Sun on a roof in Bay City.

How Bay City comparesderived from the figures above

Where Bay City sits.

Bay City ranks 946th of 1220 Texas places modeled here, at the 23rd percentile. Its 1,468 kWh per kW is below the Texas median of 1,515. The strongest months are July, August, May and the weakest are December, February, January; output peaks in July and bottoms out in December. In all, 29.2% of the year arrives in June, July and August, less than the 29.3% of the median place.

Closest modeled neighbors

• Sweeny, 26 km east: 1,453 kWh per kW, 15 less than Bay City.
• West Columbia, 35 km northeast: 1,454 kWh per kW, 14 less than Bay City.
• El Campo, 39 km northwest: 1,479 kWh per kW, 11 more than Bay City.
• Brazoria, 39 km east: 1,422 kWh per kW, 46 less than Bay City.
• Palacios, 40 km southwest: 1,537 kWh per kW, 69 more than Bay City.
• Wharton, 40 km north: 1,480 kWh per kW, 12 more than Bay City.
• Needville, 47 km north: 1,463 kWh per kW, 5 less than Bay City.
• Jones Creek, 48 km east: 1,435 kWh per kW, 33 less than Bay City.
• Bailey's Prairie, 49 km northeast: 1,458 kWh per kW, 10 less than Bay City.

Against Houston

The nearest of the six largest modeled places is Houston, 106 km to the northeast, at 1,422 kWh per kW. Bay City models 46 kWh per kW (3.2%) above it. Bay City lies 0.81 degrees of latitude south of Houston, and the sun stands higher in the sky the further south you go, which matches its higher modeled output. The two weather stations sit a similar distance from their points (2.2 km and 2.4 km), so station distance does little to explain the gap, and the weather record does the rest.

The second-nearest large place is Austin, 227 km northwest, where the same model gives 1,483 kWh per kW, so Bay City runs 15 below that figure. Against the Texas median place month by month, Bay City runs at least 2% higher in November. It runs at least 2% lower in January, February, April, June, July, August, September, December.

Electricity in Matagorda CountyEIA-861

Electricity prices nearby

EIA lists CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, AEP Texas Central, and Texas-New Mexico Power in this county. Where Bay City is on CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, AEP Texas Central, and Texas-New Mexico Power's lines, homes buy energy from a retail electricity provider and the price depends on the plan. Parts of Bay City may instead be served by a co-op or utility listed below, which sets its own rates; check your bill. For scale only, the median 2025 average price across the 60 Texas retail providers on this site is 15.32¢ per kWh, which would put the modeled 1,468 kWh at $225 per kW a year, plain multiplication and not a savings estimate or an offer.

Also listed in the county

• Jackson Electric Coop, Inc: 14.55¢ per kWh, a bundled average, 15,670 residential customers across 6 counties.
• Wharton County Elec Coop, Inc: 14.18¢ per kWh, a bundled average, 5,583 residential customers across 4 counties.
• CenterPoint Energy: 5.41¢ per kWh, delivery charges only, before the retail energy price, 2,529,039 residential customers across 12 counties.

These utilities serve other parts of the county, which can include parts of Bay City. They are the largest bundled providers, and the largest delivery-only one, whose EIA service territory lists the county. A county can list several, and which one serves a street depends on the address, so check your bill.

Modeled estimateruns in your browser

Size the array, see the kWh.

Scale the Bay City model to another array size, take off extra losses for shade or dirt, and price the energy at any rate. It is arithmetic on the PVWatts output above, nothing more: not a quote, not a savings estimate and not advice.

Starting rate: the Texas residential average of 15.4¢ per kWh. At that rate the modeled output is worth $226 per kW a year as plain multiplication.