying homes report $250 or more a month. Electric-heat homes should compare plans at winter usage.
Which ZIP code covers most of Salado?
76571 (4,242 Salado homes on the competitive market). Across the full ZIP: 1.21 meters per household, 4,255 home meters in all.
Who handles Salado power outages?
Outages go to Oncor (oncor.com/outages), the wires utility for 4,474 Salado competitive homes.
Moving to Salado: how do I start electricity?
Check the address is on Oncor's wires, choose a plan and a start date. Salado had 818 idle home meters (inactive or de-energized) on Oct. 5, 2026, so many move-ins reconnect an existing meter.
Near Salado
Wires and county: Oncor · Bell. Nearby pages: Belton (8 mi) · Harker Heights (10 mi) · Jarrell (11 mi) · Morgan's Point Resort (15 mi) · Nolanville (10 mi) · Temple (14 mi)
No-choice areas · Methodology · Compare plans
Sources
- ERCOT TDSP ESIID Extract (report 203): full extract as of Oct 5, 2026; daily files Oct 7-18, 2026
- Census ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates, tables B25040, B25132, B25024, B25034, B25035, B25018, B19013, B25003, B25002, B25004 (90% margins of error)
- Census Vintage 2025 city and town population estimates
- Census 2020 ZCTA-to-place and ZCTA-to-county relationship files
- EIA-861 (2024) utility service territories by county
- PUCT Power to Choose residential offer export, Oct 19, 2026, 7:59 AM CT
- PUCT: Choosing an Electric Plan
- PUCT broker directory (BR260201)
- Oncor Electric Delivery
- Oncor delivery tariff (effective October 4, 2026)
- Census Bureau 2025 Gazetteer Files, Texas places (land and water area)
BJW Ventures LLC d/b/a Power Hopper | PUCT BR260201. PUCT registration is not an endorsement.