Water, power and internet in San Miguel de Allende

Utilities in San Miguel are cheap until they aren't: run a stateside-sized household on electricity and CFE will bump you to its high-use rate, and the water in your tap comes from a rooftop tank you're responsible for.

The short version

Power comes from CFE, the state-owned utility, billed every two months. Use too much on average and you're moved to the DAC (high-use domestic) tariff, which has no government subsidy [1].
On Tarifa 1, the DAC line is an average of 250 kWh a month over a rolling 12 months [1]. Check which tariff is printed on your bill.
Water comes from SAPASMA, the municipal water and sewer utility, mostly from wells [2][3]. Homes store it in a rooftop tank (tinaco) and often an underground cistern (aljibe).
Don't drink the tap water. Use bottled garrafones or a good filter. Studies of the regional aquifer have found arsenic and fluoride above drinking-water limits in parts of the basin [4].
Internet varies by street. Fiber reaches much of town, but some hillside and rural homes rely on wireless or satellite. Test before you sign a lease.

Electricity: CFE and the DAC trap

CFE (Comisión Federal de Electricidad) supplies homes across Mexico. Residential customers are put on a tariff based on the local climate: Tarifa 1 for cooler areas, then 1A through 1F for progressively hotter places, each with a bigger subsidized allowance. San Miguel's mild highland climate means you'll most likely see a Tarifa 1 bill, but the tariff is printed on your recibo, so confirm it.

As long as your average stays under your tariff's limit, you pay subsidized rates in tiers. Go over, measured as a monthly average across a rolling 12 months, and CFE reclassifies you as DAC (Doméstica de Alto Consumo) [1]. DAC pays a much higher price per kWh plus a fixed monthly charge, with no subsidy.

Tariff	DAC limit (monthly average over 12 months) [1]
1	250 kWh
1A	300 kWh
1B	400 kWh
1C	850 kWh
1D	1,000 kWh
1E	2,000 kWh
1F	2,500 kWh

For perspective, plenty of American households back home use more than 250 kWh a month without trying. Electric water heaters, electric dryers, space heaters, a pool pump or an electric car charger can push a San Miguel house over the line fast. Because the average is rolling, getting out of DAC is slow: you have to keep usage under the limit long enough to drag the 12-month average down.

How to stay out of DAC

Ask to see recent bills before you rent or buy. If the house is already on DAC, the next tenant inherits that history. The bill shows the tariff and a usage chart.
Use gas for hot water and cooking. Most homes in San Miguel already do, with a stationary tank (estacionario) or cylinders.
Line-dry laundry. The sunny, dry climate makes this easy.
Be careful with space heaters. Winter nights are cold, and electric heaters are the classic way Americans end up on DAC. Gas heaters or a fireplace are the local answer.
Consider solar. Rooftop solar panels with net metering are common among owners trying to stay under the limit.

Outages

Short power cuts happen, especially in summer storm season. Keep flashlights, a battery bank for your cell phone and, if you work from home, a small UPS for your router. Outages can also affect water: in 2024 SAPASMA reported low pressure in several neighborhoods when power failures and low voltage kept some wells from pumping at full capacity [2].

Water: SAPASMA, tinacos and what to drink

The water and sewer utility is SAPASMA (Sistema de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado de San Miguel de Allende). It draws on wells and pumps water around a hilly town, so pressure and supply can vary by neighborhood [2]. The municipality has built new infrastructure, including the Acuaférico, a project linking wells near the Presa Allende reservoir to supply the city's upper western and northwestern areas [3]. In the old town, SAPASMA says it's replacing aging sewer pipes after line collapses [5], so expect the occasional dug-up street.

How water reaches your faucet

Most houses don't run straight off the main the way homes do stateside. Instead:

City water fills a cistern (aljibe) under the house or patio when supply is flowing.
A pump lifts it to a tinaco, the black or white plastic tank on the roof.
Gravity or a pressure pump feeds your faucets and shower.

That system smooths over interruptions. If the street supply stops for a day, you run on what's stored. It also means maintenance is on you: tinacos and cisterns need cleaning, usually once or twice a year, and float valves and pumps fail. Know where your pump switch is, and get a plumber's number before you need it.

Water is billed by SAPASMA, separately from power. Ask the landlord or seller for recent receipts, and make sure there's no unpaid balance before a purchase closes.

Drinking water

Locals and Americans alike drink bottled water, delivered in 20-liter (about 5-gallon) garrafones, or use a filtration system. That's not just caution. A UNAM study of the Independence Basin, which includes San Miguel, found arsenic and fluoride well above drinking-water limits in parts of the watershed, linked to very old groundwater, with levels appearing to rise over time [4]. Local nonprofits have raised the same concern about deeper wells [3].

Boiling kills germs but doesn't remove arsenic or fluoride. If you install a filter, look for one certified to reduce those, such as a reverse-osmosis system, and change cartridges on schedule.

Internet and phone

Internet is good enough in most of San Miguel for Zoom calls with the grandkids or a remote job, but it's street by street.

Fixed broadband. Mexico's national providers, including Telmex (Infinitum), Totalplay, izzi and Megacable, sell fiber or cable service in many Mexican cities. Coverage here depends on your exact address, so check each provider with your street before signing a lease.
Hillside and rural homes. Houses outside the Centro and the main colonias may have only wireless internet from small local providers, or satellite service such as Starlink.
Cell data as backup. A Mexican prepaid plan with a generous data allowance makes a decent hotspot during outages.
Thick walls. Stone and adobe houses can kill Wi-Fi between rooms. A mesh system helps.

Before you commit to a rental, run a speed test at different times of day, ask the neighbors and find out how long repairs usually take. Ask in our community group for Americans in Mexico which providers work on your street; recent, local answers beat any map.

Setting up utilities: a quick checklist

Get copies of the latest CFE and SAPASMA bills and confirm there's no debt.
Decide whose name the accounts are in. Renters usually keep the owner's name; buyers transfer to their own.
Set up payments. CFE and many providers accept online payment, bank transfers and payment at convenience stores.
Check the gas setup, the tinaco, the cistern and the pump on move-in day.
Write down emergency numbers. SAPASMA lists 415 152 4641 for reporting leaks [2].

Water, power and internet in San Miguel de Allende: CFE, tinacos and Wi-Fi