# South Houston, Texas electricity: CenterPoint wires and 5,184 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 5,184 active residential meters with a South Houston address, all on CenterPoint's wires (October 5, 2026). Nearly every South Houston address in our data is on CenterPoint's wires and can pick a retail provider.

## Moving to South Houston

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

- **Water and utility billing:** utility billing (start, transfer or stop water service), 713-947-7700.
- **Natural gas:** CenterPoint Energy: gas customer service (Houston area), 713-659-2111.
- **Public schools:** Pasadena ISD.
- **Driver license:** Texas DPS Driver License Office: Houston Southeast Mega Center, 512-424-2600.

## Who delivers electricity in South Houston?
ERCOT counts 5,184 active residential meters with a South Houston address, all on CenterPoint's wires (October 5, 2026).

## Can every address in South Houston choose?
None of the ZIP codes holding South Houston's 5,184 competitive homes is flagged split, so most South Houston streets can shop.

## What is different about South Houston?
- Population: 16,173 (2020 base) to 16,407 (July 2025), +1.4%, per Census Vintage 2025 estimates. The largest one-year change was -249 people, from July 2020 to July 2021. (Source: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/cities/totals/sub-est2025_48.csv)
- CenterPoint share: 0.2% of its 2,585,110 competitive residential meters carry a South Houston address. (Source: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203)
- ERCOT's daily files for Oct. 7-18, 2026 show 12 brand-new residential meters across South Houston's main ZIP codes (12 of them in 77587) and 9 meters going from vacant to active. (Source: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203)
- De-energized homes, usually empty or between tenants, number 285 in South Houston's main ZIP codes, 5.2% of all 5,469 residential meters there. (Source: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203)
- Nearly all South Houston-addressed competitive homes (5,184) are in one ZIP code, 77587. ZIP-wide, ERCOT counts 5,184 competitive meters for 4,998 Census households, a 1.04 ratio. (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/)
- Harris County context: South Houston ranks 18 of 22 touching cities and towns for postal-city competitive homes, just behind Bellaire (6,127). (Source: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203)
- 44.6% of households in 77587 rent (ACS 2020-2024), the most among South Houston's main ZIP codes, so a lot of South Houston electricity accounts open and close with each lease. (Source: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/)
- In 77587, the ZIP holding most South Houston homes, the ACS 2020-2024 survey finds a median household income of $53,497, 44.6% renters and 21.2% of households with $250+ monthly electric bills. (Source: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/)
- Nearby, Galena Park (6 mi) has 0.91 competitive homes per household, while Pearland counts 54,288 on its postal city. (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/)

## By the numbers
- Population (July 1, 2025 estimate): 16,407
- Population (2020 estimates base): 16,173
- Occupied households (ACS 2020-2024): 4,998
- Active residential meters with a South Houston address: 5,184
- Active business meters with a South Houston address: 1,258
- Residential meters per Census household: 1.04
- Delivery utilities (homes): CenterPoint 5,184
- Counties: Harris
- ZIP codes touching South Houston: 1
- Split ZIP codes (flagged below): 0

## Plan prices (median ¢/kWh at 500 / 1,000 / 2,000 kWh)
- CenterPoint: 14 / 13.2 / 13; delivery 6.5333¢/kWh + $4.90/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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 77587 | South Houston 100% | 99% | 5,184 | 4,998 | 1.04 | Near-full coverage. 12 new residential meters Oct 7-18, 2026. |

## Business electricity in South Houston
1,258 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
**Is South Houston deregulated for electricity?** Most South Houston homes can. ERCOT's October 5, 2026 extract has 5,184 South Houston-addressed homes on CenterPoint's competitive system, compared with 4,998 households in the Census survey. None of South Houston's ZIP codes is flagged split, though an address check is still the only sure answer.
**Which South Houston ZIP code has the most homes on the competitive market?** ZIP 77587: 5,184 of its 5,184 competitive residential meters use a South Houston address, and the ZIP has about 4,998 Census households (ratio 1.04).
**How many businesses in South Houston are on the competitive electricity market?** Yes, where CenterPoint delivers: 1,258 South Houston-addressed business meters are on the competitive market in ERCOT's data, and large accounts can also buy from commercial suppliers directly.
**I'm moving to South Houston. How do I set up electricity?** Start with the address check: CenterPoint-delivered South Houston homes choose among the plans offered there and set a start date. Turnover is real in 77587, where 12.5% moved in the past year (ACS); ERCOT logged 9 vacant-to-active meters in 77587 Oct. 7-18, 2026.
**Who restores power in South Houston after an outage?** CenterPoint, at centerpointenergy.com/outage: it carries power to all 5,184 South Houston-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/
- CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric: https://www.centerpointenergy.com/
- CenterPoint delivery tariff (effective October 1, 2026): https://ftp.puc.texas.gov/public/puct-info/industry/electric/rates/tdr/tdu/CenterPoint_Rate_Report.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
- 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/
- 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/

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