Average Utility Bills in Garland: A Simple Seasonal Guide

Utility costs are the line item renters guess at most, and in North Texas that guess is usually off. Serving the greater Dallas area, Hickory Apartments in Garland sits inside the city's own utility territory, which changes the math. Average Utility Bills here move with the weather, not with the calendar.

What Average Utility Bills Cover in a Garland Apartment

Four charges make up Average Utility Bills for most Garland renters: electricity, water and wastewater, sanitation and stormwater, and natural gas. The city puts electric, sanitation, water, sewer and stormwater on one statement. Atmos Energy bills gas separately. Internet isn't a utility, though most budgets treat it like one.

Who Actually Sends the Bill

This is where Garland breaks from the rest of Texas. Garland Power & Light, the city's municipally owned electric utility, is the sole electricity provider for roughly 85% of residents, per the city's new resident guide. Everyone else may choose any provider other than GP&L. So the utilities Garland, TX renters pay for come from two places rather than six: the city handles electric, water, sewer, sanitation and stormwater, and Atmos handles gas.

Opening that account costs something up front. The start-service page lists a $200 deposit for electric or electric-and-water accounts, $75 for water-only, plus a $30 account establishment fee on your first bill. A letter of credit from a previous utility can replace the deposit if you've had no more than one late payment in 12 months.

How Apartment Utilities Cost Gets Split in a Leased Unit

Individually metered apartments get the city's residential electric rate, the same schedule a house on the block pays. Water is a different story. Many communities are master-metered, so the owner bills each unit by submeter or allocation formula under Public Utility Commission of Texas rules. Those submetering and allocation rules cap what a property can add: no more than a 9% service fee on your submetered water and wastewater charge, and no passing along the utility's deposit, disconnect or late fees. Ask which method a lease uses before you sign. Apartment utilities cost more under allocation than under submetering if you live alone and use little water.

How Do the Electricity Rates Garland Residents Pay Change by Season?

Rates barely move. Usage does all the work. The U.S. Energy Information Administration put the Texas average residential price at 16.44 cents per kilowatt-hour in May 2026, and EIA reports that home electricity use peaks in July and August, with about 18% of annual household consumption going to air conditioning.

Run that through a one-bedroom and the shape gets obvious. April might pull 400 to 600 kilowatt-hours. August might pull 800 to 1,300. Same rate, very different bill.

Municipal pricing adds one wrinkle. In May 2026 the city announced a change to the Recovery Adjustment Factor built into GP&L's electric rate, citing rising natural gas costs. Because GP&L is a city department, rate changes arrive through the budget process instead of a contract you signed. No early termination fee. No shopping around either, which is the honest tradeoff.

Electricity figures apply the EIA Texas average residential price of 16.44 cents per kilowatt-hour to the usage shown. Gas, water, sewer and trash are planning estimates, not quoted rates. Read these Average Utility Bills as a range: unit size, insulation and headcount all move the total.

What Happens to Your Garland Water Bill, Gas and Trash?

Your Garland water bill moves opposite your gas bill. Water and sewer drift up in summer while natural gas nearly vanishes. Sanitation and stormwater are flat fees that ignore the weather entirely. Those three lines are the steadiest slice of Average Utility Bills all year, which makes them easy to budget.

Trash is simplest. City crews collect trash and bulky items weekly and recycling every other week, billed as a set monthly charge. Water and sewer use a customer charge plus a volume charge, so a solo renter pays far less than a family of four. Apartment residents rarely irrigate anything, which spares them the summer spike that hits single-family bills.

The Average Gas Bill for a 1 Bedroom Apartment in Winter

The Railroad Commission of Texas builds its residential gas comparisons around 6 Mcf a month, which it calls the traditional approximate monthly average winter consumption for a Texas residential customer. A one-bedroom uses a fraction of that. Most use gas only for heat and hot water, and plenty of units are all-electric. The average gas bill for a 1 bedroom apartment in Garland tends to run $25 to $60 in January and slide under $15 by June.

Atmos applies a weather normalization adjustment to Mid-Tex residential bills for meters read November through April, which smooths part of the winter swing rather than letting one cold snap land in full. Confirm whether your unit even has gas service. All-electric units drop this line and push the winter electric bill higher instead.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the average electric bill for a 1 bedroom apartment in Garland?

Figure on roughly $107 a month as a 12-month average, using EIA's May 2026 Texas residential price of 16.44 cents per kilowatt-hour against about 650 kilowatt-hours. August commonly runs $130 to $215. February usually sits near $85 to $130 if the unit has gas heat.

2. Where do I handle Garland utilities pay and billing questions?

The city's payment options page lists every accepted method: online, phone, mail, autodraft and authorized in-person locations. Utility Customer Service handles billing questions at 972-205-2671. Call before any service interruption if a payment will be late.

3. Can I even out my bills across the year?

Yes. The city's Budget Billing program averages your prior 12 months of electric and water use so payments stay level. Before enrolling:

• 12 months of electric and water history at your current address
• A zero balance on the account at enrollment
• Amounts still move if rates change or weather turns extreme
• Variance grows through summer and shrinks through winter

4. Does a thermostat setting really change the bill?

Measurably. The U.S. Department of Energy says you can save as much as 10% a year on heating and cooling by setting your thermostat back 7 to 10 degrees for eight hours a day, and recommends 68 to 70 degrees in winter while you're awake. In an 800-square-foot unit, that's real money in August.

5. Are apartment utilities cheaper than a house in Garland?

Almost always. Average Utility Bills run lower in apartments because shared walls, less exterior surface and no yard to irrigate cut electric and water use sharply. The city's typical residential figure assumes a single-family home using about 1,200 kilowatt-hours and 6,500 gallons monthly, well above a one-bedroom.

Budgeting Utilities Before You Sign in Garland

Average Utility Bills get predictable once you stop thinking in monthly averages and start thinking in seasons. Plan around $180 a month for a one-bedroom, then expect two or three summer bills $100 higher and a winter bill or two carrying a gas charge. That rhythm is a real piece of the cost of living Garland, TX renters plan around, and it's easier to absorb when the rest of the budget holds steady.

Comparing apartments in Garland, TX? Ask two questions: is water submetered or allocated, and is the unit all-electric. Those answers move your monthly number more than square footage does. From there, weigh one and two bedroom floor plans, check the map and directions, and start a rental application.