In Houston, electric delivery is handled by CenterPoint Energy — and since Houston sits in Texas's deregulated market, you pick your own Houston retail plan; CenterPoint Energy is Houston's natural-gas utility; City of Houston runs Houston's water service. The exact lineup depends on your Houston address — even nearby Austin and Round Rock answer differently.
Houston lookups are free — all four utility types in about a minute
Houston guide: providers · address check · checklist · FAQ · nearby
Houston is the hardest big city in Texas to generalize about. The city itself sprawls across Harris County and beyond, but huge swaths of "Houston" addresses — especially master-planned communities outside the city limits — sit in unincorporated county territory where water and sewer come from a municipal utility district (MUD) rather than the city. Whether you're inside or outside the city limits changes who you call.
Houston's housing stock tips you off to which accounts you'll actually need. The pier-and-beam bungalows of the Heights and Montrose usually kept their gas lines, feeding the range and water heater — that means opening a gas account through CenterPoint Energy alongside your electricity. Plenty of newer townhomes inside the Loop skip gas entirely, so check what the kitchen runs on before you assume. Timing matters as much as plumbing: a June-through-September move means getting the power on before the truck pulls up, because unpacking in a Houston August without air conditioning is an endurance test all its own. Water from the City of Houston and sewer through Houston Public Works complete the standard in-city lineup.
| Utility | Provider | Phone | Start service |
|---|---|---|---|
| ⚡ Electricity |
CenterPoint Energy
Delivery utility — you choose your plan |
(800) 752-8036 | Provider site |
| 🔥 Natural gas | CenterPoint Energy | (800) 752-8036 | Provider site |
| 💧 Water | City of Houston | — | Look up address |
| 🚽 Sewer | Houston Public Works | (832) 395-2500 | Provider site |
Based on 11 sampled Houston addresses spanning ZIP codes 77008, 77016, 77017, 77042, 77045, 77072, 77075, 77076, 77079, 77088, 77092 (2026-07-20). Yours may differ — the Houston lookup is the tiebreaker.
The classic Houston-area surprise is the MUD: if you're renting or buying in a newer subdivision outside the city limits, your water bill likely comes from a district with its own name, rates and phone number.
The one-minute fix: run your Houston address through the lookup and skip the guessing.
CenterPoint Energy — Houston's TDU — owns the wires here, and restores Houston outages ((800) 752-8036) whoever you pay. Your separately chosen Houston plan (compare at Power to Choose) sets the rate on your Houston bill — full wires-vs-plans explainer here.
Houston's setup is straightforward inside the city limits and district-by-district outside them — so step one matters more here than almost anywhere.
CenterPoint Energy is the TDU for Houston — the wires-and-meters utility — at every one of the Houston addresses we sampled. You pick the retail plan that sets your Houston rate; CenterPoint Energy delivers either way.
At every one of the Houston addresses we sampled, City of Houston was the water provider. Other districts take over around Houston's edges, so check your block.
No — at every one of the sampled Houston addresses, CenterPoint Energy was the gas utility, but plenty of Houston homes are all-electric and never open this account.
If you're inside the Houston city limits — as every address in our sampling was — water and sewer go through the city. In the unincorporated parts of the metro, a municipal utility district (MUD) takes the city's place, with its own name, board and billing. The lookup tells you which situation your address is in.
CenterPoint Energy was the delivery utility at every Houston address we sampled, from Alief to Kingwood-side neighborhoods. Remember that delivery is only half the story: you still choose the retail plan that sets your rate.
Both, sort of. CenterPoint Energy owns the poles, wires and meters at every Houston address we sampled, but Texas's deregulated market means you buy your power through a retail plan from a competing provider — that's the name on your bill. Switching retailers never changes who restores power after a storm; that's always CenterPoint, which also delivers the natural gas here. With air conditioning running from spring well into October, the plan you choose matters, and the lookup confirms what applies at your address.
One minute with the Houston lookup above returns your Houston address's exact providers, phone numbers included.
Moving somewhere just outside Houston? Providers likely differ:
Houston-level lists can't be precise. Your Houston address can.
Find my providersHouston provider data comes from our address-level utility lookup engine — 11 Houston sample addresses spread across ZIPs 77008, 77016, 77017, 77042, 77045, 77072, 77075, 77076, 77079, 77088, 77092, refreshed 2026-07-20. Individual Houston addresses vary — check yours directly. Here's how we verify Houston provider data.