The City of San Marcos Electric Utility is completing manual meter readings at all customer addresses not automatically reporting into the billing software system to ensure exact usage numbers following our recent winter weather event.

Utility Rates

Many residents are concerned about spikes in utility rates due to stories being reported in the state and national media. San Marcos Electric Utility (SMEU) is a municipal utility owned by the City of San Marcos, and rates are set by City ordinance in coordination with the City budget process. There will be no increase in rates for SMEU customers at this time. However, customer usage will likely be much higher than normal due to the nearly two weeks of extremely cold weather we have experienced, which may result in higher than normal bills this billing period.

Customer Connect Usage Information

If your usage graph in Customer Connect shows usage on days when you had no electricity, please note that this is how the information is displayed during a power interruption, but you are not being charged for electric usage during those times. The San Marcos utility system retrieves information from your smart meter at regular intervals, and those daily readings can be seen in Customer Connect under the My Usage tab. During a power interruption, those readings may not be available so the system estimates your daily usage, which can produce imprecise results in Customer Connect.

The system used to provide daily readings on graphs in Customer Connect is separate from the City’s billing system. The billing system uses only the total actual Kilowatt hours used at your meter at the end of your billing cycle. SMEU is completing manual meter readings at all customer addresses not automatically reporting into the billing software system to ensure exact usage numbers following our recent winter weather event. This means that there will be no estimated usages for customers included in the first two utility billing cycles. Customers will only pay for the actual Kilowatts used during the billing cycle at their home or business.

Boil Water Advisory

Effective Sunday, February 21, 2021, the City of San Marcos has lifted the boil water advisory for all City of San Marcos water customers as testing has confirmed that our water is safe to drink.

As of February 20, 2021, all City water system repairs were completed and pressure within the overall water distribution system stabilized to a level that allowed water samples to be collected per Texas Commission on Environmental Quality requirements. These samples were then sent for laboratory testing and the results returned earlier today confirmed that no contamination had occurred.

Reporting Issues

As temperatures have warmed up, the City’s temporary winter weather call center has closed. If you need to report a water issue at your home or business, email Water/Wastewater or call 512.393.8010. To report a power outage email Electric Utilities or call 512.393.8313.

Winter Weather Event Utility FAQs \ Evento de Clima Invernal Preguntas Frecuentes Sobre Utilidades

The City of San Marcos knows our utility customers have many questions following the Winter Storm Event and the ERCOT-mandated rolling outages. The following frequently asked questions will help with answers about the electric outages, your utility bill, and how this event may affect utility rates. We’ll update our customers as new information becomes available in upcoming weeks.

La Ciudad de San Marcos sabe que nuestros clientes de utilidades tienen muchas preguntas después del Evento de Tormenta Invernal de la semana pasada y los cortes de energía obligatorios de ERCOT. Esta lista de preguntas frecuentes ayudara con respuestas sobre los cortes de electricidad, su factura de utilidades, y como este evento puede afectar las tarifas de utilidades. Actualizaremos a nuestros clientes en cuanto haya nueva información disponible en las próximas semanas.