Set Up Utilities for Your Dallas Apartment, Free

After the lease, the free part starts

After the lease is signed, we help with your electricity plan, internet, renters insurance, movers and when to switch on utilities. It's free, anywhere in Dallas County and the suburbs around it.

Signing isn't the last decision. The next ones come fast, and a bad pick can cost you for the whole lease. The utility setup steps are the same for a high rise in Uptown and a garden style complex in Richardson.

We help with all of them at no charge, whether or not we found you the apartment.

Electricity: the part that confuses everyone new to Texas

In Dallas, you pick your own electricity company, and ERCOT runs the grid behind it. Two separate companies have a hand in your bill:

• Oncor is the local utility, not the company you buy power from. It owns the poles and wires, delivers the power to your address, and bills your provider for it. You don't choose Oncor. Your address does.
• The retail electric provider (REP) is the company you pick. It sets your rate and sends you the bill. Garland and Denton work differently: each runs its own city power company, so there you don't pick a provider.

To start service, you need your move date and the ESID for your unit. That's the ID number for your meter, and the property or Oncor can give it to you.

Read the Electricity Facts Label, not the banner

Every plan has an Electricity Facts Label. It shows the average price per kWh at 500, 1,000, and 2,000 kWh of monthly usage.

The label shows three usage levels for a reason: many plans are built around a bill credit that only kicks in at one of them. A plan advertised at a low headline rate can depend on a credit that appears at 1,000 kWh and disappears at 999. A one bedroom apartment using 450 kWh in a mild month gets none of it.

Guess your usage from your unit size and the season, then read the label at that level. As of 2026, the Public Utility Commission’s Power to Choose site lists plans across the Oncor area. TXU Energy and Reliant are among the bigger providers there.

Then check the contract term, the early termination fee, and whether the rate is fixed or variable.

When Should Utility Service Start?

Service needs to start the day you get your keys. Not the day after.

Two dates can differ: your lease start date and your actual move date. Properties sometimes hand over the unit with the power off. Connecting late in a Dallas July means moving furniture in an apartment without air conditioning.

We help you set the start date to whichever of the two comes first, and we check it with you before you move.

Internet: check the building first

Some newer Dallas buildings require bulk internet, especially newer midrise and high rise buildings. That's one contract for the whole building, billed to every resident as a monthly charge. If yours does, signing your own contract with a cable or fiber company on top is money spent twice.

Ask two questions before signing anything: is there bulk service, and what speed does it actually deliver? If the bulk service tops out at 100 Mbps and you need more, you want to know that before you move in, not after.

Renters insurance

Most Dallas leases in 2026 require it, commonly with a $100,000 liability minimum. The property will ask for a Certificate of Insurance naming it as an interested party before it gives you your keys.

Buy at least what the lease requires. Buy less and your keys get held up. Your lease lists the amount, so find it before you shop.

Water, sewer, and trash

Many buildings bill these through RUBS (ratio utility billing). It splits the building’s total bill among residents using a formula, instead of a meter for each unit. It shows up on your monthly bill from the property, changes month to month, and belongs in your total monthly cost instead of coming as a surprise.

Ask what RUBS averaged last year for your floorplan. Properties can usually tell you.

Movers

We help with timing. We don't do the move ourselves, and we don't mark anything up.

The timing advice that matters most: the last three days of any month are the busiest in this market. That goes double for high rises and midrise buildings, where elevator booking times fill early. For a move at the end of the month, booking two to three weeks ahead is the difference between a crew showing up and no crew.

Apartment Utility Setup Checklist

• Confirm the ESID and set the electricity start date
• Check for bulk internet before signing up for service
• Buy renters insurance at the coverage your lease asks for, and send the certificate to the property
• Ask how water, sewer, and trash are billed
• Register for package lockers or the parcel room
• File a change of address
• Fill out a move-in condition form on day one, with photos, and keep a copy

That last one protects your deposit. Do it before you unpack.

Free, and it stays free

This is included at no charge. It costs us time, and clients think back on it when renewal comes around. That's the honest reason it exists.