# Wharton, Texas electricity: CenterPoint wires and 6,513 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 6,513 active residential meters with a Wharton address, all on CenterPoint's wires (October 5, 2026). Nearly every Wharton address in our data is on CenterPoint's wires and can pick a retail provider.

## Moving to Wharton

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

- **Water and utility billing:** utility billing (start, transfer or stop water service), 979-532-2491.
- **Natural gas:** CenterPoint Energy: gas leak emergency (24/7), 888-876-5786.
- **Public schools:** Wharton ISD, Boling ISD.
- **Driver license:** Texas DPS Driver License Office: El Campo-Pierce, 512-424-2600.

## Who delivers electricity in Wharton?
ERCOT counts 6,513 active residential meters with a Wharton address, all on CenterPoint's wires (October 5, 2026).

## Can every address in Wharton choose?
No split flag on any ZIP code that holds Wharton's 6,502 competitive homes; most streets here can shop.

## What is different about Wharton?
- Population: 8,651 (2020 base) to 8,776 (July 2025), +1.4%, per Census Vintage 2025 estimates. The largest one-year change was +61 people, from July 2022 to July 2023. July 1 estimates in between: 8,688 (2021), 8,736 (2022), 8,797 (2023), 8,764 (2024). (Source: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/cities/totals/sub-est2025_48.csv)
- Wharton covers 8.3 square miles of land (Census 2025 Gazetteer). That works out to about 1,056 residents and 410 occupied households per square mile of land, with roughly 2.6 residents for every Wharton 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 Wharton mailing area is bigger than the city: ERCOT lists 6,513 competitive homes under the Wharton postal city, 1.91 for each of the city's 3,403 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/)
- Wharton-addressed homes make up 0.3% of the 2,585,110 residential meters on CenterPoint's competitive system. (Source: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203)
- ERCOT's daily extracts logged 14 newly created home meters in the ZIP codes most Wharton homes use between Oct. 7 and Oct. 18, 2026; the busiest was 77488 with 14. Another 28 went from vacant to active over the same days. (Source: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203)
- Vacancy signal: 11.7 percent of residential meters in Wharton's core ZIP codes were de-energized on October 5, 2026 (860 off, 6,520 on), per ERCOT. (Source: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203)
- One ZIP code, 77488, holds almost every Wharton-addressed competitive home (6,502). Taken whole, 77488 has 1.15 competitive meters per Census household: 6,520 meters, 5,665 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/)
- Wharton is 1 of 3 on a Wharton County list of cities and towns ranked by postal-city competitive homes; second place is El Campo, at 4,432. (Source: https://www.ercot.com/misapp/GetReports.do?reportTypeId=203)
- By the Census Bureau's 2025 estimates, Wharton is the number 2 city or town by population among the 3 that reach into Wharton County, one place ahead of East Bernard (2,256 residents). (Source: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/cities/totals/sub-est2025_48.csv)
- Renting is most common in 77488, where the ACS 2020-2024 counts 32.4 percent of households as renters; in that part of Wharton, 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: 38.5 percent of households in 77488, Wharton's main ZIP code, per the ACS 2020-2024; the same survey puts median household income there at $60,327. (Source: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2024/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/)
- Choice is broad around Wharton: even El Campo, the bottom of its six nearest towns on this measure, has 1.02 competitive homes per household; Rosenberg (23 mi) is the biggest at 19,320. (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): 8,776
- Population (2020 estimates base): 8,651
- Occupied households (ACS 2020-2024): 3,403
- Active residential meters with a Wharton address: 6,513
- Active business meters with a Wharton address: 1,697
- Residential meters per Census household: 1.91
- Delivery utilities (homes): CenterPoint 6,513
- Counties: Wharton
- ZIP codes touching Wharton: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 77488 | Wharton 100% | 4% | 6,520 | 5,665 | 1.15 | Near-full coverage. 14 new residential meters Oct 7-18, 2026. Mostly outside Wharton city limits. |

## Business electricity in Wharton
1,697 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 Wharton residents pick their own electric company?** Yes, where CenterPoint's wires reach the house, which in Wharton is most of the city: 6,513 homes with a Wharton mailing address were on the competitive market on October 5, 2026, 1.91 for each Census household. No Wharton ZIP code carries a split flag, but only an address lookup is certain.
**What is the biggest Wharton ZIP code for electricity customers?** That is 77488, home to 6,502 of the competitive meters with a Wharton address. ZIP-wide: 6,520 ERCOT meters, about 5,665 Census households, 1.15 per household.
**What do Wharton electricity plans cost per kWh?** On October 19, 2026, the median fixed-rate Power to Choose listing on CenterPoint's wires was 13.2¢ per kWh at 1,000 kWh a month (173 listings); CenterPoint's delivery charge of 6.5333¢ per kWh plus $4.90 a month is included. A median is not a quote.
**How do I start electric service at a new Wharton address?** 12.7% of 77488 residents moved within a year (ACS), and 28 meters in 77488 turned from vacant to active Oct. 7-18, 2026. Check that your Wharton address is on CenterPoint's wires, then choose a plan and start date.
**Why are there more electric meters than households in Wharton?** 6,513 Wharton-addressed meters against 3,403 city households is 1.91 per household: the Wharton 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 restores power in Wharton after an outage?** Call CenterPoint (centerpointenergy.com/outage), the wires utility for Wharton's 6,513 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/
- 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
- 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
- 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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