Setting Up Utilities in Tool, Texas

Tool is on the Oncor grid inside Texas's deregulated market, like the rest of Cedar Creek Lake. Oncor is the transmission and distribution utility — it owns the poles and wires, reads your meter, and restores power after storms — but the electricity itself comes from a retail provider you choose. With 150+ plans listed for ZIP 75143, compare price per kilowatt-hour, contract length, and fixed-versus-variable rates on Power to Choose before move-in.

Tool doesn't run its own water system — West Cedar Creek Municipal Utility District, headquartered on South Tool Drive, handles water and wastewater for the lake's west side, and the number the city lists for water service rings the district office. Garbage is simpler than most lake towns: the city's franchise agreement sends everything through Republic Services, including bulk pickup and dumpsters. Piped natural gas is limited, with propane tanks the standard arrangement — confirm before counting on gas.

Optimum's cable network covers about 93% of Tool, and Nextlink's fixed wireless blankets nearly everything around the lake. Satellite options like Starlink are the fallback for the shoreline coves. Availability is address-specific, so check the FCC National Broadband Map for your exact location.