Setting Up Utilities in San Antonio: CPS Energy, SAWS, Trash, and Internet Without the Runaround

If you are renting in San Antonio proper, you need three accounts in your name before move-in day: CPS Energy (electric and gas), SAWS (water and sewer), and an internet provider. Trash is usually handled by whichever city you live in and billed through your water utility or property — you rarely set it up yourself. Start the utilities 5–10 business days before your lease start date. Same-day connects exist but cost extra and depend on whether the previous tenant's service is already disconnected.

This is the short version. The longer version matters because San Antonio has a patchwork of providers once you cross into Schertz, Cibolo, Converse, Helotes, or anywhere outside the City of San Antonio limits — and the wrong assumption will leave you without power on a Friday afternoon.

CPS Energy: electric and natural gas

CPS Energy is the municipally owned utility that serves electric and natural gas for the City of San Antonio and most of Bexar County. It is not a retail provider like you would pick in Houston or Dallas — there is no "shop for a plan." You get CPS, at CPS's regulated rates, and that's it. For renters, this is actually good news: no contracts, no early termination fees, no introductory-rate games.

To start service:

• Apply online at cpsenergy.com or call 210-353-2222.
• Have your lease, a government ID, and your Social Security number or ITIN ready.
• Pick a service start date. Standard turnaround is 1–3 business days.
• If you have no Texas utility history, CPS will either require a deposit (typically a few hundred dollars for a standard residence, refunded after 12 months of on-time payment) or accept a letter of credit from your prior utility showing 12 months of on-time payments.

If the unit has natural gas (many 78209, 78212, and older 78210 homes do), it is on the same CPS account. You will not see a separate gas bill. If the previous tenant left gas service on, CPS can often transfer without a physical visit; if it was shut off, a tech has to relight the pilot, which requires an adult on-site.

Budget billing and autopay

CPS offers budget billing after 12 months of history — it averages your usage so your summer bills don't double when a San Antonio August hits 105. Useful once you have a year of data, not something you can start on day one.

SAWS: water and sewer (and, usually, trash)

San Antonio Water System handles water and wastewater for most of the city. SAWS is separate from CPS — different account, different bill, different login. Set it up at saws.org or call 210-704-7297.

Two things to know:

• Your trash and recycling fee from the City of San Antonio's Solid Waste Management Department shows up as a line item on your SAWS bill if you live in a single-family home inside city limits. You do not sign up for trash separately. The carts stay with the address.
• SAWS deposit is usually waived for renters with a clean prior utility record, but expect $50–$150 if you are new to Texas utilities.

If you are renting an apartment or condo, water is often included in rent or sub-metered through the property — confirm with the leasing office before you open a SAWS account you don't need.

Trash, recycling, and brush — who actually picks it up

Inside the City of San Antonio, the city's Solid Waste Department runs pickup: one brown cart (trash), one blue cart (recycling), one green cart (organics, in participating areas). Pickup day is set by address — look it up on the city's "Garbage and Recycling" page.

Outside city limits, it depends:

• Converse, Universal City, Live Oak, Selma, Kirby, Leon Valley — each city contracts its own hauler. Bill either comes from the city or direct from the hauler (Waste Management, Tiger Sanitation, Republic).
• Schertz and Cibolo — Bexar Waste / Republic, billed through the city utility bill.
• Unincorporated Bexar County — you hire a private hauler yourself. No default service.
• Alamo Heights, Olmos Park, Terrell Hills — each has its own small-city service; do not assume the San Antonio rules apply.

If you are moving into a house in one of the independent municipalities inside Loop 410, your landlord should tell you which utility packet applies. If they can't, that's a sign to ask more questions before signing.

Internet: the four realistic options

San Antonio has genuine competition, which is rare for a Texas metro. Availability is block-by-block, so always check the exact address, not just the ZIP.

• Spectrum (Charter) — cable. Available almost everywhere. Solid speeds, aggressive price hikes after year one. No data cap on standard plans.
• AT&T Fiber — the strongest option where it's built out, which is most of the newer northside (Stone Oak 78258, Alamo Ranch 78253, parts of 78247, 78249) and increasing stretches of 78209, 78212, 78201. Symmetrical upload/download. If you can get it, take it.
• Google Fiber — expanded into San Antonio in 2023–2024, concentrated in central and near-north neighborhoods. Check their address tool; coverage grows monthly.
• T-Mobile / Verizon 5G Home Internet — wireless, $50–$70/month flat, no contract. Good backup if fiber isn't available and you don't want to sign with Spectrum. Performance depends on tower proximity.

Avoid signing a 24-month contract as a renter. Month-to-month or 12-month is enough.

Suburbs where CPS and SAWS don't apply

If your address is not inside the City of San Antonio, stop and check:

Area	Electric	Water
Schertz, Cibolo, Selma (parts)	GVEC or CPS (varies)	Schertz/Cibolo/Universal City utility or Green Valley SUD
Helotes, Grey Forest	CPS	Bexar Metropolitan areas or private wells in pockets
Boerne (Kendall County)	Bandera Electric Co-op or GVEC	City of Boerne
Far south / east unincorporated	CPS	East Central SUD, Bexar Met successor districts

GVEC (Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative) is a member-owned co-op serving large parts of Schertz, Cibolo, Marion, and Seguin. Setting up with GVEC requires a membership application and typically a deposit — plan for it, don't assume CPS covers you.

What most people get wrong

• Waiting until move-in day to call. CPS and SAWS can usually turn on service next-day, but if the prior tenant's disconnect wasn't processed or a meter needs to be physically read, you will sit in a dark apartment. Start 5–10 business days ahead.
• Assuming "Texas = pick your electric company." That is ERCOT deregulated territory — Houston, Dallas, most of the I-35 corridor north of Austin. San Antonio is not deregulated. Do not sign up with a retail electric provider; they cannot serve your address.
• Forgetting that CPS bills include gas. New arrivals sometimes wait for a separate gas bill that never comes, then get hit with a larger combined charge.
• Setting up SAWS for an apartment where water is included. Read the lease. If the property is master-metered or sub-metered through a billing company (Conservice, Yes Energy), a SAWS account is duplicative.
• Ignoring the trash cart situation in unincorporated Bexar County. If your rental house is outside any city limit, nobody automatically comes for your trash. Ask the landlord which hauler is on the account or set one up yourself.
• Signing a 2-year internet contract. A 12-month lease plus a 24-month internet contract is how you end up paying an early-termination fee to Spectrum when your landlord doesn't renew.

A realistic timeline

• Two weeks before move-in: confirm your exact service address with the landlord, including unit number. Open CPS Energy and SAWS accounts online with the lease start date as the connect date.
• One week before: check internet availability at the address on AT&T, Google Fiber, and Spectrum. Schedule the install for move-in day or the day after — installers book up, especially at month-end.
• Move-in day: confirm power and water are on before you start unloading. If either is off, call the utility first, the landlord second.
• First 30 days: save the deposit receipts. Set up autopay once you've verified the first bill looks right. Don't enroll in budget billing yet.

Once your utilities are sorted, the rest of the move is logistics. If you are still looking for the right unit, browse current listings at RentInSA's /rentals page, filter by the ZIP codes that match your commute, and verify utility responsibility in the listing details before you tour. For broader relocation questions — schools, property taxes, neighborhood comparisons — the /resources section covers the pillars that matter once you're here.