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๐Ÿ”Œ Utilities & City Services

Last updated 2026-06-14

Setting up a new Painted Tree home? Here's who provides what, what it costs to start, and the trash/recycling basics. Always confirm current deposits and fees on each provider's site.

Electricity โ€” Grayson-Collin Electric (GCEC)

Painted Tree is served by Grayson-Collin Electric Cooperative (GCEC), not the open retail market. Trying to bring a retail provider here is a dead end โ€” GCEC is the co-op for this area and generally has the lowest per-kWh rate.

  • Deposit: around $65 to start service.
  • Set up at the GCEC / smarthub portal.

Gas โ€” Atmos Energy

  • Security deposit around $90 (refunded after ~12 months of good payment).
  • One-time technician fee around $65 to start service.

Water, Sewer & Trash โ€” City of McKinney

  • Deposit around $100 plus a ~$30 service-initiation fee; the deposit gets added to your first bill.
  • Start/stop service through the City of McKinney website (mckinneytexas.org โ†’ Start/Stop Service).
  • You get one green (trash) and one blue (recycle) cart. You can request extra carts, billed monthly (about $7/month per extra green, $2/month per extra blue) plus the cart cost.

Trash & recycling day

  • Pickup is on Thursdays for both trash and recycling, unless a holiday shifts it. Sometimes both come the same day, sometimes recycling the day after.
  • Need a one-off large pickup? The City offers bulky trash pickup โ€” request it on the city website. Each home gets a limited number per year.

Adding a trash-can enclosure or pad? It's governed by the HOA Architectural Guidelines โ€” the enclosure must start at least 5 feet back from the front corner of the home, and match your existing fence in material, design, height and color. Submit for HOA/ACC approval first.

Internet

  • AT&T and Spectrum are the usual wired options. Availability varies street to street, especially while construction is ongoing.
  • If wired internet isn't on your street yet, neighbors bridge the gap with a Verizon or T-Mobile 5G home-internet box in the meantime.

Mail โ€” USPS change of address

File your USPS change of address before you move (moversguide.usps.com). It also helps to make sure your new address is in the USPS database so retail and delivery sites recognize it.